Authors:
  1. Quotes
  2. Authors
  3. G
  4. George Washington
  5. War

George Washington Quotes about War

All George Washington Quotes 4th Of July Acting Adoption Adversity Affection Age Aids Ambition Army Art Atheism Bible Business Character Children Choices Christianity Church Community Constitution Country Crime Destiny Discipline Doubt Duty Dying Education Effort Encouragement Evil Exercise Experience Fashion Fate Feelings Fighting Foreign Policy Freedom Friendship Giving Glory God Gratitude Growth Happiness Harmony Hatred Heart Heaven Home Honesty Honor Human Nature Humanity Imitation Immigration Independence Injustice Inspiration Inspirational Integrity Jesus Judging Justice Knowledge Leadership Liberty Life Love Lying Mankind Marriage Military Morality Motivational Navy Office Opportunity Passion Past Patriotism Peace Perfection Politics Praise Prayer Pride Progress Prosperity Purpose Quality Redemption Reflection Regret Religion Reputation Retirement Revolution Revolutionary War Running Second Amendment Sin Slavery Sleep Society Son Soul Spring Study Success Suffering Taxes Thanksgiving Truth Virtue Voting War quotes Welfare Wisdom Youth
Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.

Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.

George Washington
Memorial Day, War, 4th Of July
George Washington (1810). “Washington's Farewell Address to the People of the United States”, p.17

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.

George Washington
Freedom, War, Fire

There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet the enemy.

George Washington
Peace, War, Enemy
George Washington (1855). “Maxims of Washington: Political, Social, Moral, and Religious”, p.102

Over grown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty.

George Washington
Military, War, 4th Of July

The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.

George Washington
Veterans Day, Military, War

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

George Washington
Peace, War, 4th Of July
George Washington (1783). “A circular Letter ... to ... W. Greene, Governor ... of Rhode Island”, p.11

Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all.

George Washington
Peace, War, Inspiration
Farewell Address, Philadelphia, Pa., 19 Sept. 1796

The constitution vests the power of declaring war in Congress; therefore no offensive expedition of importance can be undertaken until after they shall have deliberated upon the subject and authorized such a measure.

George Washington
Travel, War, 4th Of July
George Washington (1836). “The Writings of George Washington: Being His Correspondence, Addresses, Messages, and Other Papers, Official and Private, Selected and Published from the Original Manuscripts; with a Life of the Author, Notes and Illustrations”, p.367

Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force...Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.

George Washington
Peace, War, Government

For the sake of humanity it is devoutly to be wished that the manly employment of agriculture and the humanizing benefits of commerce would supersede the waste of war and the rage of conquest; and the swords might be turned into ploughshares, the spears into pruning-hooks, and as the Scripture expresses it, "the nations learn war no more.

George Washington
War, Agriculture, Humanity
George Washington (1989). “Maxims of George Washington: Political, Military, Social, Moral, and Religious”, Mount Vernon Ladies Assn of the

Passionate attachment to another nation produces a variety of evils... the illusion of common interests where no real common interests exist; adopting the enmities of the other; and participation in the quarrels and wars of the other without any justification. Still another evil is that such a passionate attachment gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens the facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country.

George Washington
Country, Real, War

Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all.

George Washington
Military, War, 4th Of July
George Washington, Stephen Lucas (1999). “The Quotable George Washington: The Wisdom of an American Patriot”, p.24, Rowman & Littlefield

In politics as in religion, my tenets are few and simple. The leading one of which, and indeed that which embraces most others, is to be honest and just ourselves and to exact it from others, meddling as little as possible in their affairs where our own are not involved. If this maxim was generally adopted, wars would cease and our swords would soon be converted into reap hooks and our harvests be more peaceful, abundant, and happy.

George Washington
War, Simple, Justice

Like as a wise man in time of peace prepares for war.

George Washington
War, President
"The Satires". Book by Horace, II. 2. 111,

Among the many interesting objects which will engage your attention that of providing for the common defense will merit particular regard. To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.

