Entry in progress—B.P.
     
Wikiquote: Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (13 April 1743 – 4 July 1826) was author of the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (1777), founder of the University of Virginia (1819), the third president of the United States (1801–1809), a political philosopher, editor of Jefferson’s Bible (1819), and one of the most influential founders of the United States.
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A Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774)
A free people [claim] their rights, as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate.
           
12 May 1797, The Time Piece; and Literary Companion (New York, NY):
THOMAS PAINE’s
Dissertation on, “First Principles of Government.”
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An enquiry into the origin of rights will demonstrate to us that rights are not gifts from one man to another, nor from one class of men to another; for who is he who could be the full giver, or by what principle, or on what authority, could he posses the right of giving? A declaration of rights is not a creation of them, nor a donation of them.
 
21 February 1995, The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, UT), “Power in Perspective: Government’s Role” by David Bresnahan (State Representative), pg. Z1:
During the American Revolution, patriot Thomas Paine said, “Rights are not gifts from one man to another, nor from one class of men to another. It is impossible to discover any origin of rights otherwise than in the origin of man; it consequently follows that rights appertain to man in right of his existence, and must therefore be equal to every man.”
 
Thomas Jefferson was even more specific about the origin of the rights of people when he said, “Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God?”
 
The only source of power and authority any government has is from the people who created it. The people were given inalienable rights by their creator, and they in turn created government to protect, secure and defend those rights.
   
6 January 2003, The Gazette, “Rights and wrongs/ Liberty requires that we all respect the rights of the other guy,” pg. METRO5:
The key thing to remember is that our rights to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, property and their attendant rights are not gifts from the government. They are part and parcel of being on this earth and rightfully cannot be taken by the government or the majority. This seems as though it flies in the face of one of our cherished American principles: majority rules. However, this principle is not absolute. The majority is not justified in arbitrarily taking rights from the minority.
 
Twitter
Connie Gray‏
@Mighty_Righty
Ken Blackwell speaking at NRA L.F. says, “Our rights are not gifts from government.  They are gifts from God!” (via @HarperForAZ)
4:32 PM - 15 May 2009
 
Twitter
HighCaliberCreations‏
@HCCreations
Quote of the day: “Rights are not gifts from the government.”.....This includes the Second Amendment!
8:42 AM - 13 Nov 2013
 
Twitter
✝Steph 🇺🇸‏
@EternalRiteWing
Tenth Amendment Center Blog | Rights are not Gifts from Government #10thAmendment #ThursdayThoughts
4:17 PM - 29 Jun 2017