The Correspondence of Thomas Jefferson
By Subject
RETIREMENT / DESIRE FOR
I leave to others the sublime delights of riding in the storm, better
pleased with sound sleep and a warmer berth below it, encircled with
the society of my neighbors, friends, and fellow laborers of the
earth, rather than with spies and sycophants. Still, I shall value
highly the share I may have had in the late vote, as a measure of the
share I hold in the esteem of my fellow citizens. In this point of
view, a few votes less are but little sensible, while a few more would
have been in their effect very sensible and oppressive to me. I have
no ambition to govern men. It is a painful and thankless office.
to John Adams, 28 December 1796
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