I am led to reflect how much more delightful to an undebauched mind is the task of making improvements on the earth, than all the vain glory which can be acquired from ravaging it by the most uninterrupted career of conquests.
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Richard Peters (1847). “Letters on Agriculture from His Excellency, George Washington, President of the United States, to Arthur Young, Esq., F.R.S., and Sir John Sinclair, Bart., M.P.: With Statistical Tables and Remarks, by Thomas Jefferson, Richard Peters, and Other Gentlemen, on the Economy and Management of Farms in the United States”, p.24
