“It will at least be a recommendation to the proposed constitution that it is provided with more checks and barriers against the introduction of tyranny, and those of a nature less liable to be surmounted, than any government hitherto instituted among mortals hath possessed.”
Quote by George Washington
“Good company will always be found much less expensive than bad.”
Source: The Quotable George Washington: The Wisdom of an American Patriot
“A person who is anxious to be a leader of the fashion, or one of the first to follow it, will certainly appear in the eyes of judicious men to have nothing better than a frequent change of dress to recommend him to notice.”
Source: The Writings of George Washington: pt.III. Private letters from the time Washington resigned his commission as commander-in-chief of the army to that of his inauguration as president of the United States: December, 1783-April, 1789. 1835
“The arrows of malevolence ... however barbed and well pointed, never can reach the most vulnerable part of me; though, whilst I am up as a mark, they will be continually aimed.”
Source: Letters official and private, from the beginning of his presidency to the end of his life. May, 1789, to November, 1794 (v.10) November, 1794, to Demember, 1799 (v.11)
“Smaller societies must prepare the way for greater.”
Source: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
“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
