Send a Quote Enter a brief message. SendOk2 “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” ~ Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), US Founding Father, drafted the Declaration of Independence, 3rd US PresidentSource: a letter written to Benjamin Rush in 1800 in response to Rush's warning about the Philadelphia clergy attacking Jefferson. Carved at the top of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.