Benjamin Franklin Quotes

A man in a passion, rides a mad horse.

Necessity never made a good bargain.

Before you consult your fancy, consult your purse.

Most people return small favors, acknowledge medium ones and repay greater ones - with ingratitude.

A highwayman is as much a robber when he plunders in a gang as when single; and a nation that makes an unjust war is only a great gang.

Do you sincerely declare that you love mankind in general, of what profession or religion soever? Do you think any person ought to be harmed in his body, name, or goods, for mere speculative opinions, or his external way of worship? Do you love truth for truth's sake; and will you endeavor impartially to find and receive it yourself, and communicate it to others.

Pride that dines on vanity, sups on contempt.

To be proud of knowledge is to be blind with light.

Remember, that money is of the prolific, generating nature. Money can beget money, and its offspring can beget more, and so on. Five shillings turned is six, turned again it is seven and threepence, and so on, till it becomes a hundred pounds. The more there is of it, the more it produces every turning, so that the profits rise quicker and quicker. He that kills a breeding sow, destroys all her offspring to the thousandth generation. He that murders a crown, destroys all that it might have produced, even scores of pounds.

The world is full of fools and faint hearts; and yet everyone has courage enough to bear the misfortunes, and wisdom enough to manage the affairs, of his neighbor.

Doing an injury puts you below your enemy; revenging one make you but even with him; forgiving it sets you above him.

If you want to make a friend, let someone do you a favor.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

A wise man will desire no more than what he may get justly, use soberly, distribute cheerfully, and leave contently.

Lose no time; be always employed in something useful.

Those who give up their liberty for more security neither deserve liberty nor security.

Electrical matter differs from common matter in this, that the parts of the latter mutually attract, those of the former mutually repel each other.

The early morning has gold in its mouth.

What one relishes, nourishes.

The person who deserves most pity is a lonesome one on a rainy day who doesn't know how to read.

When women cease to be handsome, they study to be good.

If you watch your pennies, the pounds will take care of themselves.

Epitaph on a scolding wife by her husband: Here my poor Bridget's corpse doth lie, she is at rest - and so am I!

Nothing preaches better than the act.

I believe there is one Supreme most perfect being.

To bear other people's afflictions, everyone has courage and enough to spare.

It is hard for an empty bag to stand upright.

Fear not death; for the sooner we die, the longer shall we be immortal.

It is the duty of mankind on all suitable occasions to acknowledge their dependence on the Divine Being... Almighty God would mercifully interpose and still the rage of war among the nations... He would take this province under His protection, confound the designs and defeat the attempts of its enemies, and unite our hearts and strengthen our hands in every undertaking that may be for the public good, and for our defense and security in this time of danger.

No nation has ever been ruined by trade.

The things of this world take up too much of my time, of which indeed I have too little left, to undertake anything like a reformation in religion.

Private property ... is a Creature of Society, and is subject to the Calls of that Society, whenever its Necessities shall require it, even to its last Farthing, its contributors therefore to the public Exigencies are not to be considered a Benefit on the Public, entitling the Contributors to the Distinctions of Honor and Power, but as the Return of an Obligation previously received, or as payment for a just Debt.

Take counsel in wine, but resolve afterwards in water.

A Bible and a newspaper in every house, a good school in every district; all studied and appreciated as they merit; are the principal support of virtue, morality, and civil liberty.

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

He that won't be counseled can't be helped.

Spare when young, and spend when old.

Eat to live, not live to eat.

You and I were long friends: you are now my enemy, and I am yours.

Make use of your friends by being of use to them.

The ancients tell us what is best; but we must learn of the moderns what is fittest.

A man must have a good deal of vanity who believes, and a good deal of boldness who affirms, that all the doctrines he holds are true, and all he rejects are false.

Industry, perseverance, and frugality make fortune yield.

Life's Tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.

I was surprised to find myself so much fuller of Faults than I had imagined, but I had the Satisfaction of seeing them diminish.

You may sometimes be much in the Wrong, in owning your being in the Right.

Time is money.

The most trifling actions that affect a man's credit are to be regarded. The sound of your hammer at five in the morning, or at nine at night, heard by a creditor, makes him easy six months longer; but if he sees you at the billiard-table, or hears your voice at a tavern, when you should be at work, he sends for his money the next day.