evidence: Many of the "quotes" frequently attributed to Thomas Jefferson — the third president of the U.S. — are total nonsense. [...] There is no evidence that Jefferson ever said this. Frederick Douglass, James Buchanan, and William Henry Harrison all did say it, though. [...] Yeah, no, Jefferson probably never said this. It was a tertiary anecdote from the Reverend Ethan Allen, essentially the email forwards of the 19th century. Its authenticity is highly questionable.