Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.

Providence has at all times been my only dependence, for all other resources seemed to have failed us.

What is most important of this grand experiment, the United States? Not the election of the first president but the election of its second president. The peaceful transition of power is what will separate this country from every other country in the world.

To the security of a free Constitution it [knowledge] contributes in various ways: by teaching the people themselves to know and to value their own rights, to discern and provide against invasions of them, to distinguish between oppression and the necessary exercise of lawful authority, between burdens proceeding from a disregard to their convenience and those resulting from the inevitable exigencies of society.

A people... who are possessed of the spirit of commerce, who see and who will pursue their advantages may achieve almost anything.

[death]...the abyss from where no traveler is permitted to return

The executive branch of this government never has, nor will suffer, while I preside, any improper conduct of its officers to escape with impunity.