The voices / 98 fragments

George Washington

1732 AD — 1799 AD

Listed in the author section of Bartlett’s ninth-edition anthology, in the linked 1905 printing. Dates reflect that historical edition and may differ from modern scholarship.

Author and source reference ↗

▷ Play this voice Search within this voice ↗Place in time ↗work peace truth friendship happiness character life love

Historical source references

Rule from the Copy-book of Washington when a schoolboy
Speech to both Houses of Congress, Jan
His Farewell Address
Friendship · anthology attribution: George Washington
Gambling · anthology attribution: Washington
Mercy · anthology attribution: Washington
Morality · anthology attribution: Washington
Peace · anthology attribution: Washington
Religion · anthology attribution: Washington
Sincerity · anthology attribution: Washington
Vanity · anthology attribution: Washington
Printed citation: Washington
Page 81 · printed citation: Washington · subject: Expediency
Page 152 · printed citation: Washington · subject: Liberty
Complete signed selection 367; printed byline: George Washington; New York: Dodge Publishing Company, 1901

Archive entries

01c. 1765 AD

Labour to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire,—conscience.

George Washington / quote

02c. 1765 AD

To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.

George Washington / quote

03c. 1765 AD

'T is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world.

George Washington / quote

04Undated

A slender acquaintance with the world must convince every man that actions, not words, are the true criterion of the attachment of friends; and that the most liberal professions of good-will are very far from being the surest marks of it.

George Washington / quote

05Undated

It is the child of avarice, the brother of iniquity and the father of mischief.

George Washington / quote

06Undated

Lenity will operate with greater force, in some instances, than rigor. It is therefore my first wish to have my whole conduct distinguished by it.

George Washington / quote

07Undated

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.

George Washington / quote

08Undated

There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet the enemy.

George Washington / quote

09Undated

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

George Washington / quote

10Undated

I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain, what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an "honest man."

George Washington / quote

11Undated

There is no restraining men's tongues or pens when charged with a little vanity.

George Washington / quote

12Undated

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

George Washington / quote

13Undated

Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.

George Washington / quote

14Undated

Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth.

George Washington / quote

15Undated

Religion is as necessary to reason as reason to religion.

George Washington / quote

16Undated

To persevere in one's duty and to be silent is the best answer to calumny.

George Washington / quote

17Undated

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 / quote

18Undated

Men in responsible situations cannot, like those in private life, be governed solely by the dictates of their own inclinations, or by such motives as can only affect themselves.

George Washington / quote

19Undated

Interwoven is the love of liberty with every ligament of the heart.

George Washington / quote

20Undated

I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, that of an “Honest Man.”

George Washington / quote

21Undated

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

George Washington / quote

22Undated

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.

George Washington / quote

23Undated

Human happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected.

George Washington / quote

24Undated

To enlarge the sphere of social happiness is worthy of the benevolent design of a Masonic institution; and it is most fervently to be wished, that the conduct of every member of the fraternity, as well as those publications, that discover the principles which actuate them, may tend to convince mankind that the grand object of Masonry is to promote the happiness of the human race.]

George Washington / quote