A free people [claim] their rights as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate.
Thomas Jefferson (1829). “Memoirs, Correspondence, and Private Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Late President of the United States”, p.118
![A free people [claim] their rights as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate.](http://cdn.quoteddaily.com/images/thomas-jefferson/a-free-people-claim-their-rights-as-derived-from-the-laws-of-nature-and-not-as-the-gift-of-their.jpg)