"I am so hackneyed to the touches of the painter's pencil, that I am now altogether at their beck, and sit like patience on a monument whilst they are delineating the lines of my face. It is a proof am…"

"Dear Tench: We have had various conjectures about you. Some thought you were dead, others that you were married."

"Nothing can be more hurtful to the service, than the too frequent changes of officers."

"I shall rely therefore on that Providence which has hitherto preserved us, and shall feel no dismay at any dangers."

"I had rather be at Mount Vernon with a friend or two about me, than to be attended at the Seat of Government by the whole tribe of office-hunters and place-seekers."