> This is an extremely impressive collection of Jefferson quotes and a
> very well done page. Its really terrific. I am wondering if you might be
> able to help me track down a quote that I believe came from Thomas
> Jefferson.  If you are familiar with it and can point me to a source
> that would be great. Thanks.
>
> If I remember correctly, it goes something like this:
>
>'I must study war and diplomacy so that my son may study art and
> literature.'
>
>
> I believe that it is roughly along those lines, but I'm not certain
> where I remember hearing it from or even if it is accurate. Do you know
> if that is indeed a Jefferson quote? and how exactly it is worded?

Thanks for your kind remarks.  I do not believe the quote is from
Thomas Jefferson.  For one thing, he did not have a son; or more
accurately, he did not have a son that survived infancy.  The quote
is not, in my opinion, Jefferson's style.  Offhand, it sounds like late
19th or early 20th century to me.  "Diplomacy" is not a word
Jefferson used that I am aware of, though he did use the term
"diplomatic," as in "little or no diplomatic establishment," and
"diplomatic characters of economical grade."  But he never spoke of
things like the practice of diplomacy, that I have run across.
Nevertheless, I have not read *every* word that Jefferson wrote, and
it is remotely possible he may have made the statement.  But I really
don't think so.

There is this quotation from Jefferson which is similar to what you seek:

"The reflections that the boys of this age are to be the men of the
next; that they should be prepared to receive the holy charge
which we are cherishing to deliver over to them; that in
establishing an institution of wisdom for them, we secure it to all
our future generations; that in fulfilling this duty, we bring home
to our own bosoms the sweet consolation of seeing our sons
rising under a luminous tuition, to destinies of high promise;
these are considerations which will occur to all." --Thomas
Jefferson to James Breckinridge, 1821.  ME 15:314

A quote similar to the one you inquire about has been attributed to
John Adams, and since writing the above, I have confirmed that is so. 
Adams wrote:

"I must study politics and war that my sons many have liberty to study 
mathenatematics and philosophy.  My sons ought to study mathematics 
and philosophy, geography, natural history, navel architecture,
navigation, commerce, and agriculture in order to give their children a
right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, 
tapestry, and porcelain." --Adams Family Correspondence, L. H. Butterfield, 
ed., pg. 342.