# DC Building/Jefferson Quote: Help! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 13, 2004, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-building-jefferson-quote-help/234107 "2004-03-13T19:31:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-building-jefferson-quote-help/234107/1 "2004-03-13T19:31:18Z")
I’ve been Goggling around for a half an hour, or so, trying to find this pesky quote I only partially remember. The quote is, and I’m guessing at the wording, “The greatest danger to a democracy is from well-intentioned individuals…something.” I think it’s on the DOJ or maybe the Supreme Court building but I just can’t find anything related. For all I know I’m wrong about it being from Jefferson. Anyone live in the DC area? Anyone remember this from seeing it? My fingers bleed until I get an answer. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-building-jefferson-quote-help/234107/2 "2004-03-13T22:01:23Z")
Try Googling instead of Goggling. That might help. 🙂 Sounds familiar, let me check my bookshelf. ---
**Author:** ![malden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@malden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malden)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-building-jefferson-quote-help/234107/3 "2004-03-13T22:16:11Z")
If it’s Jefferson, you might find it [at the University of Virginia Jefferson Archive](http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/jefferson/). The only document in that archive that contains the word “intentioned” is Jefferson’s autogiograpy. Here is the context: > [@Thomas Jefferson](#): > > I repeat that I do not charge the judges with wilful and ill-intentioned error; but honest error must be arrested where it’s toleration leads to public ruin. As, for the safety of society, we commit honest maniacs to Bedlam, so judges should be withdrawn from their bench, whose erroneous… I also checked the inscriptions on the Jefferson Memorial, and none of them match what you’re looking for. They can be seen at [http://www.nps.gov/thje/memorial/memorial.htm#](http://www.nps.gov/thje/memorial/memorial.htm#) (click on “Inscriptions”) ---
**Author:** ![malden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@malden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malden)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-building-jefferson-quote-help/234107/4 "2004-03-13T22:19:36Z")
On review… I can’t believe Jefferson screwed up the word “its!” ☹ I sure hope that was a typo by someone at UVa. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-building-jefferson-quote-help/234107/5 "2004-03-13T23:13:07Z")
> [@President Eisenhower](#): > > The constant danger to democracy lies in the tendency of the individual to hide himself in the crowd-to defend his own failure to act forthrightly according to conviction under the false excuse that the effort of one in one hundred forty million has no significance. (From [here](http://dmla.clan.lib.nv.us/docs/dca/cpd/articles/opin.htm).) Googled: +“danger to democracy” +individual +intention\* The problem is that the quote does not include any form of ‘intention’ but ‘tendency’ instead. I was lucke that the rest of the article used ‘intention.’ Peace. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-building-jefferson-quote-help/234107/6 "2004-03-13T23:28:55Z")
Thanks all. We’re not there yet. It’s a shorter quote. And it’s inscribed across the entrance or inside of some prominent building. Maybe I should have **Bricker** include it in his next trivia challenge. To re-paraphrase: A man with good intentions bypassing the law is a grave threat to government. God, I dunno. I was originally struck by the quote after listening to Ollie North testify. FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-building-jefferson-quote-help/234107/7 "2004-03-14T01:04:13Z")
> [@MonkeyMensch](#): > > Thanks all. > To re-paraphrase: A man with good intentions bypassing the law is a grave threat to government. God, I dunno. I was originally struck by the quote after listening to Ollie North testify. FWIW. Ollie North used that quote? WTF? Any further help on how YOU know the quote?? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-building-jefferson-quote-help/234107/8 "2004-03-14T01:16:00Z")
> [@MonkeyMensch](#): > > Thanks all. > > We’re not there yet. It’s a shorter quote. And it’s inscribed across the entrance or inside of some prominent building. . HOW do you know it’s inscribed on a building? In Washington? How do you know that? ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-building-jefferson-quote-help/234107/9 "2004-03-14T02:12:27Z")
I wonder if it’s the [Eisenhower Executive Office Building](http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/eeobtour/), then. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-building-jefferson-quote-help/234107/10 "2004-03-14T04:41:40Z")
“The rule of law can be wiped out in one misguided, however well-intentioned, generation.” William T. Gossett (not aware that it’s on any buildings, though). ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-building-jefferson-quote-help/234107/11 "2004-03-14T05:51:43Z")
