Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.

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Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.

Attributed to:
Thomas Jefferson

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Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.
Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.
Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.
Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.
Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.
Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.

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I have no fear that the result of our experiment will be that men may be trusted to govern themselves without a master. Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth. The people will save their government, if the government itself will allow them. Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories. On account of being a democracy and run by the people, we are the only nation in the world that has to keep a government four years, no matter what it does. It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried. Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government. The greatest blessing of our democracy is freedom. But in the last analysis, our only freedom is the freedom to discipline ourselves. Government is the people's business and every man, woman and child becomes a shareholder with the first penny of tax paid.