Precedents are dangerous things; let the rein of government then be braced and held with a steady hand.
George WashingtonNo people can be bound to acknowledge the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the united States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency
George WashingtonThere is nothing that gives a man consequence, and renders him fit for command, like a support that renders him independent of everybody but the State he serves.
George Washington