Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none.
Benjamin Franklin Quotations
We found 162 matching quotations.
Drive thy business or it will drive thee.
Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.
Life's Tragedy is that we get old to soon and wise too late.
To err is human, to repent divine, to persist devilish.
But in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.
Glass, china and reputation are easily cracked, and never well mended.
Dost thou love life Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of.
Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.
Critics are our friends, they tell us our faults.
The doors of wisdom are never shut.
There never was a good war, or a bad peace.
We must indeed all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall hang separately.
If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are rotten,
either write things worth reading or do things worth the writing.
either write things worth reading or do things worth the writing.
Who is rich? He that is content. Who is that? Nobody.
The strictest law sometimes becomes the severest injustice.
By heaven we understand a state of happiness infinite in degree, and endless in duration.
I believe I shall,in some shape or other,always exist; and, with all the inconveniences human life is liable to, I shall not object to a new edition of mine, hoping, however, that the errata of the last may be corrected.
Keep thy eyes wide open before marriage, and half-shut afterwards.
If you know how to spend less than you get, you have the philosopher's stone.
To be proud of virtue is to poison oneself with the antidote.
He who shall introduce into public affairs the principles of primitive Christianity will change the face of the world.
He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.
Well done is better than well said.
If you wouldst live long, live well, for folly and wickedness shorten life.
Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write something worth reading or do things worth writing.
No nation was ever ruined by trade.
To lengthen thy Life, lessen thy meals
The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.
A long life may not be good enough, but a good life is long enough.
Wish not so much to live long as to live well.
He that lives upon hope will die fasting.
Genius without education is like silver in the mine.
He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money.
Fear God, and your enemies will fear you.
Kill no more pigeons than you can eat.
Where there's marriage without love, there will be love without marriage.
It is the working man who is the happy man. It is the idle man who is the miserable man.
If Jack's in love, he's no judge of Jill's beauty.
I am a strong believer in luck and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.
The absent are never without fault, nor the present without excuse.
There is no little enemy.
Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.
Be slow in choosing a friend, slower in changing.
Sloth makes all things difficult, but industry, all things easy. He that rises late must trot all day, and shall scarce overtake his business at night, while laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes him.
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
He that lies down with dogs, shall rise up with fleas.
If you would be loved, love and be lovable.
Laws too gentle are seldom obeyed; too severe, seldom executed.
A countryman between two lawyers is like a fish between two cats.
In rivers and bad governments, the lightest things swim at the top.
Time is money.
If you would persuade, you must appeal to interest rather than intellect.
Employ thy time well, if thou meanest to get leisure.
If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write things worth reading, or do things worth writing.
He was so learned that he could name a horse in nine languages so ignorant that he bought a cow to ride on.
Anger is never without a reason but seldom a good one.
Distrust and caution are the parents of security.
God heals, and the doctor takes the fee.
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.
If your head is wax, don't walk in the sun.
Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do.
They that will not be counseled, cannot be helped. If you do not hear reason she will rap you on the knuckles.
Lost time is never found again.
To follow by faith alone is to follow blindly.
He that can have patience can have what he will.
By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.
Sin is not hurtful because it is forbidden, but it is forbidden because it's hurtful.
Many men die at twenty-five and aren't buried until they are seventy-five.
Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it, is.
God heals, and the doctor takes the fees.
He that falls in love with himself will have no rivals.
Experience is a dear teacher, but fools will learn at no other.
Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other.
How many observe Christ's birthday How few, his precepts O 'tis easier to keep holidays than commandments.
Five thousand balloons, capable of raising two men each, could not cost more than five ships of the line; and where is the prince who can afford so to cover his country with troops for its defense as that 10,000 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?
Rules too soft are seldomly followed; rules too harsh are seldomly executed.
Employ thy time well, if thou meanest to get leisure.
There is no kind of dishonesty into which otherwise good people more easily and frequently fall than that of defrauding the government.
