"unless someone pops in unexpectedly-Mrs. Washington and myself will do what I believe has not been done within the last twenty years by us, that is to sit down to dinner by ourselves."

"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 Officers of State and the Representatives of every Nation."

"I have no other view than to promote the public good, and am uninfluenced by any consideration of private interest."

"My first wish is to see this plague of mankind, war, banished from the earth."

"Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair; the rest is in the hands of God."