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Jefferson's courage and idealism were based on knowledge. He probably knew more than any other man of his age. He was an expert in agriculture, archeology, and medicine. He practiced crop rotation and soil conservation a century before these became standard practice, and he invented a plow superior to any other in existence. He influenced architecture throughout America, and he was constantly producing devices for making the tasks of ordinary life easier to perform.
杰斐遜的勇氣和理想主義是以知識為基礎的。他懂得的東西也許比同時代的任何人都要多。在農業、考古學和醫學方面他都是專家。在人們普遍采用農作物輪作和土壤保持的做法以前一個世紀，他就這樣做了。他還發明了一種比當時任何一種都好的耕犁。他影響了整個美國的建筑業，他還不斷地制造出各種器械裝置，使日常生活中需要做的許多工作變得更加容易。
Of all Jefferson's many talents, one is central. He was above all a good and tireless writer. His complete works, now being published for the first time, will fill more than fifty volumes. His talent as an author was soon discovered, and when the time came to write the Declaration of Independence at Philadelphia in 1776, the task of writing it was his. Millions have thrilled to his words: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..."
在杰斐遜的眾多才能中，有一種是最主要的：他首先是一位優秀的、不知疲倦的作家。目前正在第一次出版的他的全集將超過五十卷。他作為一個作家的才能很快便被發現了，所以，當1776年在費城要撰寫《獨立宣言》的時刻來到時，這一任務便落在了他肩上。數以百萬計的人們讀到他寫的下列詞句都激動不已：“我們認為這些真理是不言而喻的：一切人生來就是平等的……”
When Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of American independence, he left his countrymen a rich legacy of ideas and examples. American education owes a great debt to Thomas Jefferson, who believed that only a nation of educated people could remain free.
1826年7月4日，正值美國獨立五十周年紀念日之際，杰斐遜與世長辭了。他給他的同胞留下了一份豐富的思想遺產和眾多的榜樣。托馬斯·杰斐遜對美國的教育事業作出了巨大的貢獻，他認為，只有受過教育的人民組成的國家才能保持自由。
