“If the minority, and a small one too, is suffered to dictate to the majority, after measures have undergone the most solemn discussions by the representatives of the people, and their will through this medium is enacted into a law, there can be no security for life, liberty, or property; nor, if the laws are not to govern, can any man know how to conduct himself in safety.”
Source: The Writings of George Washington: pt. IV. Letters official and private, from the beginning of his presidency to the end of his life: (v. 10) May, 1789-November, 1794. (v. 11) November, 1794-December, 1799
“I am principled against selling negroes, as you would do cattle at a market.”
Source: Letters and Addresses,
“In the composition of the human frame there is a good deal of inflammable matter, however dormant it may lie for a time.”
Source: Recollections and private memoirs of Washington by his adopted son George Washington with a memoir of the author by his daughter; and illustrative and explanatory notes by Benson J. Loosing: With illustrations
“It rarely happens otherwise than that a thorough-faced coquette dies in celibacy, as a punishment for her attempts to mislead others, by encouraging looks, words, or actions, given for no other purpose than to draw men on to make overtures that they may be rejected.”
Source: Letters and Addresses,
“To acknowledge the receipt of letters is always proper, to remove doubts of their miscarriage.”
Source: Recollections and private memoirs of Washington by his adopted son George Washington with a memoir of the author by his daughter; and illustrative and explanatory notes by Benson J. Loosing: With illustrations
“System in all things should be aimed at; for in execution it renders every thing more easy.”
Source: The Quotable George Washington: The Wisdom of an American Patriot
“Rise early, that by habit it may become familiar, agreeable, healthy, and profitable. It may, for a while, be irksome to do this, but that will wear off; and the practice will produce a rich harvest forever thereafter; whether in public or private walks of life.”
Source: Letters and Addresses,
“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
“When the warrior returns, from the battle afar,To the home and the country he nobly defended,O! warm be the welcome to gladden his ear,And loud be the joy that his perils are ended:In the full tide of song let his fame roll along,To the feast-flowing board let us gratefully throng,Where, mixed with the olive, the laurel shall wave,And form a bright wreath for the brows of the brave.”
Source: Poems of the late Francis S. Key, esq
“Man creates both his god and his devil in his own image. His god is himself at his best, and his devil himself at his worst.”
Source: Contemplations: Being Several Short Essays Helpful Sermonettes, Epigrams and Orphic Sayings