Thomas Jefferson's Decalogue of Canons for observation in practical life -

Thomas Jefferson is perhaps best known as the third president of the United States of America (although interestingly he did not have this listed among the three life achievements he had inscribed on his tombstone).

I just listened to an episode about him on the How to Take Over the World podcast (absolutely amazing, love it, highly recommend!!!) and that’s where I heard about Thomas Jefferson’s list of principles that he called his “Decalogue of Canons for observation in practical life.”

These are all sound pieces of advice (that I actually try to follow myself – except maybe #6 – not knowing Jefferson put these down to paper centuries ago!) so I thought I’d share it here:

Never put off till tomorrow what you can do to-day.
Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.
Never spend your money before you have it.
Never buy what you do not want, because it is cheap; it will be dear to you.
Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst and cold.
We never repent of having eaten too little.
Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.
How much pain have cost us the evils which have never happened!
Take things always by their smooth handle.
When angry, count ten, before you speak; if very angry, an hundred.

Jefferson wrote the above ten points in a letter he penned in 1825, but prior to that he had written a slightly longer list of axioms to his granddaughter Cornelia Jefferson Randolph which included these two additional points:

Take care of your cents: Dollars will take care of themselves
Think as you please, & so let others, & you will have no disputes.

What do you think of Jefferson’s ten (or dozen) guiding principles?

For more wisdom from notable figures of the past, check out the podcast How to Take Over the World! It’s well researched, entertaining, and well presented. Host Ben Wilson also does a nice recap of key takeaways at the end of his episodes. It’s great. I wish history had been presented to me like this in school.

You always get interesting little tidbits about these historical figures too because the host Ben Wilson mines their biographies for little gems. For example I really liked learning that Thomas Jefferson was a terrible public speaker! In some cases he could barely speak above a whisper. Jefferson avoided public speaking so much that instead of delivering the State of the Union address publicly, he chose to submit it in writing. (Haha I feel him.)

I’m currently listening to the George Washington episode (part 2) but also enjoyed the Joan of Arc and Mr. Beast episodes. Luckily for me I’ve barely scratched the surface of the available episodes which means I have a ton left to dig into. Check it out – search for a historical figure you find interesting, or just hop into the Thomas Jefferson episode here: