“An Honest Heart and a Knowing Head” | Lessons from Thomas Jefferson on How to Live Well

Venerated for his authorship of the Declaration of Independence, detested for his refusal, not only during, but after his life to emancipate his slaves, Thomas Jefferson inhabits, in the minds of many, an ambivalent place. He certainly does in mine. That said, I urge you to reserve your judgment on a man from whom, all these years later, so much good advice and practical wisdom can still be gathered, especially if you've not yet thoroughly perused his written work (of which, as it happens, there are thousands of edifying pages). In this episode, I venture neither to acquit nor convict Jefferson of his numerous crimes--all committed, of the course of decades, against his poor black brethren. Perhaps, in a future episode, I will offer my verdict. For now, I wish only to expose you to his teachings as they pertain to the pursuit and acquisition of a good and well-ordered life, a topic with which we here on Pneuma chiefly concern ourselves, and about which Jefferson, a brilliant thinker, has much to say. We should listen.