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 While we are contending for our own liberty, we should be very cautious not to violate the rights of conscience in others, ever considering that God alone is the judge of the hearts of men, and to him only in this case they are answerable.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to Benedict Arnold, Sep. 14, 1775
Nothing is a greater stranger to my breast, or a sin that my soul more abhors, than that black and detestable one, ingratitude.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to Governor Dinwiddie, May 29, 1754
At a time, when our lordly masters in Great Britain will be satisfied with nothing less than the deprivation of American freedom, it seems highly necessary that something should be done to avert the stroke, and maintain the liberty, which we have derived from our ancestors. But the manner of doing it, to answer the purpose effectually, is the point in question. That no man should scruple, or hesitate a moment, to use arms in defence of so valuable a blessing, on which all the good and evil of life depends, is clearly my opinion. Yet arms, I would beg leave to add, should be the last resource, the dernier resort. Addresses to the throne, and remonstrances to Parliament, we have already, it is said, proved the inefficacy of. How far, then, their attention to our rights and privileges is to be awakened or alarmed, by starving their trade and manufacturers, remains to be tried.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to George Mason, Apr. 5, 1769
I shall not be deprived ... of a comfort in the worst event, if I retain a consciousness of having acted to the best of my judgment.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to Colonel Bassett, Jun. 19, 1775
There is a Destiny which has the control of our actions, not to be resisted by the strongest efforts of Human Nature.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to Mrs. George William Fairfax, Sep. 12, 1758
Remember that it is the actions, and not the commission, that make the officer, and that there is more expected from him, than the title.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, Address to the Officers of the Virginia Regiment, Jan. 8, 1756
It is with pleasure I receive reproof, when reproof is due, because no person can be readier to accuse me, than I am to acknowledge an error, when I am guilty of one; nor more desirous of atoning for a crime, when I am sensible of having committed it.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to Governor Dinwiddie, Aug. 27, 1757
I have diligently sought the public welfare; and have endeavoured to inculcate the same principles in all that are under me. These reflections will be a cordial to my mind as long as I am able to distinguish between Good & Evil.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to the Speaker of the House of Burgesses, Dec. 1756
The ways of Providence being inscrutable, and the justice of it not to be scanned by the shallow eye of humanity, nor to be counteracted by the utmost efforts of human power or wisdom, resignation, and as far as the strength of our reason and religion can carry us, a cheerful acquiescence to the Divine Will, is what we are to aim.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to Colonel Bassett, Apr. 25, 1773
A man's intentions should be allowed in some respects to plead for his actions.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to the Speaker of the House of Burgesses, Dec. 1756
I shall make it the most agreeable part of my duty to study merit, and reward the brave and deserving.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, Address to the Officers of the Virginia Regiment, Jan. 8, 1756
By the all-powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability and expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, altho' death was levelling my companions on every side.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to John A. Washington, Jul. 18, 1755
Labour to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire, called conscience.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, Rules of Behavior
It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliance with any portion of the foreign world.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, Farewell Address to the People of the United States
Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak and esteem to all.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to the Captains of the Virginia Regiments
Of all the animosities which have existed among mankind, those which are caused by a difference of sentiments in religion appear to be the most inveterate and distressing, and ought most to be deprecated.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to Sir Edward Newenham, Oct. 20, 1792
Few men have virtue enough to withstand the highest bidder.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter, Aug. 17, 1779
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 appellation.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter, Jan. 15, 1783
A people... who are possessed of the spirit of commerce, who see and who will pursue their advantages may achieve almost anything.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to Benjamin Harrison
I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is the best policy.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, Farewell Address to the People of the United States
Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains taken to bring it to light.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to Charles M. Thruston, Aug. 10, 1794
As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is, to use it as sparingly as possible; avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it; avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of peace to discharge the debts, which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burthen, which we ourselves ought to bear.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, Farewell Address, Sep. 17, 1796
However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, Farewell Address, Sep. 17, 1796
To contract new debts is not the way to pay old ones.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to James Welch, Apr. 7, 1799
There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet an enemy.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to Elbridge Gerry, Jan. 29, 1780
Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to James Madison, Mar. 2, 1788
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