Quotes By George Washington

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

I have no other view than to promote the public good, and am unambitious of honors not founded in the approbation of my Country.

Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples' liberty's teeth.

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

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.

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

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

We are persuaded that good Christians will always be good citizens, and that where righteousness prevails among individuals the Nation will be great and happy. Thus while just government protects all in their religious rights, true religion affords to government it's surest support.

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

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

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

It may be laid down as a primary position, and the basis of our system, that every Citizen who enjoys the protection of a Free Government, owes not only a proportion of his property, but even of his personal services to the defense of it.

There can be no greater error than to expect, or calculate, upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

Let your heart feel for the afflictions and distress of everyone, and let your hand give in proportion to your purse.

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

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.

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.

The Constitution is the guide which I never will abandon.

Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected.

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

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.

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.