The Correspondence of Thomas Jefferson
By Subject
RETIREMENT / FROM PRESIDENCY
Within a few days I retire to my family, my books and farms; and
having gained the harbor myself, I shall look on my friends still
buffeting the storm with anxiety indeed, but not with envy. Never did
a prisoner, released from his chains, feel such relief as I shall on
shaking off the shackles of power. Nature intended me for the tranquil
pursuits of science, by rendering them my supreme delight. But the
enormities of the times in which I have lived, have forced me to take
a part in resisting them, and to commit myself on the boisterous ocean
of political passions. I thank God for the opportunity of retiring
from them without censure, and carrying with me the most consoling
proofs of public approbation. I leave everything in the hands of men
so able to take care of them, that if we are destined to meet
misfortunes, it will be because no human wisdom could avert them.
to Pierre Samuel Dupont de Nemours, 2 March 1809
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