George Washington

it has been my faithful study to collect my duty from a just appreciation of every circumstance by which it might be affected

A just estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position.

The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism.

The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government.

Liberty itself will find in such a government, with powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian.

The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave.

The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government.

It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government.

Observe good faith and justice towards all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all.