George Washington

It is better to be alone than in bad company.
– George Washington

It’s wonderful what we can do if we’re always doing.
– George Washington

Be courteous to all, but intimate with a few. And let those few be well tried before you give
them your confidence.
– George Washington

A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient
arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to
abuse them, which would include their own government.
– George Washington

Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected.
– George Washington

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

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

There is nothing which can better deserve our patronage than the promotion of science and
literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness.
– George Washington

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

My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute
my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her.
– George Washington

Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.
– George Washington

Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth.
– George Washington

It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.
– George Washington

Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples’ liberty’s
teeth.
– George Washington

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.
– George Washington

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

The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens
unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments.
– George Washington

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.
– George Washington

The administration of justice is the firmest pillar of government.
– George Washington

It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government.
The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government.
– George Washington

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

Good company will always be found much less expensive than bad.
– George Washington

There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to
nation.
– George Washington

A people… who are possessed of the spirit of commerce, who see and who will pursue their
advantages may achieve almost anything.
– George Washington

To err is natural; to rectify error is glory.
– George Washington

There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily.
– George Washington

In politics as in religion, my tenets are few and simple. The leading one of which, and indeed
that which embraces most others, is to be honest and just ourselves and to exact it from
others, meddling as little as possible in their affairs where our own are not involved. If this
maxim was generally adopted, wars would cease and our swords would soon be converted
into reap hooks and our harvests be more peaceful, abundant, and happy.
– George Washington

Nothing is a greater stranger to my breast, or a sin that my soul more abhors, than that black
and detestable one, ingratitude.
– George Washington

99 percent of failures come from people who make excuses.
– George Washington

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.
– George Washington

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are
indispensable supports.
– George Washington

Much was to be done by prudence, much by conciliation, much by firmness.
– George Washington

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.
– George Washington

To stand well in the estimation of one’s country is a happiness that no rational creature can
be insensible of.
– George Washington

Government is not reason, it is not eloquence – it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant
and fearful master.
– George Washington

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

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.
– George Washington

The foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing is a vice so mean and low
that every person of sense and character detests and despises it.
– George Washington

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

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.
– George Washington

How soon we forget history… government is not reason. Government is not eloquence. It is
force. And, like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.
– George Washington

Worry is the interest paid by those who borrow trouble.
– George Washington

The government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion.
– George Washington

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

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.
– George Washington

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.
– George Washington

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.
– George Washington

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

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.
– George Washington

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

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

In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that
public opinion should be enlightened.
– George Washington

It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.
– George Washington

Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages.
– George Washington

The turning points of lives are not the great moments. The real crises are often concealed in
occurrences so trivial in appearance that they pass unobserved.
– George Washington

I shall make it the most agreeable part of my duty to study merit, and reward the brave and
deserving.
– George Washington

To persevere in one’s duty, and be silent is the best answer to calumny.
– George Washington

The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their
Constitutions of Government. But the Constitution which at any time exists, till changed by an
explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all.
– George Washington

If we are wise, let us prepare for the worst.
– George Washington

Let your discourse with men of business be short and comprehensive.
– George Washington

We must consult our means rather than our wishes.
– George Washington

It is infinitely better to have a few good men than many indifferent ones.
– George Washington

No people can be bound to acknowledge the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men
more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the
character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of
providential agency.
– George Washington

It was not my intention to doubt that, the doctrines of the Illuminati… had not spread in the
United States… no one is more truly satisfied of this fact than I am.
– George Washington

Let the reins of government then be braced and held with a steady hand, and every violation
of the constitution be reprehended. If defective, let it be amended, but not suffered to be
trampled upon whilst it has an existence.
– George Washington

A hundred thousand men, coming one after another, cannot move a ton weight; but the
united strength of 50 would transport it with ease.
– George Washington

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

I have the consolation to believe, that, while choice and prudence invite me to quit the
political scene, patriotism does not forbid it.
– George Washington

A slender acquaintance with the world must convince every man, that actions, not words, are
the true criterion of the attachment of friends; and that the most liberal professions of
good-will are very far from being the surest marks of it.
– George Washington

I walk on untrodden ground. There is scarcely any part of my conduct which may not
hereafter be drawn into precedent.
– George Washington

Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to the light.
– George Washington

The Constitution is the guide which I never will abandon.
– George Washington

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

Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.
– George Washington

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.
– George Washington

A primary object should be the education of our youth in the science of government. In a
republic, what species of knowledge can be equally important? And what duty more pressing
than communicating it to those who are to be the future guardians of the liberties of the
country?
– George Washington

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.
– George Washington

Make sure you are doing what God wants you to do – then do it with all your strength.
– George Washington

Rise early, that by habit it may become familiar, agreeable, healthy, and profitable. It may, for
a while, be irksome to do this, but that will wear off; and the practice will produce a rich
harvest forever thereafter; whether in public or private walks of life.
– George Washington

The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial
relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible.
– George Washington

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

Happiness depends more upon the internal frame of a person’s own mind, than on the
externals in the world.
– George Washington

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

For the sake of humanity, it is devoutly to be wished that the manly employment of agriculture,
and the humanizing benefit of commerce, would supersede the waste of war and the rage of
conquest; that the swords might be turned into ploughshares, the spears into pruning-hooks,
and, as the Scriptures express it, “the nations learn war no more.”
– George Washington

Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all.
– George Washington

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

A sensible woman can never be happy with a fool.
– George Washington

The government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no
assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves
as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.
– George Washington

Associate yourself with men of good quality, if you esteem your own reputation; for ’tis
better to be alone than in bad company.
– George Washington