Well, **samclem** , I guess my reference to Ollie North _was_ a little vague. My oops. I viewed North as a person breaking the law for what he viewed as a good cause. Hence the reference. And I guess my problem is that I _don’t_ remember the quote, else I’d get hits Googling (Thanks **Ravenman**.) Furthermore, I only remember, or think I remember, that it is inscribed on a DC building. We all know memory can play some wicked tricks, but I’m pretty sure about these. I was really hoping for some DC pedestrian to chime in about how they walk by that phrase every morning. And **Nametag** has that precise jist of the quote, though that isn’t the one. **Dantheman** , was there something on that link I missed? I didn’t see any inscriptions but I’ve been dense before. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-building-jefferson-quote-help/234107/12 "2004-03-14T06:03:39Z")
Did you live in Washington at some point and see this on a building? I’m confused. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-building-jefferson-quote-help/234107/13 "2004-03-14T06:14:19Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Did you live in Washington at some point and see this on a building? I’m confused. I visited DC years ago but that’s not where I remember it from. I’m normally a great information sponge and can usually wring out data at will. For some reason the need for this bit of information got shoved to the front of the must-remember queue this morning, but no matter how hard I squeeze I can’t seem to get the location or quote out of core. I can only recall the meaning and feeling of the quote and that it’s an inscription somewhere on some undoubtedly white marble building. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-building-jefferson-quote-help/234107/14 "2004-03-14T06:28:38Z")
Then you’ve given us _bubkes_ as far as help. You could have dreamed this, for all we know. It may not even exist. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-building-jefferson-quote-help/234107/15 "2004-03-14T06:40:42Z")
Yeah, I know the clues are, at best, sketchy. I know it’s out there though. That’s why I mentioned the possibility of someone piping up with, “Hey! I know exactly what he’s talking about!” I do appreciate all the effort, though. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-building-jefferson-quote-help/234107/16 "2004-03-14T06:56:50Z")
> [@MonkeyMensch](#): > > I think it’s on the DOJ or maybe the Supreme Court building but I just can’t find anything related. For all I know I’m wrong about it being from Jefferson. > > Anyone live in the DC area? Anyone remember this from seeing it? > > . Here’s the problem. You posted originally, that it was on a Washington DC building. At least, you implied it. Now you deny it. Why should anyone continue to search for this chimera? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-building-jefferson-quote-help/234107/17 "2004-03-14T08:07:41Z")
Thomas Jefferson, _[Diffusion of Knowledge Bill](http://facweb.furman.edu/~svecmichael/ED11/library/jeffknow.html)_, 1779 (FE 2:221, Papers 2:526): > [@](#): > > Whereas it appeareth that however certain forms of government are better calculated than others to protect individuals in the free exercise of their natural rights, and are at the same time themselves better guarded against degeneracy, yet experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms, those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny. . . ---
**Author:** ![Visual\_Purple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5daacb/32.png) [@Visual\_Purple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Visual_Purple)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-building-jefferson-quote-help/234107/18 "2004-03-14T13:50:45Z")
Any chance that what you want is “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” The attribution I find for it is Edmund Burke, not Jefferson, but it’s short, has the right feel, and is reasonably common. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-building-jefferson-quote-help/234107/19 "2004-03-14T14:21:00Z")
> [@malden](#): > > On review… I can’t believe Jefferson screwed up the word “its!” ☹ I sure hope that was a typo by someone at UVa. At the time Jefferson was writing it was still common to spell both the possessive pronoun and the contraction of “it is” with an apostrophe. The hard and fast distinction between its and it’s wasn’t fully developed until almost the middle of the nineteenth century. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-building-jefferson-quote-help/234107/20 "2004-03-14T15:29:50Z")
> [@MonkeyMensch](#): > > **Dantheman** , was there something on that link I missed? I didn’t see any inscriptions but I’ve been dense before. Thanks. Nope. If there was an inscription, I would have said so. 🙂 Just saying it’s a possible answer. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-building-jefferson-quote-help/234107.md?page=2)