Last updated: September 25, 2023
Place
Southeast Portico
NPS Antoine Thomas
Quick Facts
Location:
Thomas Jefferson Memorial
Designation:
Historic Site
Amenities
1 listed
Wheelchair Accessible
"I am certainly not an advocate for frequent and untried changes in laws and constitutions. I think moderate imperfections had better be borne with; because, when once known, we accommodate ourselves to them, and find practical means of correcting their ill effects. But I know also, that laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also, and keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy, as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors." - Jefferson to H. Tompkinson (AKA Samuel Kercheval), July 12, 1816
The Inscription an excerpt of a letter from Jefferson to Samuel Kercheval. This selection emphasis Thomas Jefferson’s belief in the need for government to continue to change and evolve for the benefit of society.