杰斐逊的遗训：大学英语精读第2册第2单元课文及翻译（附课文及单词录音）(2)

You can learn from everyone.By birth and by education Jefferson belonged to the highest social class. Yet, in a day when few noble persons ever spoke to those of humble origins except to give an order, Jefferson went out of his way to talk with gardeners, servants, and waiters. Jefferson once said to the French nobleman, Lafayette, "You must go into the people"s homes as I have done, look into their cooking pots and eat their bread. If you will only do this, you may find out why people are dissatisfied and understand the revolution that is threatening France."
Judge for yourself.Jefferson refused to accept other people"s opinions without careful thought. "Neither believe nor reject anything," he wrote to his nephew, "because any other person has rejected or believed it. Heaved has given you a mind for judging truth and error. Use it."
Jefferson felt that the people "may safely be trusted to hear everything true and false, and to form a correct judgment. Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."