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George Washington Quotes
Read some great George Washington Quotes here in chronological order.
These quotes are from Washington's diaries, speeches, documents and
letters. George Washington had some very penetrating views on lots of issues that are
important to us today. Find out what he thought about all kinds of
issues. These George Washington Quotes are listed chronologically and
there are links to more at the bottom of the page.
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George Washington
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For a list of interesting George Washington Facts, click here.
George Washington Quotes
"To me, it appears no unjust simile to compare the affairs of this great
Continent to the mechanism of a clock, each state representing some one
or other of the smaller parts of it which they are endeavoring to put
in fine order without considering how useless & unavailing their labor
is unless the great Wheel or Spring which is to set the whole in motion
is also well attended to & kept in good order." - Letter to George
Mason, March 27, 1779
"Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!" - Letter to James
Warren, March 31, 1779
"It is most devoutly to be wished that the several States would adopt
some vigorous measures for the purpose of giving credit to the paper
currency and punishment of speculators, forestallers and others who
are preying upon the vitals of this great Country and putting every
thing to the utmost hazard. Alas! what is virtue come to; what a
miserable change has four years produced in the temper and dispositions
of the Sons of America! It really shocks me to think of it!"
- Letter to Burwell Bassett, April 22, 1779
"What students would learn in American schools above all is the religion
of Jesus Christ." - Speech to the Delaware Indian Chiefs, May 12, 1779
"I am glad you have brought three of the Children of your principal Chiefs
to be educated with us. I am sure Congress will open the Arms of love to
them, and will look upon them, and will look upon them as their own Children,
and will have them educated accordingly. This is a great mark of your
confidence and of your desire to preserve friendship between the Two
Nations to the end of time, and to become One People with your Brethren
of the United States. My ears hear with pleasure the other matters you
mention. Congress will be glad to hear them too. You do well to wish to
learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus
Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are.
Congress will do everything they can to assist you in this wise intention;
and to tie the knot of friendship and union so fast, that nothing shall
ever be able to loose it." - To the Chiefs of the Delaware Indian
tribe, who had brought three youths to be trained in American schools,
May 12, 1779
"To please every body is impossible; were I to undertake it I should
probably please no body. If I know myself I have no partialities. I have
from the beginning, and I will to the end pursue to the best of my judgment
and abilities one steady line of conduct for the good of the great whole.
This will, under all circumstances administer consolation to myself however
short I may fall of the expectations of others." - Letter to John
Armstrong, May 18, 1779
"To stand well in the estimation of one's country is a happiness that no
rational creature can be insensible of." - Letter to Joseph Reed, July
29, 1779
Here are Some More
George Washington Quotes
George
Washington
"I hate deception, even where the imagination only is concerned." - Letter
to Dr. John Cochran, August 16, 1779
"The best and only safe road to honor, glory, and true dignity is justice."
- Letter to the Marquis de Lafayette, September 30, 1779
"No distance can keep anxious lovers long asunder." - Letter to the
Marquis de Lafayette, September 30, 1779
"Amidst all the wonders recorded in holy writ no instance can be produced
where a young woman from real inclination has preferred an old man."
- Letter to the Marquis de Lafayette, September 30, 1779
"And above all... He hath diffused the glorious light of the gospel, whereby,
through the merits of our gracious Redeemer; we may become the heirs of His
eternal glory." - General Orders, quoting a congressional proclamation,
November 27, 1779
"A slender acquaintance with the world must convince every man, that actions,
not words, are the true criterion of the attachment of his friends, and that
the most liberal professions of good will are very far from being the surest
marks of it." - Letter to Major General John Sullivan, December 15,
1779
"Facts may speak for themselves." - Letter to Major General Nathaniel
Greene, January 22, 1780
A few more
George Washington Quotes
"There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet
an enemy." - Letter to Elbridge Gerry, January 29, 1780
"Orders, unless they are followed by close attention to the performance of them,
are of little avail." - Letter to Lord Stirling, March 5, 1780
"Example, whether it be good or bad, has a powerful influence, and the higher
in Rank the officer is, who sets it, the more striking it is." - Letter to
Lord Stirling, March 5, 1780
"The best way to preserve the confidence of the people durably is to promote
their true interests." - Letter to Joseph Reed, July 4, 1780
"When any great object is in view, the popular mind is roused into expectation,
and prepared to make sacrifices both of ease and property. If those, to whom
they confide the management of their affairs, do not call them to make these
sacrifices, and the object is not attained, or they are involved in the
reproach of not having contributed as much as they ought to have done
towards it, they will be mortified at the disappointment, they will feel
the censure, and their resentment will rise against those, who, with
sufficient authority, have omitted to do what their interest and their
honor required." - Letter to Joseph Reed, July 4, 1780
"Extensive powers not exercised as far as was necessary have, I believe,
scarcely ever failed to ruin the possessor." - Letter to Joseph Reed,
July 4, 1780
"Unless the States will content themselves with a full and well-chosen
representation in Congress and vest that body with absolute powers in all
matters relative to the great purposes of war, and of general concern...
we are attempting an impossibility, and very soon shall become (if it is
not already the case) a many-headed monster--a heterogenious mass--that
never will or can steer to the same point." - Letter to Fielding Lewis,
July 6, 1780
"To rectify past blunders is impossible, but we might profit by the experience
of them." - Letter to Fielding Lewis, July 6, 1780
"We shall never have Peace till the enemy are convinced that we are in a
condition to carry on the War. It is no new maxim in politics that for a
nation to obtain Peace, or insure it, It must be prepared for War."
- Letter to Fielding Lewis, July 6, 1780
"Had we formed a permanent army in the beginning, which, by the continuance
of the same men in service, had been capable of discipline, we never should
have had to retreat with a handful of men across the Delaware in '76,
trembling for the fate of America, which nothing but the infatuation of
the enemy could have saved; we should not have remained all the succeeding
winter at their mercy, with sometimes scarcely a sufficient body of men to
mount the ordinary guards, liable at every moment to be dissipated, if they
had only thought proper to march against us; we should not have been under
the necessity of fighting at Brandywine, with an unequal number of raw
troops, and afterwards of seeing Philadelphia fall a prey to a victorious
army; we should not have been at Valley Forge with less than half the force
of the enemy, destitute of every thing, in a situation neither to resist
nor to retire; we should not have seen New York left with a handful of men,
yet an overmatch for the main army of these States, while the principal
part of their force was detached for the reduction of two of them; we
should not have found ourselves this spring so weak, as to be insulted by
five thousand men, unable to protect our baggage and Magazines, their
security depending on a good countenance, and a want of enterprise in
the enemy; we should not have been the greatest part of the war inferior
to the enemy, indebted for our safety to their inactivity, enduring
frequently the mortification of seeing inviting opportunities to ruin
them pass unimproved for want of a force, which the country was completely
able to afford; to see the Country ravaged, our towns burnt, the inhabitants
plundered, abused, murdered with impunity from the same cause. There is
every reason to believe, the War has been protracted on this account.
Our opposition being less, made the successes of the enemy greater.
The fluctuation of the army kept alive their hopes, and at every
period of the dissolution of a considerable part of it, they have
flattered themselves with some decisive advantages. Had we kept a
permanent army on foot, the enemy could have had nothing to hope for,
and would in all probability have listened to terms long since."
- Letter to the President of Congress, August 20, 1780
We have lots more George Washington Quotes for you!
Did you enjoy these George Washington Quotes? Check out these inspirational quotes from some other Founding Fathers
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