James Wood, comp. Dictionary of Quotations. 1899.

Washington

Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness.

Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.

Labour to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire—conscience.

Lenity will operate with greater force, in some instances, than rigour. It is, therefore, my first wish to have my whole conduct distinguished by it.

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

Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

Religion is as necessary to reason as reason to religion.

To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.

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

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