I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their 

John Atherton, I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education.--Thomas Jefferson on popular sovreignty, letter to W.C. Jarvis, 1820. From the series Great Ideas of Western Man., 1952-1953, gouache and paper on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Container Corporation of America, 1984.124.7
John Atherton, I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their , 1952-1953, gouache and paper on paperboard, sheet: 22 x 18 1⁄8 in. (55.8 x 46.0 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Container Corporation of America, 1984.124.7

Artwork Details

Title
I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. – Thomas Jefferson on popular sovreignty, letter to W.C. Jarvis, 1820. From the series Great Ideas of Western Man.
Artist
Date
1952-1953
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet: 22 x 18 1⁄8 in. (55.8 x 46.0 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Container Corporation of America
Mediums
Mediums Description
gouache and paper on paperboard
Classifications
Subjects
  • Literature — Jefferson
  • Occupation — political — president
  • Portrait male — Jefferson, Thomas — bust
Object Number
1984.124.7
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1984.124.7

Works by this artist (1 item)

Viktor Natali-Morosow, "We confide in our strength, without boasting of it; we respect that of others, without fearing it."--Thomas Jefferson, letter to Carmichael and Short, 1793. From the series Great Ideas of Western Man., 1964, oil, pencil and ink on wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Container Corporation of America, 1984.124.223
“We confide in our strength, without boasting of it; we…
Artist
Date1964
oil, pencil and ink on wood
Not on view

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Reginald Pollack, "Perhaps the only goal on earth toward which mankind is striving lies in the process of attaining, in other words, in life itself, and not in the thing to be attained."--Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground, 1864. From the series Great Ideas of Western Man., 1963, oil, ink and colored pencil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Container Corporation of America, 1984.124.239
“Perhaps the only goal on earth toward which mankind is…
Artist
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oil, ink and colored pencil on canvas
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William Alvin Blayney, Mural No. GU-43752 (All Rights Reserved), 1969, oil, pen, and pencil on masonite, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1997.124.6
Mural No. GU-43752 (All Rights Reserved)
Artist
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oil, pen, and pencil on masonite
On view
Pat Steir, Looking for the Mountain, 1971, oil, pencil, crayon, and ink on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Richard M. Hollander in honor of Jean S. Lighton, 1984.137
Looking for the Mountain
Artist
Date1971
oil, pencil, crayon, and ink on canvas
Not on view
Unidentified, Portrait of the Thomas W. Lawson, after 1906, oil, paper, sand, and pen and ink on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.154
Portrait of the Thomas W. Lawson
Artist
Unidentified
Dateafter 1906
oil, paper, sand, and pen and ink on paperboard
Not on view