George Washington

“Laws made by common consent must not be trampled on by individuals.”

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

“If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”

“It is far better to be alone, than to be in bad company.”

“The basis of our political system is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government.”

“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.”

“True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity, before it is entitled to the appellation.”

“Friendship is a plant of slow growth and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.”

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

“Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.”

“It may be laid down as a primary position, and the basis of our system, that every Citizen who enjoys the protection of a Free Government, owes not only a proportion of his property, but even of his personal services to the defense of it.”

“Let your Discourse with Men of Business be Short and Comprehensive.”

“Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.”

“Over grown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty.”

“Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the rest is in the hands of God.”

“Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all.”

“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 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.”

“It is better to be alone than in bad company.”

“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.”

“Mankind, when left to themselves, are unfit for their own government.”