“An hereditary chief, strictly limited, the right of war vested in the legislative body, a rigid economy of the public contributions, and absolute interdiction of all useless expenses, will go far towards keeping the government honest and unoppressive. But the only security of all is in a free press. The force of public opinion cannot be resisted, when permitted freely to be expressed. The agitation it produces must be submitted to. It is necessary, to keep the waters pure.”
Letter to Marquis de la Fayette http://www.constitution.org/tj/jeff10.txt (November 4, 1823); in: The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Memorial Edition (ME) (Lipscomb and Bergh, editors), 20 Vols., Washington, D.C., 1903-04, Volume 15, page 491
1820s
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Thomas Jefferson 456
3rd President of the United States of America 1743–1826Related quotes

Grosjean v. American Press Co. (1936)

Dissenting in Everson v. Board of Education of Ewing Township, 330 U.S. 1 (1947)
Judicial opinions

“It is scrutiny by the general public that keeps the powerful honest.”
The Independent http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/the-lives-of-others-heather-brookes-new-book-opens-up-further-fronts-in-the-war-to-set-information-free-1939295.html - "The lives of others: Heather Brooke's new book opens up further fronts in the war to set information free", 9 April 2010.
Attributed, In the Media

"Fooling the People as a Fine Art", La Follette's Magazine (April 1918)

The Farmer Refuted (1775)
Context: The origin of all civil government, justly established, must be a voluntary compact, between the rulers and the ruled; and must be liable to such limitations, as are necessary for the security of the absolute rights of the latter; for what original title can any man or set of men have, to govern others, except their own consent? To usurp dominion over a people, in their own despite, or to grasp at a more extensive power than they are willing to entrust, is to violate that law of nature, which gives every man a right to his personal liberty; and can, therefore, confer no obligation to obedience.
"Moods of Washington" (p.38)
So This Is Depravity (1980)