Our Constitution... has not left the religion of its citizens under the power of its public functionaries, were it possible that any of these should consider a conquest over the conscience of men either attainable or applicable to any desirable purpose.
Thomas Jefferson (1854). “The writings of Thomas Jefferson: being his autobiography, correspondence, reports, messages, addresses, and other writings, official and private”, p.147
![Our Constitution... has not left the religion of its citizens under the power of its public functionaries, were it possible that any of these should consider a conquest over the conscience of men either attainable or](http://cdn.quoteddaily.com/images/thomas-jefferson/our-constitution-has-not-left-the-religion-of-its-citizens-under-the-power-of-its-public-functionaries-were-it-possible.jpg)