I have now the gloomy prospect of retiring from office loaded with serious debts, which will materially affect the tranquility of my retirement.

Truth will do well enough if left to shift for herself. She seldom has received much aid from the power of great men to whom she is rarely known and seldom welcome. She has no need of force to procure entrance into the minds of men.

I leave to others the sublime delights of riding in the storm, better pleased with sound sleep & a warmer berth below it encircled, with the society of neighbors, friends & fellow laborers of the earth rather than with spies & sycophants ... I have no ambition to govern men. It is a painful and thankless office.

In our early struggles for liberty, religious freedom could not fail to become a primary object.

The wise know too well their weakness to assume infallibility; and he who knows most knows best how little he knows.

While prudence will endeavor to avoid this issue of war, bravery will prepare to meet it.

I apprehend... that the total abandonment of the principle of rotation in the offices of President and Senator will end in abuse.