Send a Quote Enter a brief message. SendOk2 “The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite.” ~ Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), US Founding Father, drafted the Declaration of Independence, 3rd US PresidentSource: False quote. Appeared in print in a 1980 tract on regulation by Bernard Siegan, a law professor, after quoting Jefferson's well-known epistle to John Adams about different kinds of aristocracy, Siegan wrote: "In other words, man should be allowed to govern himself, and he should not be ruled by a small elite." see: http://www.tcfrank.com/essays/Check_It_Yourself