Quotes from George Washington

No distance can keep anxious lovers long asunder.

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

I am persuaded, you will permit me to observe, that the path of true piety is so plain as to require but little political direction.

Let no one go hungry away. If any of the kind of people should be in want of corn, supply their necessities, provided it does not encourage them in idleness.

Be easy and condescending in your deportment to your officers, but not too familiar, lest you subject yourself to a want of respect, which is necessary to support a proper command.

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

We must never despair; our situation has been compromising before, and it has changed for the better; so I trust it will again. If difficulties arise, we must put forth new exertion and proportion our efforts to the exigencies of the times.

Actions, not words, are the true criterion of the attachment of friends.

It [gaming] is the child of avarice, the brother of iniquity, and the father of mischief.

Action, not words, are the true criterion of the attachment of friends.

Military arrangement, and movements in consequence, like the mechanism of a clock, will be imperfectand disordered by the want of a part.

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

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

Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force...Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.

There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet the enemy.

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.

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

Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected.

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

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.

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

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

Few people have the virtue to withstand the highest bidder.

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