Quotes By Benjamin Franklin
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Take time for all things.

Do not, however, mistake me. It is not to my good friend's heresy that I impute his honesty. On the contrary, 'tis his honesty that brought upon him the character of a heretic.

The Things which hurt, instruct.

The greatest inventions are those inquiries which tend to increase the power of man over matter.

There never was a good knife made of bad steel.

Are you angry that others disappoint you? Remember you cannot depend upon yourself.

Little leaks sink the ship.

A lighthouse is more useful than a church.

What can laws do without morals?

The madness of mobs or the insolence of soldiers, or both, when too near to each other, occasion some mischief.

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.

A full Belly makes a dull Brain: The Muses starve in a Cook's Shop.

He that hath a calling, hath an office of profit and honor.

What is without us has no connection with happiness, only so far as the preservation of our lives and health depends upon it... Happiness springs immediately from the mind.

Every pot must sit on its own bottom.

If principle is good for anything, it is worth living up to.

Whenever we attempt to mend the scheme of Providence and to interfere in the Government of the world, we had need be very circumspect lest we do more harm than good.

Whoever feels pain in hearing a good character of his neighbor, will feel a pleasure in the reverse. And those who despair to rise in distinction by their virtues, are happy if others can be depressed to a level of themselves.

So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for every thing one has a mind to do.

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

A Republic, if you can keep it.

You don't get somebody to like you by doing them a favor. That only tends to build resentment over the fact that they are needy and you are not. No, you ask them to do you a favor.

E'er you remark another's sin, bid your own conscience look within.

That which resembles most living one's life over again, seems to be to recall all the circumstances of it; and, to render this remembrance more durable, to record them in writing.

The riches of a country are to be valued by the quantity of labor its inhabitants are able to purchase, and not by the quantity of silver and gold they possess; which will purchase more or less labor, and therefore is more or less valuable, as is said before, according to its scarcity or plenty.

What you would seem to be, be really.

No nation has ever been ruined by trade.

I believe there is one Supreme most perfect being.

In America, they do not inquire of a stranger, What is he? but, What can he do?

He that is conscious of a stink in his breeches is suspicious of every wrinkle in another's nose.

Man is a tool-making animal.

When religion is good, it will take care of itself. When it is not able to take care of itself, and God does not see fit to take care of it, so that it has to appeal to the civil power for support, it is evidence to my mind that its cause is a bad one.

You will discover 3 trustworthy mates, an aged wife, an aged canine, and ready dollars.

He that scatters thorns, let him not go barefoot.

A man of words and not of deeds,
Is like a garden full of weeds.

Nothing is more important for the public wealth than to form and train youth in wisdom and virtue. Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom.

Most people dislike vanity in others, whatever share they have of it themselves.

He's the best physician that knows the worthlessness of most medicines.

In a discreet man's mouth, a public thing is private.

Duty is not beneficial because it is commanded, but is commanded because it is beneficial.

Silence is not always a sign of wisdom, but babbling is ever a mark of folly.

The poor have little; beggars, none; the rich, too much; enough, not one.

A man separated from his reflective belt is no man at all.

Give me yesterday's bread, this day's flesh, and last year's cider.

Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a Colony of Aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us instead of our Anglifying them, and will never adopt our Language or Customs, any more than they can acquire our Complexion.

Hope is an essential constituent of human life.

He that spits against the wind, spits in his own face.

Let honesty and industry be thy constant companions, and spend one penny less than thy clear gains; then shall thy pocket begin to thrive; creditors will not insult, nor want oppress, nor hungerness bite, nor nakedness freeze thee.

Annual giving is the custom of making a gift-a-year to an institution in which one has faith.

Courteous Reader, Astrology is one of the most ancient Sciences, held in high esteem of old, by the Wise and the Great. Formerly, no Prince would make War or Peace, nor any General fight in Battle, in short, no important affair was undertaken without first consulting an Astrologer.

If the elbow had been placed closer to the hand, the forearm would have been too short to bring the glass to the mouth; and if it had been closer to the shoulder, the forearm would have been so long that it would have carried the glass beyond the mouth.

A perfect character might be attended with the inconvenience of being envied and hated; and that a benevolent man should allow a few faults in himself, to keep his friends in countenance.

Prodigality of Time produces Poverty of Mind as well as of Estate.

He that hath a Trade, hath an Estate.

Rich widows are the only secondhand goods that sell at first-class prices.

Pity and forbearance should characterize all acts of justice.

A flatterer never seems absurd: The flatter'd always takes his word.

Gaining money by my industry and frugality, I lived very agreeably.

The way to wealth depends on just two words, industry and frugality.

A ploughman on his legs is higher than a gentleman on his knees.

An enormous proportion of property vested in a few individuals is dangerous to the rights, and destructive of the common happiness of mankind, and, therefore, every free state hath a right by its laws to discourage the possession of such property.

Great good nature without prudence is a great misfortune.

God bless the King, and grant him long to Reign.

The Golden Age was never the present age.

Suspicion may be no fault, but showing it may be a great one.

If I knew a miser, who gave up every kind of comfortable living, all the pleasure of doing good to others, all the esteem of his fellow-citizens, and the joys of benevolent friendship, for the sake of accumulating wealth. Poor man, said I, you pay too much for your whistle.

Poverty wants some things, Luxury many things, Avarice all things.

O Lazy bones! Dost thou think God would have given thee arms and legs, if he had not design'd thou should'st use them?

Drive thy business or it will drive thee.

What's a Sun-Dial in the shade?

It is a strange anomaly that men could be careful to insure their houses, their ships, their merchandise, and yet neglect to insure their lives -- surely the most important of all to their families, and more subject to loss.

Keep out of the Sight of Feasts and Banquets as much as may be; for 'tis more difficult to refrain good Cheer, when it's present, than from the Desire of it when it is away; the like you may observe in the Objects of all the other Senses.

It is a bad temper of mind that takes delight in opposition.

A bargain is something you have to find a use for once you have bought it.

Some of the domestic evils of drunkenness are houses without windows, gardens without fences, fields without tillage, barns without roofs, children without clothing, principles, morals or manners.

The best investment is in the tools of one's own trade.

Hereafter, if you should observe an occasion to give your officers and friends a little more praise than is their due, and confess more fault than you can justly be charged with, you will only become the sooner for it, a great captain.

I am lord of myself, accountable to none.

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

Don't think so much of your own Cunning, as to forget other Men's; a Cunning Man is overmatched by a cunning Man and a Half.

I grew convinced that truth, sincerity and integrity in dealings between man and man were of the utmost importance to the felicity of life, and I formed written resolutions ... to practice them ever while I lived.

If you have time don't wait for time.

After getting the first hundred pounds, it is more easy to get the second.

The English love an insult. It's their only test of a man's sincerity.

There is scarce a king in a hundred who would not, if he could, follow the example of Pharoah -- get first all the people's money, then all their lands, and then make them and their children servants forever.

If any form of government is capable of making a nation happy, ours I think bids fair now for producing that effect. But after all much depends upon the people who are governed.

Neither a Fortress nor a Maidenhead will hold out long after they begin to parley.

Be civil to all; serviceable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none.

In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection, he stated. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. ... Do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?

I looked around for God's judgments, but saw no signs of them.

We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that 'except the Lord build the House, they labor in vain that build it' I firmly believe this; by our partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a by word down to future ages.

I resolve to speak ill of no man whatever, not even in a matter of truth; but rather by some means excuse the faults I hear charged upon others, and upon proper occasions speak all the good I know of everybody.

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.

If you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm. Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants to see us happy.

There is no such thing as a good war or a bad peace.

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