George Washington Quotes

Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.

Worry is the interest paid by those who borrow trouble.”

To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.”

It is far better to be alone, than to be in bad company.”

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.”

True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity, before it is entitled to the appellation.”

If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”

Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth.”

Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire, called conscience.”

Lenience will operate with greater force, in some instances than rigor. It is therefore my first wish to have all of my conduct distinguished by it.”

If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known, that we are at all times ready for War.”

The Constitution is the guide which I never will abandon.”

Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all.”

Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”

Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.”

Nothing can be more hurtful to the service, than the neglect of discipline; for that discipline, more than numbers, gives one army the superiority over another.”

A slender acquaintance with the world must convince every man that actions, not words, are the true criterion of the attachment of friends.”

I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.”

We should not look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dearly bought experience.”

It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.”

Experience teaches us that it is much easier to prevent an enemy from posting themselves than it is to dislodge them after they have got possession.”

Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the rest is in the hands of God.”

Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected.”

My first wish is to see this plague of mankind, war, banished from the earth”

Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light.”

Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness.”

When we assumed the Soldier, we did not lay aside the Citizen.”

Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.”

The basis of our political system is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government.”

The time is near at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves.”

Laws made by common consent must not be trampled on by individuals.”

My observation is that whenever one person is found adequate to the discharge of a duty... it is worse executed by two persons, and scarcely done at all if three or more are employed therein.”

Bad seed is a robbery of the worst kind: for your pocket-book not only suffers by it, but your preparations are lost and a season passes away unimproved.”

Some day, following the example of the United States of America, there will be a United States of Europe.”

It is impossible to reason without arriving at a Supreme Being.”