George Washington

"The hand of providence has been so conspicuous in our favor that we have only to be grateful."

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

"It is infinitely better to have a few good men than many indifferent ones."

"In the execution of such a trust I shall endeavor to display abilities which I may possess."

"All would be lost if I were to differ with the army."

"The precedent now established is of so consequential a nature that you must foresee all the consequences."

"There is a natural and necessary progression from the extreme of anarchy to the extreme of tyranny."

"To be interesting one must read."

"The wisdom of ages, in reducing this to practice, is the collected wisdom of mankind."

"I have often been quoted as saying things I never said or meant things I did not intend."

"My own experience has convinced me that the wiser policy is to place reliance on the nature of things."

"There is no restraint which could prevent me from doing my duty."

"The aggregate happiness of society is or ought to be the end of all government."

"A single successful experiment is worth a thousand expert opinions."

"I have always given it as my decided opinion, and I shall continue to give it as such, that the form of government which commences with the people is more apt to be just."

"The establishment of a library was one of my earliest projects."

"Be not afraid to stand alone if your principles demand it."

"Many of the effects which now astonish us would then have been produced."

"With malice toward none but truth toward all, I shall serve my country."

"The government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force."

"I shall endeavor to attend minutely to the happiness of every class of citizens."

"The nation which indulges toward another an habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave."

"What greater encouragement can be given to the enterprises of industry and talent."

"If men are to be precluded from offering their sentiments on a matter, they may be deprived of the right of offering them at all."

"There is nothing which can better deserve your patronage than the promotion of science and literature."

"Every moment lost is a pity forever."

"In order to assure the continuance of the government we have established, we must keep it within its proper bounds."

"The health of a democracy depends upon active participation of its citizens."

"I have been told that I was the first man in the nation, but I have also been the last."

"A sensible woman would probably hesitate in accepting such a man as a husband."