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[V]irtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government.

George Washington

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George Washington
Age: 67 †
Born: 1732
Born: February 22
Died: 1799
Died: December 14
1St U.S. President
Cartographer
Engineer
Farmer
Land Surveyor
Military Officer
Politician
Slaveholder
Statesperson
Westmoreland County
Virginia
Washington
President Washington
G. Washington
Father of the United States
The American Fabius
Popular
Morality
Spring
Necessary
Virtue
Liberty
Government

More quotes by George Washington

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I am just going. Have me decently buried and do not let my body be put into the Vault in less than three days after I am dead.... Tis well.
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The finite mind of man can never grasp the mysteries of the infinite. It is the highest wisdom, as it is our great happiness, to accept our limitations, to use what we have, and leave the rest to God.
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I can never think of promoting my convenience at the expense of a friend's interest and inclination.
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Thirteen sovereignties pulling against each other and all tugging at the federal head, will soon bring ruin on the whole.
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The eyes of all our countrymen are now upon us, and we shall have their blessings and praises, if happily we are the instruments of saving them from the tyranny meditated against them.
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Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of Action and bidding an Affectionate farewell to this August body under whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public life.
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The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the human heart is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position.
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To constitute a dispute there must be two parties. To understand it well, both parties and all the circumstances must be fully heard and to accommodate the differences, temper and mutual forbearance are requisite.
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Let vice and immorality of every kind be discouraged as much as possible in your brigade and, as a chaplain is allowed to each regiment, see that the men regularly attend during worship. Gaming of every kind is expressly forbidden, as being the foundation of evil, and the cause of many a brave and gallant officer's and soldier's ruin.
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[It] is the juvenal period of life when friendships are formed, and habits established, that will stick by one.
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Interwoven is the love of liberty with every ligament of the heart.
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It is . . . [the citizens] choice, and depends upon their conduct, whether they will be respectable and prosperous, or contemptable and miserable as a Nation. This is the time of their political probation this is the moment when the eyes of the World are turned upon them.
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As Mankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality.
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I have often expressed my sentiments, that every man, conducting himself as a good citizen, and being accountable to God alone for his religious opinions, ought to be protected in worshipping the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience.
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We can not guarantee success, we can strive to deserve it.
George Washington
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If I could have entertained the slightest apprehension that the Constitution framed in the Convention where I had the honor to preside might possibly endanger the religious rights of any ecclesiastical society, certainly I would never have placed my signature to it.
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Every post is honourable in which a man can serve his country.
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Should the States reject this excellent Constitution, the probability is, an opportunity will never again offer to cancel another in peacethe next will be drawn in blood.
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No measure can be more desirable, whether viewed with an eye to its intrinsic importance, or to the general sentiment and wish of the Nation than to establish a systematic and effectual arrangement for the regular redemption and discharge of the public debt.
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No people can be bound to acknowledge the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the united States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency
George Washington