Don't have the time?

There were only 24 hours in a day, then, as now.
But be­fore he died in 1826, he:

• Finished college in less than three years.
• Studied Law and had been admitted to the bar at age 24.
• Introduced crop rotation and terracing to the U.S.
• Designed and built his own home, designed one of the nation’s leading universities and the Capitol building of his own state.
• Invented a plow, a manifold signing machine, a letter copy press, double-swinging doors, a seven-day calendar clock, and countless other gadgets.
• Originated the decimal system for U.S. money.
• Played a violin well.
• Became a serious student of natural history, Indian languages, Latin, Greek, Italian, French, German, Anglo-Saxon, mathematics, history, geography, civics, economics and philosophy.
• Served as a member of his State Legislature, Governor, Minister of France, Secretary of State, Vice President and President of the United States for two terms.
• Created the public school system in his state.
• Established the U.S. Military Academy and designed the uniforms the cadets still wear.
• Wrote the rules of parliamentary procedure under which the U.S. Senate still operates.
• Was an excellent host who enjoyed entertaining.
• Fought for a system of government that made the U.S. a democratic Republic, not one ruled by the aristocracy
• Wrote 16,000 letters to friends and colleagues all over the world.
• Designed his own gravestone and created the epitaph listing the three accomplishments, of which he was proudest: “Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence; of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom; and father of the University of Virginia.”

What a lesson to people who say, in these days of labor-saving devices: ‘I just don’t have the time.

Author: William “Bill” Schock, publisher of the Falls City Journal, NE
Source: Unknown