Thomas Jefferson once stated in regard to George Washington
that, George is "[t]he only man in the United States, who possessed the
confidence of all There was no other one, who was considered as any
thing more than a party leader
The whole of his character was in its mass perfect, in nothing
bad, in a few points indifferent. And it may be truly said, that never did
nature and fortune combine more perfectly to make a man great, and to place him
in the same constellation with whatever worthies have merited from man an
everlasting remembrance."
In a retrospective of who George Washington was to France and
the French people, after the death of George Washington, on February 9, 1800,
Napoleon Bonaparte reflected these words in regard to the man:
"This great man fought against tyranny; he established
the liberty of his country.
His memory will always be dear to the French people, as
it will be to all freemen of the two worlds."
I have selected a miscellaneous group of the Quotes from George Washington. Each different miscellaneous quote is separated by spacing, and the words of George Washington are all in yellow.
Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, that country
has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of AMERICAN, which
belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of
patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With
slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and
political principles. You have, in a common cause, fought and triumphed
together. The independence and liberty you possess, are the work of joint
counsels and joint efforts, of common dangers, sufferings, and successes.
Religion is as necessary to reason, as reason is to religion. The one cannot exist, without the other. A
reasoning being would lose his reason, in attempting to account for the great
phenomena of nature, had he not a Supreme Being to refer to ; and well has it
been said, that if there had been no God, mankind would have been obliged to
imagine one.
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.
Being no bigot myself, to any mode of worship. I am
disposed to indulge the professors of Christianity in the Church, with that
road to heaven, which to them shall seem the most direct, plainest, easiest,
and least liable to exception.
While I reiterate the professions of my dependence upon
Heaven, as the source of all public and private blessings, I will observe, that
the general prevalence of piety, philanthropy, honesty, industry, and economy,
seems, in the ordinary course of human affairs, particularly necessary for
advancing and confirming the happiness of our country.
While all men within our territories are protected, in
worshipping the Deity according to the dictates of their consciences, it is
rationally to be expected from them, in return, that they will all be emulous
of evincing the sanctity of their professions, by the innocence of their lives,
and the beneficence of their actions ; for no man who is profligate in his
morals, or a bad member of the civil community, can possibly be a TRUE
CHRISTIAN, or a credit to his own religious society.
The liberty enjoyed by the people of these States, of
worshipping Almighty God agreeably to their consciences, is not only among the
choicest of their blessings, but also of their rights.
FATHER OF MERCIES, take me to thyself.
[These
were the last words George Washington uttered before dying seconds later.]
A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined.
To be prepared for war, is one of the most effectual means of
preserving peace.
Our safety and our interest require, that we should promote
such manufactures, as tend to render us independent of others, for essential,
particularly military, supplies.
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.
The basis of our political systems is the right of the people
to make and to alter their Constitutions of Government. But the constitution
which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the
whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all.
I would not be deceived by artful declarations or specious
pretences ; nor would I be amused by unmeaning propositions; but in open,
undisguised, and manly terms, proclaim our wrongs and our resolutions to be
redressed. I would tell them, that we had borne much ; that we had long
and ardently sought for reconciliation upon honorable terms ; that it had been
denied us ; that all our attempts after peace had proved abortive,
and had been
grossly misrepresented;
that we had done every thing that could be expected
... that the spirit of freedom beat too high in us to submit to slavery; and
that, if nothing else would satisfy a Tyrant and his diabolical ministry, we
were determined to shake off all connections with a State so unjust and
unnatural. This I would tell them, not under covert, but in words as
clear as the sun in his meridian brightness.
I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to
private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy.
There is an opinion, that Parties, in free governments, are
useful checks upon the administration of the Government, and serve to keep
alive the spirit of liberty.
This, within certain limits, is probably true; and in
governments of a Monarchical cast, Patriotism may look with indulgence, if not
with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in
Governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged.
The alternate domination of one faction over another,
sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which, in
different ages and countries, has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is
itself a frightful despotism. But this leads, at length, to a more formal and
permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result, gradually incline
the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual;
and, sooner or later, the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more
fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his
own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty.
It is important, that the habits of thinking, in a free
country, should inspire caution, in those intrusted with its administration, to
confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding, in
the exercise of the powers of one department, to encroach upon another.
The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of
all the departments in one, and thus create, whatever the form of government, a
real despotism.
The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of
political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositories,
and constituting each the Guardian of the Public Weal against invasions by the
others, has been evinced by experiments, ancient and modern ; some of them in
our country and under our own eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as to
institute them.
If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or
modification of the constitutional powers be, in any particular, wrong, let it
be corrected by an amendment, in the way which the Constitution designates. But
let there be no change by Usurpation....
It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which
find a facilitated access to the government itself, through the channels of
party passions. Thus, the policy and the will of one country are subjected to
the policy and will of another.
Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the
illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest
exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former
into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate
inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite
nation of privileges denied to others which is apt doubly to injure the nation
making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been
retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate,
in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld. And it gives to
ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the
favorite nation), facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own
country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity; gilding, with the
appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for
public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish
compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation.
As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such
attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent
patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic
factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to
influence or awe the public councils. Such an attachment of a small or weak
towards a great and powerful nation dooms the former to be the satellite of the
latter.
Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure
you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be
constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is
one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy to be
useful must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence
to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one
foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate
to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of
influence on the other. Real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the
favorite are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes
usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests.
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. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them
be fulfilled with perfect good faith.
In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old
and affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting
impression I could wish; that they will control the usual current of the
passions, or prevent our nation from running the course which has hitherto
marked the destiny of nations. But, if I may even flatter myself that they may
be productive of some partial benefit, some occasional good; that they may now
and then recur to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the
mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended
patriotism; this hope will be a full recompense for the solicitude for your
welfare, by which they have been dictated.
Here, perhaps, I ought to stop.
Unless the principles of the Federal Government are properly
supported, and the powers of the Union increased, the honor, dignity, and
justice of the nation will be lost for ever.
If we mean to support the liberty and independence, which it
has cost as so much blood and treasure to establish, we must drive far away the
demon of party spirit and local reproach.
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