George Washington
War, Mean, Interesting
George Washington (1849). “Lives of the heroes of the American Revolution: comprising the lives of Washington and his generals and officers who were the most distinguished in the War of the Independence of the U. S. A. : also embracing The Declaration of Independence and signers' names, The Constitution of the United States and amendments...together with the inaugural, first annual and farewell addresses of Washington”, p.333

My first wish is, to see this plague of mankind banished from the earth, and the sons and daughters of this world employed in more pleasing and innocent amusements, than in preparing implements, and exercising them, for the destruction of mankind.

George Washington
Peace, War, 4th Of July
"Maxims of Washington: Political, Social, Moral, and Religious".

War - An act of violence whose object is to constrain the enemy, to accomplish our will.

George Washington
War, 4th Of July, Enemy

Every post is honourable in which a man can serve his country.

George Washington
Country, War, Men
George Washington, John Clement Fitzpatrick, David Maydole Matteson, United States George Washington Bicentennial Commission (1944). “The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799: prepared under the direction of the United States George Washington bicentennial commission and published by authority of Congress”

To each of my Nephews, William Augustine Washington, George Lewis, George Steptoe Washington, Bushrod Washington, and Samuel Washington, I give one of my swords or Cutteaux of which I may be Possesed; and they are to chuse in the order they are named. These Swords are accompanied with an injuction not to unsheath them for the purpose of shedding blood, except it be for self defense, or in the defense of their Country and its rights; and in the latter case, to keep them unsheathed, and prefer falling with them in their hands, to the relenquishment thereof.

George Washington
Country, War, Fall

..avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of peace to discharge the debts, which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burthen, which we ourselves ought to bear.

George Washington
War, Government Debt, Owing A Debt
George Washington, William Jackson (1838). “Monuments of Washington's Patriotism: Containing a Fac Simile of His Publick Accounts Kept During the Revolutionary War; and Some of the Most Interesting Documents Connected with His Military Command and Civil Administration; Embracing, Among Others, the Farewell Address to the People of the United States”, p.16

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.

George Washington
Real, War, Enmity
George Washington (2008). “George Washington's Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior: ...And Other Important Writings”, p.175, Sourcebooks, Inc.

Our conflict is not likely to cease so soon as every good man would wish. The measure of iniquity is not yet filled; and unless we can return a little more to first principles, and act a little more upon patriotic ground, I do not know when it will-or-what may be the issue of the contest. Speculation-peculation-engrossing-forestalling-with all their concomitants, afford too many melancholy proofs of the decay of public virtue; and too glaring instances of its being the interest and desire of too many, who would wish to be thought friends, to continue the war.

George Washington
War, Patriotic, Men
George Washington, John Clement Fitzpatrick, David Maydole Matteson, United States George Washington Bicentennial Commission (1779). “The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799”, p.312

One of his officers, Henry Lee, summed up contemporary public opinion of Washington: First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.

George Washington
Art, Peace, War

[L]eave nothing to the uncertainty of procuring a warlike apparatus at the moment of public danger.

George Washington
War, Moments, Danger
George Washington, Jared Sparks (1837). “The Writings of George Washington: Being His Correspondence, Addresses, Messages, and Other Papers, Official and Private, Selected and Published from the Original Manuscripts; with a Life of the Author, Notes and Illustrations”, p.39

Military arrangement, and movements in consequence, like the mechanism of a clock, will be imperfectand disordered by the want of a part.

George Washington
Military, War, Movement
George Washington (1847). “The Writings of George Washington: pt. II. Correspondence and miscellaneous papers relating to the American revolution: (v. 3) June, 1775-July, 1776. (v. 4) July, 1776-July] 1777. (v. 5) July, 1777-July, 1778. (v. 6) July, 1778-March, 1780. (v. 7) March, 1780-April, 1781. (v. 8) April, 1781-December, 1783”, p.201