Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, was the place where Jefferson was involved with the continuing education of his children and grandchildren. He encouraged them to keep a strict schedule of reading and studying.
As a father figure, Thomas Jefferson devised a list of familiar sayings or rules that regulated his life and the life of those around him. These Canons of Conduct or “Americanisms” have been passed down through generations.
- Never put off tomorrow what you can do today.
- Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.
- Never spend money before you have earned it.
- Never buy what you don’t want because it is cheap; it will be dear to you.
- Pride costs more than hunger, thirst, and cold.
- We seldom repent of having eaten too little.
- Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.
- How much pain the evils cost us that never happened.
- Take things always by the smooth handle.
- When angry, count to ten before you speak; if very angry, count one hundred.