"A sensible woman can never be happy with a fool."

"Associate yourself with men of good quality, if you esteem your own reputation; for ‘tis better to be alone than in bad company."

"I conceive a knowledge of books is the basis upon which other knowledge is to be built."

"If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; 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 turning points of lives are not the great moments. The real crises are often concealed in occurrences so trivial in appearance that they pass unobserved."

"Where are our Men of abilities? Why do they not come forth to save their Country?"

"To encourage literature and the arts is a duty which every good citizen owes to his country."

"Be courteous to all, but intimate with few; and let those be well-tried before you give them your confidence."

"We should not look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dearly bought experience."

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

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

"[death]...the abyss from where no traveler is permitted to return"

"Real men despise battle, but will never run from it."

"Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for, I have grown not only gray, but almost blind in the service of my country. - March 15, 1783"

"I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy."

"It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government."

"We must consult our means rather than our wishes."

"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."

"...overgrown military establishments, which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to Republican Liberty."

"If to please the people,we offer what we ourselves disapprove, how can we afterwards defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair. The rest is in the hands of God."

"No punishment, in my opinion, is to great, for the man who can build his greatness upon his country's ruin"

"A bad war is fought with a good mind."

"Let your heart feel for the afflictions and distress of everyone."

"A slender acquaintance with the world must convince every man that actions, not words, are the true criterion of the attachment of friends."

"Be not glad at the misfortune of another, though he may be your enemy."

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

"99% percent of failures are the ones who make excuses."

"It is absolutely necessary... for me to have persons that can think for me, as well as execute orders."

"Wherein you reprove another be unblameable yourself, for example is more prevalent than precepts."

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

"Strive not with your superiors in argument, but always submit your judgment to others with modesty."

"Individuals entering into society, must give up a share of liberty to preserve the rest."

"The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their Constitutions of Government."

"They came with a Bible and their religion- stole our land, crushed our spirit... and now tell us we should be thankful to the 'Lord' for being saved. Chief Pontiac, American Indian Chieftain"

"George Washington famously warned against ... 'ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear"

"The reflection upon my situation and that of this army produces many an uneasy hour when all around me are wrapped in sleep. Few people know the predicament we are in."

"One of the expedients of party to acquire influence, within particular districts, is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts."

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

"Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attachment."

"Let your conversation be without malice or envy, for it is a sign of a tractable and commendable nature; and in all cases of passion admit reason to govern."

"If the cause is advanced, indifferent is it to me where or in what quarter it happens."

"Every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more, that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome."

"The great mass of our Citizens require only to understand matters rightly, to form right decisions."

"Its good to live alone than to live in a bad company"

"Some day, following the example of the United States of America, there will be a United States of Europe."

"Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence."

"Decision making, like coffee, needs a cooling process."

"If Christ were here now there is one thing he would not be -- a Christian. Samuel Clemens "Mark Twain", American author and humorist"

"[T]he gradual extension of our settlements will as certainly cause the savage, as the wolf, to retire; both being beasts of prey, though they differ in shape."

"A man ought not to value himself of his achievements or rare qualities of wit, much less of his riches, virtue or kindred."