Benjamin Franklin Quotes

The United States Constitutional Convention, except for three or four persons, thought prayers unnecessary.

Those who give up liberty for the sake of security, deserve neither liberty nor security.

Tolerate no Uncleanliness in Body, Clothes, or Habitation.

Who judges best of a Man, his Enemies or himself?

A new truth is a truth, an old error is an error.

Taxes on consumption, like those on capital or income, to be just, must be uniform.

An assembly of great men is the greatest fool upon earth.

He that steals the old man's supper does him no wrong.

When passion rules, she never rules wisely.

The expenses required to prevent a war are much lighter than those that will, if not prevented, be absolutely necessary to maintain it.

Strive to be the best and you may succeed: he may well win the race that runs by himself.

As Pride increases, Fortune declines.

Paintings and fightings are best seen at a distance.

I think that humanity brings much misery on itself by the false value they put on things.

Nothing great comes without enthusiasm.

There are no ugly loves nor handsome prisons.

Is there anything men take more pains about than to render themselves unhappy?

Revelation, indeed, as such had no influence on my mind

Reader, I wish thee Health, Wealth, Happiness, And may kind Heaven thy Year's Industry bless.

Graft good Fruit all, or graft not at all.

No longer virtuous no longer free; is a Maxim as true with regard to a private Person as a Common-wealth.

A temperate Diet frees from Diseases; such are seldom ill, but if they are surprised with Sickness, they bear it better, and recover sooner; for most Distempers have their Original from Repletion.

All cats are gray in the dark.

Fiction or fable allures to instruction.

Do not let fancy outrun your means.

Many have been ruined by buying good Pennyworths.

That man alone loves himself rightly who procures the greatest possible good to himself through the whole of his existence and so pursues pleasure as not to give for it more than it is worth.

Justice is as strictly due between neighbor nations as between neighbor citizens.

Let thy discontents be thy secrets; if the world knows them 'twill despise thee and increase them.

Avoid dishonest gain: no price can recompence the pangs of vice.

Let our Fathers and Grandfathers be valued for their Goodness, ourselves for our own.

Men's minds do not die with their bodies but are made more happy or miserable after this life according to their actions.

All the heavenly Bodies, the Stars and Planets, are regulated with the utmost Wisdom! And can we suppose less Care to be taken in the Order of the moral than in the natural System?

A light purse is a heavy curse.

Abuses of the freedom of speech ought to be repressed, but to whom are we to commit the power of doing it?

Traveling is one way of lengthening life, at least in appearance.

I believe in one God, Creator of the Universe in that He ought to be whipped from pilar to post and back again for His shameful actions toward Humanity.

When you're testing to see how deep water is, never use two feet.

If it were not for the Belly, the Back might wear Gold.

It is therefore wish'd that all commerce were as free between all the nations of the world as it is between the several counties of England.

He [the Rev. Mr. Whitefield] used, indeed, sometimes to pray for my conversion, but never had the satisfaction of believing that his prayers were heard.

Mankind are very odd creatures: one half censure what they practice, the other half practice what they censure; the rest always say and do as they ought.

If your head is made of wax, don't walk in the sun

When the well is dry, people know the worth of water. [so appreciate what you have while you have it]

Remember, Sir, that [England] began the slave trade!

In order to be happy you need a good dog, a good woman, and ready money.

A little sturdiness when superiors are much in the wrong sometimes occasions consideration. And there is truth in the old saying that if you make yourself a sheep, the wolves will eat you.

As charms are nonsense, nonsense is a charm.

Acquire Riches by Industry and Frugality.

If you would not be forgotten, do things worth remembering.