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George Washington

1st President of the United States; commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolution (1732-1799)

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

– George Washington

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Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected.

– George Washington

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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.

– George Washington

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Money, we know, will fetch anything and command the service of any man.

– George Washington

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Not only do I pray for it, on the score of human dignity, but I can clearly forsee that nothing but the rooting out of slavery can perpetuate the existence of our union, by consolidating it in a common bond of principle.

– George Washington

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

– George Washington

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

– George Washington

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I do not mean to exclude altogether the idea of patriotism. I know it exists, and I know it has done much in the present contest. But I will venture to assert, that 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.

– George Washington

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If I could have entertained the slightest apprehension that the Constitution framed by the Convention, where I had the honor to preside, might possibly endanger the religious rights of any ecclesiastical Society, certainly I would never have placed my signature to it.

– George Washington

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The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.

– George Washington

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The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is in extending our commercial relations to have as little political connection as possible... Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalships, interest, humor, or caprice?... It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world.

– George Washington

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

– George Washington

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To encourage literature and the arts is a duty which every good citizen owes to his country.

– George Washington

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True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.

– George Washington

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

– George Washington

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Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.

– George Washington

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

– George Washington

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

– George Washington

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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.

– George Washington

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Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.

– George Washington

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'Tis our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world.

– George Washington

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Differences in political opinion are as unavoidable as, to a certain point, they may perhaps be necessary.

– George Washington

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

– George Washington

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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.

– George Washington

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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.

– George Washington

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To please everybody is impossible were I to undertake it, I should probably please nobody.

– George Washington

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

– George Washington

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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.

– George Washington

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Real men despise battle, but will never run from it.

– George Washington

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The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish Government, presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established Government.

– George Washington

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There is nothing that gives a man consequence, and renders him fit for command, like a support that renders him independent of everybody but the State he serves.

– George Washington

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Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.

– George Washington

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The foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing is a vice so mean and low that every person of sense and character detests and despises it.

– George Washington

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

– George Washington

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Over grown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty.

– George Washington

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You will therefore send me none but Natives, and Men of some property, if you have them.

– George Washington

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[T]he policy or advantage of [immigration] taking place in a body (I mean the settling of them in a body) may be much questioned; for, by so doing, they retain the language, habits, and principles (good or bad) which they bring with them. Whereas by an intermixture with our people, they, or their descendants, get assimilated to our customs, measures, and laws: in a word, soon become one people.

– George Washington

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

– George Washington

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Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness.

– George Washington

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May the father of all mercies scatter light, and not darkness, upon our paths, and make us in all our several vocations useful here, and in his own due time and way everlastingly happy.

– George Washington

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There can be no greater error than to expect, or calculate upon real favours from Nation to Nation. 'Tis an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard.

– George Washington

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