Quote of the day by first US President George Washington on friendship and relationship: "Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow growth..."

A line about friendship attributed to George Washington keeps circulating online. “Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.

"Washington wrote it on January 15, 1783, in a letter to his nephew Bushrod Washington, who was studying law in Philadelphia at the time. The full line reads: "Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence—true friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo & withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation."

Why the line still resonates

Part of why this particular quote keeps resurfacing probably has nothing to do with history at all.

It's just genuinely relatable advice, dressed up in old-fashioned language but saying something most people already believe deep down. Be nice to everyone. Don't hand out real trust cheaply. Let friendship prove itself over time instead of assuming it the second someone's fun to be around. And that's exactly why it travels so well online.

There's also something almost touching about who he was writing to. This wasn't a speech to Congress or a message meant for history books.

It was one man writing to his nephew, worried about him getting swept up by "the temptation, & vices of Cities," as Washington himself put it in that same letter (available on University of Virginia's Founders Online) . Mount Vernon's historians describe Bushrod as a "particular favorite" of his uncle's, which tracks.

You don't write four paragraphs of unsolicited life advice to someone you don't care about. So when someone posts this quote today, captioned under a photo of two friends or a breakup story, they're not really quoting a president.

They're quoting an uncle. A tired, worried, mid-war uncle, trying to save someone he loved from getting burned by people who didn't deserve his trust. That's a much better story than "founding father drops wisdom." It's just usually the one nobody tells.

About George Washington

George Washington is best known as the first president of the United States, but his story began long before that. Born on February 22, 1732, in Virginia, he worked as a surveyor before joining the military.

During the American Revolutionary War, he led the Continental Army against British forces and played a key role in helping the American colonies gain independence. His calm leadership and determination earned him the respect of soldiers and citizens alike.When the United States became an independent nation, Washington was chosen as its first president in 1789. Because of his role in shaping the country, he is often called the "Father of His Country." More than two centuries later, George Washington remains one of the most respected figures in American history.