As he left the presidency in 1796, George Washington wrote a farewell address to the American people. Which sentence from the excerpt best supports George Washington's belief that the U.S. should deal cautiously in economic affairs? from Washington's Farewell Address by George Washington Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand: neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences; . . . diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams of commerce but forcing nothing; establishing with powers so disposed— . . . conventional rules of intercourse, . . . constantly keeping in view, that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested favors from another—that it must pay with a portion of its independence for whatever it may accept under that character . . . There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard.