George Washington Quotes

Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation deserts the oaths . . . ?

All I am I owe to my mother.

I was summoned by my Country, whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love.

It is our boast, that a man's religious tenets will not forfeit the protection of the Laws.

The Stamp Act imposed on the colonies by the Parliament of Great Britain is an ill-judged measure. Parliament has no right to put its hands into our pockets without our consent.

There is no shortcut to achievement.

An aching head and trembling limbs, which are the inevitable effects of drinking, disincline the hands from work.

I had rather be on my farm than be emperor of the world.

I think I'll sleep now.

The reflection upon my situation and that of this army produces many an uneasy hour when all around me are wrapped in sleep. Few people know the predicament we are in.

Agriculture is the most healthful, most useful, and most noble employment of man

Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!

Let your conversation be without malice or envy, for it is a sign of a tractable and commendable nature; and in all cases of passion admit reason to govern.

In the appointments to the great offices of the government, my aim has been to combine geographical situation, and sometimes other considerations, with abilities and fitness of known characters.

Do not conceive that fine clothes make fine men any more than fine feathers make fine birds.

Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and show the whole world that a Freeman, contending for liberty on his own ground, is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth.

Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attachment.

Like as a wise man in time of peace prepares for war.

To rectify past blunders is impossible, but we might profit by the experience of them.

I hate deception, even where the imagination only is concerned.

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

One of the expedients of party to acquire influence, within particular districts, is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts.

Mankind, when left to themselves, are unfit for their own government.

Refrain from drink which is the source of all evil-and the ruin of half the workmen in this Country.

If you can't send money, send tobacco.

The fundamental principle of our constitution ... enjoins the sense of command, duty that the will of the majority shall prevail.

Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue?

I shall not be deprived ... of a comfort in the worst event, if I retain a consciousness of having acted to the best of my judgment.

Be courteous to all, but personal with number of, and allow those couple be perfectly attempted ahead of you provide them with your self-assurance.

I am principled against selling negroes, as you would do cattle at a market.

Let us rejoice at the many unexplored fields in which there is unlimited fame and fortune to the successful explorer . . .

Patience is a noble virtue, and, when rightly exercised, does not fail of its reward.

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.

The name of American, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism . . .

We can not guarantee success, we can strive to deserve it.

Let me ask you, sir, when is the time for brave men to exert themselves in the cause of liberty and their country, if this is not?

Liberty, when it degrades into licentiousness, begets confusion, and frequently ends in tyranny or some woeful confusion.

The great mass of our citizens require only to understand matters rightly, to form right decisions.

Be not forward, but friendly and courteous; the first to salute, hear and answer; and be not pensive when it is time to converse.

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

Let us therefore rely on the goodness of the cause, and the aid of the supreme Being, in whose hands victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble actions.

Be not glad at the misfortune of another, though he may be your enemy.

When once the woman has tempted us, and we have tasted the forbidden fruit, there is no such thing as checking our appetites, whatever the consequences may be.

We beseech [God] to pardon our national and other transgressions.

Strive not with your superiors in argument, but always submit your judgment to others with modesty.

There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily

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

Every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more, that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome.

I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy.

I conceive a knowledge of books is the basis upon which other knowledge is to be built.