“Man was made for action and for bustle too, I believe.”

Letter to her sister, Mary Smith Cranch (1784)
Context: I begin to think, that a calm is not desirable in any situation in life. Every object is beautiful in motion; a ship under sail, trees gently agitated with the wind, and a fine woman dancing, are three instances in point. Man was made for action and for bustle too, I believe.

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Abigail Adams 40
2nd First Lady of the United States (1797–1801) 1744–1818

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