George Washington Quotes
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Nowhere does one become more convinced of the strong hold which Freemasonry takes upon the minds and lives of those aging workers in the Craft who have attained its highest honors and of their firm belief in the power of its teachings to purify the soul of men and raise them to a new dignity and to greater heights of spirituality and practical morality.
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The fundamental principle of our constitution ... enjoins the sense of command, duty that the will of the majority shall prevail.
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The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositories, and constituting each the guardian of the public weal against invasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and modern, some of them in our country and under our own eyes.
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We should amuse our evening hours of life in cultivating the tender plants, and bringing them to perfection, before they are transplanted to a happier clime.
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Where is the man to be found who wishes to remain indebted for the defense of his own person and property to the exertions, the bravery, and the blood of others, without making one generous effort to repay the debt of honor and gratitude?
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The power under the Constitution will always be in the people.
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Serious misfortunes, originating in misrepresentation, frequently flow and spread before they can be dissipated by truth.
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Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force...Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.
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An aching head and trembling limbs, which are the inevitable effects of drinking, disincline the hands from work.
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There is no truth more thoroughly established, than that there exists . . . an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness.
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If we remain one people, under an efficient government, the period is not far off when we may defy material injury from external annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon to be scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation; when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel.
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If to be venerated for benevolence, if to be admired for talents, if to be esteemed for patriotism, if to be beloved for philanthropy, can gratify the human mind, you must have the pleasing consolation to know that you have not lived in vain. And I flatter myself that it will not be ranked among the least grateful occurrences of your life to be assured that, so long as I retain my memory, you will be thought on with respect, veneration, and affection by your sincere friend.
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I have always considered marriage as the most interesting event of one's life, the foundation of happiness or misery.
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The Independence and Liberty you possess are the work of joint councils and joint efforts, of common dangers, sufferings and successes.
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Leave nothing to the uncertainty of procuring a warlike apparatus at the moment of public danger.
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The tumultuous populace of large cities are ever to be dreaded.
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It is in vain, I perceive, to look for ease and happiness in a world of troubles.
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Avoid likewise the accumulation of debt.
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The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism.
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It is to be lamented that great characters are seldom without a blot.
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I die hard but am not afraid to go.
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Nothing short of self-respect and that justice which is essential to a national character ought to involve us in war.
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I am now . . . on a subject, which fills me with inexpressible concern . . . . But as it has been a kind of destiny, that has thrown me upon this service, I shall hope that my undertaking it is designed to answer some good purpose.
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For myself the delay in assuming the office of the President may be compared with a reprieve; for in confidence I assure you, with the world it would obtain little credit that my movements to the chair of Government will be accompanied by feelings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to the place of his execution: so unwilling am I, in the evening of a life nearly consumed in public cares, to quit a peaceful abode for an Ocean of difficulties, without that competency of political skill, abilities and inclination which is necessary to manage the helm.