George Washington Quotes

The Constitution is the guide which I never will abandon.

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

Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.

I am sure that never was a people, who had more reason to acknowledge a Divine interposition in their affairs, than those of the United States; and I should be pained to believe that they have forgotten that agency, which was so often manifested during our Revolution, or that they failed to consider the omnipotence of that God who is alone able to protect them.

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

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

Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.

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.

Paper money has had the effect in your state that it will ever have, to ruin commerce, oppress the honest, and open the door to every species of fraud and injustice.

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.

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

As Mankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality.

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.

Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all.

To encourage literature and the arts is a duty which every good citizen owes to his country.

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

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

To persevere in one's duty, and be silent is the best answer to calumny

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

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

Over grown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty.

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

The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.

I am for free commerce with all nations; political connection with none; and little or no diplomatic establishment

Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.

A government is like fire, a handy servant, but a dangerous master.

Precedents are dangerous things; let the rein of government then be braced and held with a steady hand.

Government is not reason, it is not eloquence — it is force.

Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can exist apart from religious principle.

Experience has taught us that men will not adopt and carry into execution measures the best calculated for their own good without the intervention of a coercive power.

In a free and republican government, you cannot restrain the voice of the multitude.

I can only say that there is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see a plan adopted for the abolition of slavery.

It is our policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world.

It will be found an unjust and unwise jealousy to deprive a man of his natural liberty upon the supposition he may abuse it.

I earnestly pray that the Omnipotent Being who has not deserted the cause of America in the hour of its extremest hazard, will never yield so fair a heritage of freedom a prey to 'Anarchy' or 'Despotism'.

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.

In executing the duties of my present important station, I can promise nothing but purity of intentions, and, in carrying these into effect, fidelity and diligence.

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