George Washington

"Make sure you are doing what you believe is right, and then do it with all your might."

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

"Being no longer in the station I was, I presume not to dictate as I might heretofore have done."

"It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence to be ever in view."

"Mankind when left alone are unfit to govern themselves."

"The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is, in extending our commercial relations to have with them as little political connection as possible."

"To the efficacy and permanence of your union, a government for the whole is indispensable."

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

"I have always considered the independent spirit as the characteristic of true patriotism."

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

"Observe good faith and justice toward all nations."

"The man who is influenced by the principle of honor will always prefer any species of death to infamous degradation."

"Experience teaches that men are often so much governed by what they are accustomed to seeing and practicing."

"Do not exhibit fickleness in your attachments."

"Hope is as universal a property of the human heart as fear."

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

"Know thyself and in all things to thine own self be true."

"The best means of forming a manly, virtuous and useful character is to utterly discourage all flattery whatsoever."

"First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."

"Nothing is more essential to the establishment of manners in a free country than to demolish the barriers of seperation between different orders of citizens."

"The bosom of America is open to receive not only the opulent and respected stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all nations and religions."

"A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined."

"To persevere in one's duty and be silent is the best answer to calumny."

"I declare the United States of America is free and independent."

"The result of the measures to be pursued may be delayed, but cannot be doubtful."

"Undertake great designs; but proceed slowly and with caution."

"Be not cynical about the world; for the world is sad enough without your help."

"I can but hope that before I leave this world I shall see the main object of my life accomplished."

"Humanity has ever been prone to suffer rather than to right itself by the sword."

"Small adjustments in your daily habits can lead to remarkable results over time."