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Avoid gaming. This is a vice which is productive of every possible evil; equally injurious to the morals and health of its votaries. It is the child of avarice, the brother of iniquity, and father of mischief. It has been the ruin of many worthy families, the loss of many a man's honor, and the cause of Suicide. To all those who enter the lists, it is equally fascinating. The successful gamester pushes his good fortune, till it is overtaken by a reverse. The losing gamester, in hopes of retrieving past misfortunes, goes on from bad to worse, till grown desperate he pushes at everything and loses his all. In a word, few gain by this abominable practice, (the profit if any being diffused) while thousands are injured.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to Bushrod Washington, Jan. 15, 1783
Merit rarely goes unrewarded.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to Bushrod Washington, Jan. 15, 1783
The true distinction ... between what is called a fine Regiment, and an indifferent one will ever, upon investigation, be found to originate in, and depend upon the care, or the inattention, of the Officers belonging to them.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to Major Thomas Lansdale, Jan. 25, 1783
Nothing is too extravagant to expect from men who conceive they are ungratefully and unjustly dealt by.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to Joseph Jones, Mar. 18, 1783
A hundred thousand men, coming one after another, cannot move a Ton weight; but the united strength of 50 would transport it with ease.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to Dr. William Gordon, Jul. 8, 1783
When once the woman has tempted us, and we have tasted the forbidden fruit, there is no such thing as checking our appetites, whatever the consequences may be.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to Mrs. Richard Stockton, Sep. 2, 1783
I never did, nor do I believe I ever shall, give advice to a woman who is setting out on a matrimonial voyage; first, because I never could advise one to marry without her own consent; and, secondly, I know it is to no purpose to advise her to refrain when she has obtained it. A woman very rarely asks an opinion or requires advice on such an occasion, till her resolution is formed; and then it is with the hope and expectation of obtaining a sanction, not that she means to be governed by your disapprobation, that she applies.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to Lund Washington, Sep. 20, 1783
Letters of friendship require no study.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to Major-General Knox, Jan. 5, 1785
I have always considered marriage as the most interesting event of one's life, the foundation of happiness or misery.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to Burwell Bassett, May 23, 1785
Experience has taught us that men will not adopt and carry into execution measures the best calculated for their own good without the intervention of a coercive power.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to John Jay, Aug. 1, 1786
Perfection falls not to the share of mortals.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to John Jay, Aug. 1, 1786
From thinking proceeds speaking; thence to acting is often but a single step. But how irrevocable and tremendous!
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to John Jay, Aug. 1, 1786
Let the reins of government then be braced and held with a steady hand, and every violation of the constitution be reprehended. If defective, let it be amended, but not suffered to be trampled upon whilst it has an existence.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to Henry Lee, Oct. 31, 1786
Laws or ordinances unobserved, or partially attended to, had better never have been made.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to James Madison, Mar. 31, 1787
The warmest friends and the best supports the constitution has, do not contend that it is free from imperfections; but they found them unavoidable, and are sensible, if evil is likely to arise therefrom, the remedy must come hereafter; for in the present moment it is not to be obtained; and, as there is a constitutional door open for it, I think the people (for it is with them to judge), can, as they will have the advantage of experience on their side, decide with as much propriety on the alterations and amendments which are necessary, as ourselves. I do not think we are more inspired, have more wisdom, or possess more virtue, than those who will come after us.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to Bushrod Washington, Nov. 10, 1787
The power under the constitution will always be in the people. It is intrusted for certain defined purposes, and for a certain limited period, to representatives of their own choosing; and, whenever it is executed contrary to their interest, or not agreeable to their wishes, their servants can and undoubtedly will be recalled.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to Bushrod Washington, Nov. 10, 1787
It will at least be a recommendation to the proposed constitution that it is provided with more checks and barriers against the introduction of tyranny, and those of a nature less liable to be surmounted, than any government hitherto instituted among mortals hath possessed.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to the Marquis de Lafayette, Feb. 7, 1788
We are not to expect perfection in this world; but mankind, in modern times, have apparently made some progress in the science of government.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to the Marquis de Lafayette, Feb. 7, 1788
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, letter to the Marquis de Chastellux, Apr. 25, 1788
When a people shall have become incapable of governing themselves, and fit for a master, it is of little consequence from what quarter he comes.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to the Marquis de Lafayette, Apr. 28, 1788
Men of real talents in Arms have commonly approved themselves patrons of the liberal arts and friends to the poets, of their own as well as former times. In some instances by acting reciprocally, heroes have made poets, and poets heroes.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to the Marquis de Lafayette, May 28, 1788
Good company will always be found much less expensive than bad.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to George Steptoe Washington, Mar. 23, 1789
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