A democracy is two wolves and a small lamb voting on what to have for dinner. Freedom under a constitutional republic is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as getting.
I cannot conceive otherwise than that He, the Infinite Father, expects or requires no worship or praise from us, but that He is even infinitely above it.
I am in the prime of senility.
At 20 years of age the will reigns, at 30 the wit, at 40 the judgment.
A penny saved is a penny earned.
Marry your son when you will, but you daughter when you can.
Write injuries in dust, benefits in marble.
Who is rich He that is content. Who is that Nobody.
It is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them.
Energy and persistence conquer all things.
Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.
Do good to thy Friend to keep him, to thy enemy to gain him.
Dost thou love life? Than do not squander time, for it is the stuff life is made of.
A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over.
Early morning hath gold in its mouth.
An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.
Creditors have better memories than debtors.
There are three great friends an old wife, an old dog, and ready money.
He who multiplies riches multiplies cares.
Beware of the young doctor and the old barber.
He does not possess wealth it possesses him.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for everything one has a mind to do.
Would you live with ease, do what you ought, and not what you please.
Diligence is the mother of good luck.
He that has done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged.
For the want of a nail, the shoe was lose; for the want of a shoe the horse was lose; and for the want of a horse the rider was lost, being overtaken and slain by the enemy, all for the want of care about a horseshoe nail.
Think of these things, whence you came, where you are going, and to whom you must account.
Beware of the young doctor and the old barber.
He is ill clothed that is bare of virtue.
Pride breakfasted with plenty, dined with poverty, and supped with infamy.
We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.
Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!
Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.
The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason.
Be slow in choosing a friend, slower in changing.
Fish and visitors smell in three days.
You may delay, but time will not.
I know not which lives more unnatural lives, obeying husbands, or commanding wives.
To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals.
All would live long, but none would be old.
He is ill clothed, who is bare of virtue.
Many complain of their memory, few of their judgment.
Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What's a sun-dial in the shade
All cats are gray in the dark.
Wealth is not his that has it, but his who enjoys it.
It isn't what you know that counts, it's what you think of in time.
Without justice courage is weak.
Read much, but not many books.
The first mistake in public business is the going into it.
He is a fool that cannot conceal his wisdom.
A good conscience is a continual Christmas.
An investment in knowledge still yields the best returns.
An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.
Necessity never made a good bargain.
Our critics are our friends; they show us our faults.
He that is good at making excuses is seldom good at anything else.
Educate your children to self-control, to the habit of holding passion and prejudice and evil tendencies subject to an upright and reasoning will, and you have done much to abolish misery from their future and crimes from society.
Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.
We must hang together, gentlemen...else, we shall most assuredly hang separately.
All human situations have their inconveniences. We feel those of the present but neither see nor feel those of the future; and hence we often make troublesome changes without amendment, and frequently for the worse.
Search others for their virtues, thyself for thy vices.
A life of leisure and a life of laziness are two different things.
Remember that time is money.
Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead.
Energy and persistence conquer all thing.
Passion governs, and she never governs wisely.
He that would live in peace and at ease, must not speak all he knows nor judge all he sees.
Where sense is wanting, everything is wanting,
Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain, and most fools do.
Use no hurtful deceit think innocently and justly and if you speak, speak accordingly.
Three people can keep a secret so long as two of them are dead.
As we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every idle silence.
Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame.
To be humble to superiors is duty, to equals courtesy, to inferiors nobleness.
Who is rich? He who is content. Who is that? Nobody.
Think what you do when you run into debt; you give another power over your liberty.
After three days men grow weary of a wench, a guest, and rainy weather.
When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic. Sell not liberty to purchase power.
To the generous mind the heaviest debt is that of gratitude, when it is not in our power to repay it.
Tell me....And I Forget,
Teach me.....And I Learn,
Involve Me.....And I Remember.
Teach me.....And I Learn,
Involve Me.....And I Remember.