Quotes By Benjamin Franklin
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I never turned to drink. It seemed to turn to me.

An Egg to day is better than a Hen to-morrow.

The great secret of succeeding in conversation is to admire little, to hear much; always to distrust our own reason, and sometimes that of our friends; never to pretend to wit, but to make that of others appear as much as possibly we can; to hearken to what is said and to answer to the purpose.

The best way to help the poor is to make them uncomfortable in their own poverty.

An investment in education always pays the highest returns.

It is better to let 100 criminals go free than to imprison 1 innocent man.

That it is better 100 guilty Persons should escape than that one innocent Person should suffer, is a Maxim that has been long and generally approved.

Great spenders are bad lenders.

Lost time can never be found again.

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

A greater Quantity of some things may be eaten than of others, some being of lighter Digestion than others.

Moderation in all things -- including moderation.

I have met the enemy, and it is the eyes of other people.

I wish to live without committing any fault at any time.

Rarely use Venery but for Health or Offspring; Never to Dulness, Weakness, or the Injury of your own or another's Peace or Reputation.

Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom.

Love your Neighbour; yet don't pull down your Hedge.

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.

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.

By the word simplicity, is not always meant folly or ignorance; but often, pure and upright Nature, free from artifice, craft or deceitful ornament.

And where is the Prince who can afford to so cover his country with troops for its defense, as that ten thousand men descending from the clouds, might not in many places do an infinite deal of mischief, before a force could be brought together to repel them?

The happy State of Matrimony is, undoubtedly, the surest and most lasting Foundation of Comfort and Love ... the Cause of all good Order in the World, and what alone preserves it from the utmost Confusion.

Here comes the orator with his flood of words and his drop of reason.

The thrifty maxim of the wary Dutch, Is to save all the Money they can touch.

When you speak to a man, look on his eyes; when he speaks to you, look on his mouth.

Speak with contempt of none, from slave to king, The meanest Bee hath, and will use, a sting.

When Knaves betray each other, one can scarce be blamed or the other pitied.

He that doth what he should not, shall feel what he would not.

Quarrels never could last long, if on one side only lay the wrong.

When you taste honey, remember gall.

You may give give a man office, but you cannot give him discretion.

If you ride a horse, sit close and tight, if you ride a man, sit easy and light.

There is none deceived but he that trusts.

Thou can'st not joke an enemy into a friend,
but thou may'st a friend into an enemy.

He that is rich need not live sparingly,
and he that can live sparingly need not be rich.

They who have nothing to trouble them, will be troubled at nothing.

He that pursues two hares at once, does not catch one and lets the other go.

Industry and frugality, as the means of procuring wealth. thereby secures virtue, it being more difficult for a man in want to act always honestly.

What is a butterfly? At best
He's but a caterpiller drest.
The gaudy Fop's his picture just.

Do not do that which you would not have known.

He that takes a wife, takes care.

A fine genius in his own country is like gold in the mine.

A Man of Knowledge like a rich Soil, feeds If not a world of Corn, a world of Weeds.

Anger and folly walk cheeck by jowl.

I have heard that nothing gives an Author so great Pleasure, as to find his works respectfully quoted by other learned authors.

Think What You Do When You Run in Debt: You Give to Another Power over Your Liberty.

Industry pays debts, while despair increases them.

A word to the wise is enough, and many words won't fill a bushel.

Half-wits talk much, but say little.

It is ill-manners to silence a fool and cruelty to let him go on.

If your riches are yours, why don't you take them with you to the other world?

Drink does not drown care, but waters it, and makes it grow faster.

He who multiplies riches multiplies cares.

Tis against some mens principle to pay interest, and seems against others interest to pay the principle.

Tis easy to see, hard to foresee.

All things are cheap to the saving, dear to the wasteful.

If you have no Honey in your Pot, have some in your Mouth.

Trusting too much to others care is the ruin of many.

The longer I live the more convinced I become that God governs in the affairs of men. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance.

One thing I know
that is
I know NOTHING.

A little Religion, and a little Honesty, goes a great way in Courts.

The one who fails to prepare is preparing to fail.

You made delay, but time will not, and lost time is never found again.

It is prodigious the quantity of good that may be done by one man if he will make a business of it.

Money is of a prolific generating nature. Money can beget money, and its offspring can beget more.

By my rambling digressions I perceive myself to be growing old.

Reckless haste makes poor speed.

I have found Christian dogma unintelligible. Early in life, I absenteed myself from Christian assemblies.

Nor eye in a letter, nor hand in a purse, nor ear in the secret of another.

A light purse is a heavy curse.

Take a coin from your purse and invest it in your mind. It will come pouring out of your mind and overflow your purse.

Before you consult your fancy, consult your purse.

He that can take rest is greater than he that can take cities.

Saying and Doing, have quarrel'd and parted.

Serving God is doing good to man, but praying is thought an easier service and therefore more generally chosen.

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

I wish it (Christianity) were more productive of good works ... I mean real good works ... not holy day keeping, sermon-hearing ... or making long prayers, filled with flatteries and compliments despised by wise men, and much less capable of pleasing the Deity.

If we look back into history for the character of the present sects in Christianity, we shall find few that have not in their turns been persecutors, and complainers of persecution. The primitive Christians thought persecution extremely wrong in the Pagans, but practised it on one another.

People who are wrapped up in themselves make small packages.

Happiness consists more in small conveniences or pleasures that occur every day, than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom to a man in the course of his life.

Then plough deep while sluggards sleep, and you shall have corn to sell and to keep.

Stand firm, don't flutter!

Did not strong connections draw me elsewhere, I believe Scotland would be the country I would choose to end my days in.

Taxes are indeed very heavy --
We are taxed twice as much by our Idleness.
Three times as much by our Pride.
And four times as much by our Folly.

My father's little library consisted chiefly of books in polemic divinity, most of which I read, and have since often regretted that, at a time when I had such a thirst for knowledge, more proper books had not fallen in my way since it was now resolved I should not be a clergyman.

Do you love truth for truth's sake, and will you endeavor impartially to find and receive it yourself, and communicate it to others?

If you'd be beloved, make yourself amiable. A true friend is the best possession.

Here's to our beloved George Washington, the Joshua of America, who commanded the sun and the moon to stand still -- and they obeyed.

Notwithstanding my experiments with electricity the thunderbolt continues to fall under our noses and beards; and as for the tyrant, there are a million of us still engaged at snatching away his sceptre.

Praise to the undeserving is severe satire.

Moses lifting up his wand, and dividing the Red Sea, and Pharaoh in his chariot overwhelmed with the waters. This motto: Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.

It is much to be lamented that a man of Franklin's general good character and great influence should have been an unbeliever in Christianity, and also have done as much as he did to make others unbelievers.

Beer is God's way of telling us that he loves us and wants us to be happy.

The US Constitution only guarantees your rights as a citizen, it doesn't guarantee happiness. It may take work, but if you have your rights, happiness is very possible.

Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in the world nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes.

I believe ... that the soul of man is immortal and will be treated with justice in another life, respecting its conduct in this.

He that goes a borrowing goes a sorrowing.

Pride that dines on vanity, sups on contempt.