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
There can be no greater error than to expect, or calculate, upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard. – George Washington
True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity, before it is entitled to the appellation. – George Washington
Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable procures success to the weak, and esteem to all. – George Washington
The arbitrary rule of a just and enlightened prince is always bad. His virtues are the most dangerous and the surest form of seduction: they lull a people imperceptibly into the habit of loving, respecting, and serving his successor, whoever that successor may be, no matter how wicked or stupid. – Denis Diderot