Book detail: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799 is presented as a focused source page for quotations connected with this book, collection, transcript, or source record.
The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799 is a comprehensive compilation of the personal and professional correspondence of George Washington. This collection provides invaluable insights into the mind and actions of the Founding Father, showcasing his leadership, military strategies, and political thought during the critical years of the American Revolution and the early years of the United States. The manuscript sources are presented in their original form, allowing readers to experience the raw, unfiltered thoughts and experiences of one of the most influential figures in American history.
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“Conscience ... seldom comes to a man's aid while he is in the zenith of health and revelling in pomp and luxury upon illgotten spoils. It is generally the last act of his life, and it comes too late to be of much service to others here, or to himself hereafter.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“The most certain way to make a man your enemy is to tell him you esteem him such.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“[It] is the juvenal period of life when friendships are formed, and habits established, that will stick by one.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“Soap is another article in great demand--the Continental allowance is too small, and dear, as every necessary of life is now got, a soldier's pay will not enable him to purchase, by which means his consequent dirtiness adds not a little to the disease of the Army.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“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.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“The true distinction ... between what is called a fine Regiment, and an indifferent one will ever, upon investigation, be found to originate in, and depend upon the care, or the inattention, of the Officers belonging to them.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“Smaller societies must prepare the way for greater.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“There is a Destiny which has the control of our actions, not to be resisted by the strongest efforts of Human Nature.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“Let no one go hungry away. If any of the kind of people should be in want of corn, supply their necessities, provided it does not encourage them in idleness.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“... the benefit arising from moderate use of strong Liquor have been experienced in all Armies, and are not to be disputed.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“Be easy and condescending in your deportment to your officers, but not too familiar, lest you subject yourself to a want of respect, which is necessary to support a proper command.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“My ardent desire is... to keep the United States free from political connexions with every other Country. To see that they may be independent of all, and under the influence of none.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“The signal instances of Providential goodness which we have experienced and which have now almost crowned our labors with complete success demand from us in a peculiar manner the warmest returns of gratitude and piety to the Supreme Author of all good.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“I commend you, however, for passing the time in as merry a manner as you possibly could; it is assuredly better to go laughing than crying thro' the rough journey of life.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“Let us therefore rely on the goodness of the cause, and the aid of the supreme Being, in whose hands victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble actions.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“Our conflict is not likely to cease so soon as every good man would wish. The measure of iniquity is not yet filled; and unless we can return a little more to first principles, and act a little more upon patriotic ground, I do not know when it will.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“Remember, officers and soldiers, that you are fighting for the blessings of liberty.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“A part of the plan for creating discord, is, I perceive, to make me say things of others, and others of me, wch. have no foundation in truth. The first, in many instances I know to be the case; and the second I believe to be so; but truth or falsehood is immaterial to them, provided their objects are promoted.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“A people unused to restraint must be led, they will not be drove.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“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.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“The reflection upon my situation and that of this army produces many an uneasy hour when all around me are wrapped in sleep. Few people know the predicament we are in.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“Where are our Men of abilities? Why do they not come forth to save their Country?”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction - to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“It is absolutely necessary... for me to have persons that can think for me, as well as execute orders.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“I do not mean to exclude altogether the idea of patriotism. I know it exists, and I know it has done much in the present contest. But I will venture to assert, that a great and lasting war can never be supported on this principle alone. It must be aided by a prospect of interest, or some reward.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“An aching head and trembling limbs, which are the inevitable effects of drinking, disincline the hands from work.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“A man's intentions should be allowed in some respects to plead for his actions.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“The aggregate happiness of the society, which is best promoted by the practice of a virtuous policy, is, or ought to be, the end of all government . . . .”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“A people... who are possessed of the spirit of commerce, who see and who will pursue their advantages may achieve almost anything.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants-while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid. May the father of all mercies scatter light, and not darkness, upon our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in His own due time and way everlastingly happy.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“We are either a United people, or we are not. If the former, let us, in all maters of general concern act as a nation, which have national objects to promote, and a national character to support. If we are not, let us no longer act a farce by pretending to it.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“Our conflict is not likely to cease so soon as every good man would wish. The measure of iniquity is not yet filled; and unless we can return a little more to first principles, and act a little more upon patriotic ground, I do not know when it will-or-what may be the issue of the contest. Speculation-peculation-engrossing-forestalling-with all their concomitants, afford too many melancholy proofs of the decay of public virtue; and too glaring instances of its being the interest and desire of too many, who would wish to be thought friends, to continue the war.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“To form a new Government, requires infinite care, and unbounded attention; for if the foundation is badly laid the superstructure must be bad.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“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.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“The establishment of Civil and Religious Liberty was the Motive which induced me to the Field - the object is attained - and it now remains to be my earnest wish & prayer, that the Citizens of the United States could make a wise and virtuous use of the blessings placed before them.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“Jealousy, and local policy mix too much in all our public councils for the good government of the Union. In a words, the confederation appears to me to be little more than a shadow without the substance . . . .”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“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.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“The great mass of our citizens require only to understand matters rightly, to form right decisions.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“No man has a more perfect reliance on the alwise and powerful dispensations
of the Supreme Being than I have, nor thinks His aid more necessary.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“I am once more seated under my own vine and fig tree ... and hope to spend the remainder of my days in peaceful retirement, making political pursuits yield to the more rational amusement of cultivating the earth.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“Religious controversies are always productive of more acrimony and irreconcilable hatreds than those which spring from any other cause.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“We ought not to look back, unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dear bought experience. To enveigh against things that are past and irremediable, is unpleasing; but to steer clear of the shelves and rocks we have struck upon, is the part of wisdom, equally as incumbent on political as other men, who have their own little bark, or that of others, to navigate through the intricate paths of life, or the trackless ocean, to the haven of security and rest.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“When once the woman has tempted us, and we have tasted the forbidden fruit, there is no such thing as checking our appetites, whatever the consequences may be.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“Reason, too late perhaps, may convince you of the folly of misspending time.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“Without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“All see, and most admire, the glare which hovers round the external trappings of elevated office. To me there is nothing in it, beyond the lustre which may be reflected from its connection with a power of promoting human felicity.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“To contract new debts is not the way to pay old ones.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“A half-starved limping government, always moving upon crutches and tottering at every step.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799