This is one of the greatest things Jefferson said. However everyone fails to look at it the way he did. many people believe Jefferson would have advocated blowing up buildings, killing congressman and the like. If you know the slightest bit about him, you would see the truth. Jefferson did in fact advocate armed rebellion when necessary; after all other avenues of resistance and diplomacy failed. Read the declaration of independence, all of it, and you will see this. Jefferson advocated violent action directed at the oppressor (the king of England and his soldiers) after declaration of war, after exhausting all other possible solutions. To say that Jefferson was a man of violence is just plain stupid. This quote is (in my opinion) meant to remind the people and the government that when all else fails a free people can and must take clear, decisive, and sometimes violent action to ensure freedom and liberty. Freedom is now and always has been paid for with blood.