Washington once advised his adopted grandson that where there is no occasion for expressing an opinion, it is best to be silent. For there is nothing more certain than that it is at all times...

And shall we at last become the victims of our own abominable lust of gain? Forbid it, Heaven.” Washington himself could be a hard driving businessman, yet he found the rapacity of many vendors unconscionable....

(regarding Charles Lee) This eccentric and notably slovenly man was always trailed by his beloved dogs. “When I can be convinced that men are as worthy objects as dogs”, he once explained, “I shall transfer...

[Philip’s death was] beyond comparison the most afflicting of my life…. He was truly a fine youth. But why should I repine? It was the will of heaven and he is now out of the...

As often is the case with addictions, the fanciful notion of a gradual discontinuance only provided a comforting pretext for more sustained indulgence.