George Washington Quotes

It is far better to be alone, than to be in bad company.

The bosom of America is open to receive not only the Opulent and respectable Stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all Nations And Religions; whom we shall wellcome to a participation of all our rights and previleges...

I had always hoped that this land might become a safe and agreeable asylum to the virtuous and persecuted part of mankind, to whatever nation they might belong.

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

What is most important of this grand experiment, the United States? Not the election of the first president but the election of its second president. The peaceful transition of power is what will separate this country from every other country in the world.

But if the laws are to be so trampled upon with impunity, and a minority is to dictate to the majority, there is an end put at one stroke to republican government, and nothing but anarchy and confusion is to be expected thereafter.

Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself.

A free people ought not only 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.

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.

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

The Constitution is the guide which I never will abandon.

Worry is the interest paid by those who borrow trouble.

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

Be Americans. Let there be no sectionalism, no North, South, East or West. You are all dependent on one another and should be one in union. In one word, be a nation. Be Americans, and be true to yourselves.

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.

Where are our Men of abilities? Why do they not come forth to save their Country?

Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.

While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian.

Working on your biceps? Try chopping down a cherry tree.

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.

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

Freemasonry is founded on the immutable laws of Truth and Justice and its grand object is to promote the happiness of the human race.

My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother.

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

Freemasonry is an institution founded on eternal reason and truth;

whose deep basis is the civilization of mankind, and whose everlasting glory it is to have the immovable support of those two mighty pillars, science and morality.

Without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive.

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

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

It follows then as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, and with it, everything honorable and glorious.

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

Religion and morality are the essential pillars of civil society.

A pack of jackasses led by a lion is superior to a pack of lions led by a jackass.

Not all Masons are obligated on the Christian Bible.

Masonry is universal and men of every creed are eligible for membership so long as they accept the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man. Therefore, the candidate should be obligated on the Book of the Sacred Law which he accepts as such since his obligation is a solemn and binding one.

A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined;

to which end a uniform and well-digested plan is requisite; and their safety and interest require that they should promote such manufactories as tend to render them independent of others for essential, particularly military, supplies.

I consider it an indispensible duty to close this last solemn act of my official life by commending the interests of our dearest country to the protection of Almighty God and those who have the superintendence of them into his Holy keeping.

The constitution vests the power of declaring war in Congress;

therefore no offensive expedition of importance can be undertaken until after they shall have deliberated upon the subject and authorized such a measure.

There came to port last Sunday night The queerest little craft, Without an inch of rigging on; I looked and looked--and laughed. It seemed so curious that she Should cross the unknown water, And moor herself within my room-- My daughter! O my daughter!

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.

Serious misfortunes, originating in misrepresentation, frequently flow and spread before they can be dissipated by truth.

The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.

Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation;

for it is better to be alone than in bad company.

The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism.

The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositories, and constituting each the guardian of the public weal against invasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and modern, some of them in our country and under our own eyes.

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.

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...

Good moral character is the first essential in a man.

Let your Discourse with Men of Business be Short and Comprehensive.

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

Every post is honourable in which a man can serve his country.

One thing and only one thing a Masonic Lodge can give its members which they can get nowhere else in the world. That one thing is Masonry.

We take the star from Heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity representing liberty.