Quotes from George Washington

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

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

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

• Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples’ liberty’s teeth.
• Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.
• Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.
• True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity, before it is entitled to the appellation.
• 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.
• The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference – they deserve a place of honor with all that’s good.
• It is better to be alone than in bad company.
• 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.
• Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light.
• 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.
• The time is near at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves.
• 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.
• Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness.
• Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the rest is in the hands of God.
• Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all.
• The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments.
• Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected.
• Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire, called conscience.
• To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.
• It will be found an unjust and unwise jealousy to deprive a man of his natural liberty upon the supposition he may abuse it.
• My first wish is to see this plague of mankind, war, banished from the earth.
• The Constitution is the guide which I never will abandon.
• We are persuaded that good Christians will always be good citizens, and that where righteousness prevails among individuals the Nation will be great and happy. Thus while just government protects all in their religious rights, true religion affords to government it’s surest support.
• It may be laid down as a primary position, and the basis of our system, that every Citizen who enjoys the protection of a Free Government, owes not only a proportion of his property, but even of his personal services to the defense of it.
• Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth.
• I have no other view than to promote the public good, and am unambitious of honors not founded in the approbation of my Country.