"It may be laid down as a..." - Quote by George Washington
It may be laid down as a primary position, and the basis of our system, that every Citizen who enjoys the protection of a free Government, owes not only a proportion of his property, but even his personal services to the defence of it, and consequently that the Citizens of America (with a few legal and official exceptions) from 18 to 50 Years of Age should be borne on the Militia Rolls, provided with uniform Arms, and so far accustomed to the use of them, that the Total strength of the Country might be called forth at a Short Notice on any very interesting Emergency.
More by George Washington
“To form a new Government, requires infinite care, and unbounded attention; for if the foundation is badly laid the superstructure must be bad.”
“The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism.”
“No pecuniary consideration is more urgent, than the regular redemption and discharge of the public debt: on none can delay be more injurious, or an economy of time more valuable.”
More on Citizenship
“I'm not a politician by profession. I am a citizen who decided I had to be personally involved.”
“Taxes, after all, are dues that we pay for the privileges of membership in an organized society.”
“Our brand of democracy is hard. But I can promise that a year from now, when I no longer hold this office, I'll be right there with you as a citizen - inspired by those voices of fairness and vision, of grit and good humor and kindness that have helped America travel so far.”
More on Duty
“Duty is the essence of manhood.”
“No man who acts from a sense of duty ever puts the lesser duty above the greater. No man has the desire and the ability to work onhigh things, but he has also the ability to build himself a high staging.”
“Freedom is not the right to do as you please, but the liberty to do as you should.”