George Washington

1732–1799 · First U.S. President & Commander-in-Chief

George Washington (1732–1799) led the Continental Army through the American Revolution and served as the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797. In his First Annual Message to Congress on 8 January 1790 — the first State of the Union — he urged the young nation to build its own arms manufacturing so it would not depend on foreigners for military supplies, a lesson drawn from the Continental Army’s wartime shortages. That passage, not any call for citizens to arm against their own government, is the true root of this quote.

Traced to source

5 quotes we’ve traced to George Washington

“A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them”

Disputed

“Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation, for it is better to be alone than in bad company”

Disputed

“Government is like fire, a dangerous servant and a fearful master”

Disputed

“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master”

Disputed

“It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible”

Disputed

Not actually George Washington

Often misattributed to George Washington

Famous lines widely pinned on George Washington that we’ve traced to someone else.

“Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence”

actually C. S. Wheatley

“I cannot tell a lie, I did it with my little hatchet”

actually Mason Locke Weems

“The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion”

actually Treaty of Tripoli, Article 11 (English text by Joel Barlow)

“The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments”

actually William Edgar Borah

On the research bench

Commonly pinned on George Washington — under review

2 lines flagged as pinned on George Washington and queued for a full source trace — not yet verified.

“It is too probable that no plan we propose will be adopted. Perhaps another dreadful conflict is to be sustained.”

Disputed

“I cannot tell a lie... I did cut it with my hatchet”

Queued

Did they really say it?

Thought George Washington said something else?

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