A peace establishment ought always to have two objects in view; the one, present security of posts and of stores, and the public tranquillity; the other, to be prepared, if the latter is impracticable, to resist with efficacy the sudden attempts of a foreign or domestic enemy.
George Washington Quotes
To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.
My temper leads me to peace and harmony with all men; and it is peculiarly my wish to avoid any personal feuds or dissensions with those, who are embarked in the same great national interest with myself, as every difference of this kind in its consequences be very injurious.
Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.
We ought not to look back, unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors and for the purpose of profiting by dear bought experience.
Nothing can be more hurtful to the service, than the neglect of discipline; for that discipline, more than numbers, gives one army the superiority over another.
The nation which indulges towards another an habitual hatred or an habitual fondness is in some degree a slave… to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest.
There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favor from nation to nation. It is an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard.
Some day, following the example of the United States of America, there will be a United States of Europe.
I hope I shall always posses firmness and virtue enough to maintain (what I consider the most enviable of all titles) the character of an honest man.
