45 Best George Washington Quotes (FREEDOM)

Top 10 Most Famous George Washington Quotes to Inspire You (HAPPINESS)

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

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

It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.

99% of failures come from people who make excuses.

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

Human happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected. — Human **happiness** and moral duty are inseparably connected.

Happiness depends more upon the internal frame of a person's own mind than on the externals in the world. — **Happiness** depends more upon the internal frame of a person’s own mind than on the externals in the world.

I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is the best policy. — I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that **honesty** is the best policy.

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. — 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.

There is nothing which can better deserve our patronage than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness. — There is nothing which can better deserve our patronage than the promotion of science and literature. **Knowledge** is in every country the surest basis of public **happiness**.

35 Inspirational George Washington Quotes on Freedom, Education and Self-discipline

“A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined; to which end a uniform and well-digested plan is requisite; and their safety and interest require that they should promote such manufactories as tend to render them independent of others for essential, particularly military, supplies.”
George Washington

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. — 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.

My first wish is to see this plague of mankind, war, banished from the earth.

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

It will be found an unjust and unwise jealousy to deprive a man of his natural liberty upon the supposition he may abuse it.

Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all. — Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate **peace** and harmony with all.

A slender acquaintance with the world must convince every man that actions, not words, are the true criterion of the attachment of friends. — A slender acquaintance with the world must convince every man that **actions**, not words, are the true criterion of the attachment of friends.

“But lest some unlucky event should happen unfavorable to my reputation, I beg it may be remembered by every gentleman in the room that I this day declare with the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command I am honored with.”
George Washington

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

The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph.

Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages. — **Perseverance** and spirit have done wonders in all ages.

My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her. — My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute my **success** in life to the moral, intellectual and physical **education** I received from her.

Liberty when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth. — Liberty when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid **growth**.

If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known, that we are at all times ready for War.
George Washington

Real men despise battle, but will never run from it.

There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet the enemy. — There is nothing so likely to produce **peace** as to be well prepared to meet the enemy.

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. — 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.

A sensible woman can never be happy with a fool.

I have always considered marriage as the most interesting event of one’s life, the foundation of happiness or misery. — I have always considered **marriage** as the most interesting event of one’s life, the foundation of **happiness** or misery.

“Anything will give up its secrets if you love it enough. Not only have I found that when I talk to the little flower or to the little peanut they will give up their secrets, but I have found that when I silently commune with people they give up their secrets also—if you love them enough.”
George Washington

Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.

The turning points of lives are not the great moments. The real crises are often concealed in occurrences so trivial in appearance that they pass unobserved.

Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all. — **Discipline** is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures **success** to the weak, and esteem to all.

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. — 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.

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.

Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.

Religion is as necessary to reason as reason is to religion. The one cannot exist without the other.

Worry is the interest paid by those who borrow trouble.

Be not glad at the misfortune of another, though he may be your enemy.

Strive not with your superiors in argument, but always submit your judgment to others with modesty.

Paper money has had the effect in your state that it will ever have, to ruin commerce, oppress the honest, and open the door to every species of fraud and injustice. — Paper **money** has had the effect in your state that it will ever have, to ruin commerce, oppress the honest, and open the door to every species of fraud and injustice.

We must consult our means rather than our wishes.

Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light. — **Truth** will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light.

I’ll die on my feet before I’ll live on my knees!

“The foundation of our Empire was not laid in the gloomy age of Ignorance and Superstition, but at an Epoch when the rights of mankind were better understood and more clearly defined, than at any former period, the researches of the human mind, after social happiness, have been carried to a great extent, the Treasures of knowledge, acquired by the labors of Philosophers, Sages and Legislatures, through a long succession of years, are laid open for our use, and their collected wisdom may be happily applied in the Establishment of our forms of Government.”
George Washington

George Washington Short Biography

Born on 22 February 1732 in Westmoreland County, Virginia, United States, George Washington was the 1st president of the United States and was known as the Father of His Country.

Washington was tutored in mathematics, trigonometry, and land surveying. In 1749 he received his surveyor’s license from the College of William and Mary.

In 1753, he became an adjutant of the Northern Neck and Eastern Shore, and was a military leader during the American Revolution. Washington was one of the seven delegates of the First Continental Congress in 1774.

A year later the congress created what was called the Continental Army, Washington was made commander in chief due to his military experience.

America was in a very chaotic political state during this time, and a Constitutional Convention was held where members of each state were invited to revise the Articles of Confederation.

During the convention, Washington was elected and made president. George Washington was sworn into the presidency on April 30, 1789, and was able to choose his cabinet members.

As president Washington successfully kept America out of the French Revolutionary War in Europe and established the first Bank of the United States in 1791.

Further Reading:

How George Washington Designed the Cabinet as the Most Important Governing Tool – American Heritage
What Made George Washington a Good Military Leader? – EDSITEment
Why Did George Washington Become a Revolutionary? – All Things Liberty

Here are the best George Washington quotes so you can be motivated to live life to the fullest with a vision and a purpose.

(MUST READ)

Also read:

Top 10 Most Famous George Washington Quotes to Inspire You (HAPPINESS)

35 Inspirational George Washington Quotes on Freedom, Education and Self-discipline

George Washington Short Biography

46 Best Carl Jung Quotes on Love and Dreams (FATE)

57 Steve Maraboli Quotes on Life (LOVE YOURSELF)