FridayFeb 13, 2026
Quotes: 53419 Authors: 9969
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.
When it was reported to General Washington that the army was frequently indulging in swearing, he immediately sent out the following order: The general is sorry to be informed that the foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing a vice little known heretofore in the American army is growing into fashion. Let the men and officers reflect 'that we can not hope for the blessing of heaven on our army if we insult it by our impiety and folly.'
On April 30, 1789, George Washington, standing on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York, took his oath of office as the first President of the United States. Of this he wrote to James Madison: As the first of every thing, in our situation will serve to establish a Precedent, it is devoutly wished on my part, that these precedents may be fixed on true principles.
I know [patriotism] exists, and I know it has done much in the present contest. But a great and lasting war can never be supported on this principle alone. It must be aided by a prospect of interest, or some reward.
The new constitution established a president with powers unheard of in the republican United States. Some even wanted him to be king, a thought that GW found ludicrous: What astonishing changes a few years are capable of producing! I am told that even respectable characters speak of a monarchical form of government without horror. From thinking proceeds speaking, thence to acting is often but a single step. But how irrevocable and tremendous! What a triumph for the advocates of despotism to find that we are incapable of governing ourselves, and that systems founded on the basis of equal liberty are merely ideal & fallacious!
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.
If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.
One of his officers, Henry Lee, summed up contemporary public opinion of Washington: First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.
We ought to be persuaded that the propitious smiles of heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which heaven itself has ordained.
I go to the chair of government with feelings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to the place of his execution.
Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable, procures success to the weak, and esteem to all.
Be courteous to all, but intimate with few; and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.
Written about Washington after his death by another of the founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson: His mind was great and powerful ... as far as he saw, no judgment was ever sounder. It was slow in operation, being little aided by invention or imagination, but sure in conclusion.... Perhaps the strongest feature in his character was prudence, never acting until every circumstance, every consideration, was maturely weighed; refraining if he saw doubt, but, when once decided, going through his purpose, whatever obstacles opposed. His integrity was the most pure, his justice the most inflexible I have ever known.... He was, indeed, in every sense of the words, a wise, a good and a great man ... On the whole, his character was, in its mass, perfect ... it may truly be said, that never did nature and fortune combine more perfectly to make a man great....
I am once more seated under my own vine and fig tree ... and hope to spend the remainder of my days in peaceful retirement, making political pursuits yield to the more rational amusement of cultivating the earth.
I am led to reflect how much more delightful to an undebauched mind, is the task of making improvements on the earth, than all the vain glory which can be acquired from ravaging it, by the most uninterrupted career of conquests.
President Washington's second oath of office was taken in the Senate Chamber of Congress Hall in Philadelphia on March 4, the date fixed by the Continental Congress for inaugurations. Before an assembly of Congressmen, Cabinet officers, judges of the fede
Reason, too late perhaps, may convince you of the folly of misspending time.
'T is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world.
One of George Washington's main concerns was to make sure that his soldiers had adequate supplies of meat: A part of the army has been a week without any kind of flesh, and the rest three or four days. Naked and starving as they are, we cannot enough admire the incomparable patience and fidelity of the soldiery, that they have not been ere this excited by their suffering to a general mutiny and dispersion.
Labour to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire,conscience.
To err is natural; to rectify error is glory.
In his address of 19 September 1796, given as he prepared to leave office, President George Washington spoke about the importance of morality to the country's well-being: Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports.... And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion.... Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a Nation with its virtue?
Following his brief inaugural address to the Congress, President George Washington and his party walked over to St. Pauls Church for divine services. His prayer that afternoon was: 'Almighty God, we make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government; to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow-citizens of the United States at large.'
To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving the peace.
Our country's honor calls upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion; and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world.
I attribute my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education which I received from my mother.
Over grown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty.
The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered ... deeply, ... finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.
I die hard but am not afraid to go.
Undertake not what you can not perform, but be careful to keep your promises.
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.
Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.
The consideration that human happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected will always continue to prompt me to promote the former by inculcating the practice of the latter.
Whereas, it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor, and; Whereas, both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee,
True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.
True friendship is a plant of slow growth.
In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened.
Let your heart feel for the affliction and distress of everyone.
Nothing is more harmful to the service, than the neglect of discipline; for that discipline, more than numbers, gives one army superiority over another.
The very idea of the power and right of the people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government.
I conceive that a knowledge of books is the basis on which all other knowledge rests.
Worry, the interest paid by those who borrow trouble.
Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master.
It is a maxim founded on the universal experience of mankind that no nation is to be trusted farther than it is bound by its interest.
Mankind, when left to themselves, are unfit for their own government.
Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth.
There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet the enemy.
Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.
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