Looking for the best and inspirational George Washington quotes?
George Washington was an American politician. He is considered the father of America because he led the United States to fight for independence from Great Britain and helped create the nation’s government.
He was born on February 22, 1732, in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He spent a lot of time with his family, especially with his mother, who passed away when he was 10 years old. After his father died during the French and Indian War, Washington took over as the head of the family and learned how to manage their plantation. He may have been a military general, but his life wasn’t all about battles and fighting. He married Martha Dandridge, who bore him six children, including John and Martha Washington.
Washington became a Virginia planter and eventually purchased land that would lead him into politics. In 1775, war broke out between Great Britain and America; it led to Washington being elected as Commander-in-Chief of all American armies fighting against British forces.
Being the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797, he was known for being a risk-taker in his personal life. And considered to be one of the biggest icons in America.
These are the best quotes from him, and they will help you develop a sense of integrity.
85 Most Famous George Washington Quotes
“Happiness depends more upon the internal frame of a person’s own mind, than on the externals in the world.”
“The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph.“
“If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”
“I shall make it the most agreeable part of my duty to study merit, and reward the brave and deserving.”
“It is impossible to reason without arriving at a Supreme Being.”
“Wherein you reprove another be unblameable yourself, for example is more prevalent than precepts.”
“Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness.”
“Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.”
“Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages.”
“Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation.”
“The value of liberty was thus enhanced in our estimation by the difficulty of its attainment, and the worth of characters appreciated by the trial of adversity.”
“There is a Destiny which has the control of our actions, not to be resisted by the strongest efforts of Human Nature.”
“The time is near at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves.”
“Real men despise battle, but will never run from it.”
“Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and show the whole world that a Freeman, contending for liberty on his own ground, is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth.”
“Someday, following the example of the United States of America, there will be a United States of Europe.”
“In the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”
“I hope, some day or another, we shall become a storehouse and granary for the world.”
“Nothing can be more hurtful to the service, than the neglect of discipline; for that discipline, more than numbers, gives one army the superiority over another.”
“Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire, called conscience.”
“A people who are possessed of the spirit of commerce, who see and who will pursue their advantages may achieve almost anything.”
“To contract new debts is not the way to pay old ones.”
“Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all.”
“Overgrown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty.”
“Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today.”
“Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected.”
“It is far better to be alone than to be 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.”
“Worry is the interest paid by those who borrow trouble.”
“I’ll die on my feet before I’ll live on my knees!”
“I know of no pursuit in which more real and important services can be rendered to any country than by improving its agriculture, its breed of useful animals, and other branches of a husbandman’s cares.”
“There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet the enemy.”
“Every post is honorable in which a man can serve his country.”
“99% of failures come from people who make excuses.”
“Observe good faith and justice towards all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all.”
“It will be found an unjust and unwise jealousy to deprive a man of his natural liberty upon the supposition he may abuse it.”
“Let your heart feel for the afflictions and distress of everyone.”
“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.”
“Let your Discourse with Men of Business be short and comprehensive.”
“There is nothing which can better deserve your patronage, than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness.”
“Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.”
“It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.”
“Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.”
“To encourage literature and the arts is a duty which every good citizen owes to his country.”
“Paper money has had the effect in your state that it will ever have, to ruin commerce, oppress the honest, and open the door to every species of fraud and injustice.”
“A man’s intentions should be allowed in some respects to plead for his actions.”
“Associate yourself with men of good quality, if you esteem your own reputation; for ‘tis better to be alone than in bad company.”
“The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of government, are justly considered deeply, perhaps as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.”
“Let your heart feel for the afflictions and distress of everyone, and let your hand give in proportion to your purse.”
“To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.”
“There can be no greater error than to expect, or calculate, upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard.”
“The turning points of lives are not the great moments. The real crises are often concealed in occurrences so trivial in appearance that they pass unobserved.”
“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.”
“Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the rest is in the hands of God.”
“I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is the best policy.”
“No punishment, in my opinion, is to great, for the man who can build his greatness upon his country’s ruin.”
“Those who have committed no faults want no pardon. We are only defending what we deem our indisputable rights.”
“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.”
“Adhere to your purpose and you will soon feel as well as you ever did. On the contrary, if you falter, and give up, you will lose the power of keeping any resolution, and will regret it all your life.”
“I walk slowly, but I never walk backward.”
“We must consult our means rather than our wishes.”
“We should not look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from the past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dearly bought experience.”
“Nothing is a greater stranger to my breast, or a sin that my soul more abhors, than that black and detestable one, ingratitude.”
“More permanent and genuine happiness is to be found in the sequestered walks of connubial life than in the giddy rounds of promiscuous pleasure.”
“Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.”
“Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for, I have grown not only gray but almost blind in the service of my country.”
“Make sure you are doing what God wants you to do—then do it with all your strength.”
“Be not glad at the misfortune of another, though he may be your enemy.”
“The Constitution is the guide which I never will abandon.”
“The foundation of a great Empire is laid, and I please myself with a persuasion, that Providence will not leave its work imperfect.”
“Liberty when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth.”
“But if we are to be told by a foreign power what we shall do, and what we shall not do, we have Independence yet to seek, and have contended hitherto for very little.”
“I conceive a knowledge of books is the basis upon which other knowledge is to be built.”
“If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”
“Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light.”
“Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.”
“Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for, I have grown not only gray, but almost blind in the service of my country.”
