George Washington Quotations

It is our duty to make the best of our misfortunes, and not to suffer passion to interfere with our interest and public good. 

"Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder." 

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

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. 

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. 

There is no restraining men's tongues or pens when charged with a little vanity. 

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

Reason, too late perhaps, may convince you of the folly in misspending time.

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

To err is nature, to rectify error is glory.

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

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

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

To be prepared for War is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.

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

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

A government is like fire, a handy servant, but a dangerous master.

Government is not reason. It is not eloquence. It is a force, like fire: a dangerous servant and a terrible master.

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