Quotes and anectdotes from the wise to the foolish, and the courageous to the drunk

Benjamin Franklin Statesman

  • Gender: Male
  • Citizenship: United States
  • Born: Jan 17, 1706
  • Died: Apr 17, 1790

Benjamin Franklin (1706 1790) was an inventor, publisher. scientist, and statesman, who is known as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. He was a major figure in the Enlightenment, known as a printer, satirist, political theorist, civic activist, and a diplomat, famous for his theories of electricity. He founded the first public lending library in America and first fire department in Pennsylvania.

Your net worth to the world is usually determined by what remains after your bad habits are subtracted from your good ones. finance & good

Time is money. money & time

Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other. experience

Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of. life, love & time

Do good to your friends to keep them, to your enemies to win them. good

Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn. learning

God works wonders now and then Behold a lawyer, an honest man. God

Rebellion against tyrants is obedience to God. God

I saw few die of hunger of eating, a hundred thousand. death

Necessity never made a good bargain. good

To Follow by faith alone is to follow blindly. alone & faith

Content makes poor men rich discontent makes rich men poor. men

Genius without education is like silver in the mine. education

It is the working man who is the happy man. It is the idle man who is the miserable man. work

Take time for all things: great haste makes great waste. great & time

Applause waits on success. success

Well done is better than well said. motivational

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

Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning. success

He that would live in peace and at ease must not speak all he knows or all he sees. peace

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. motivational

It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it. good

The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. happiness

The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is a knowledge of our own ignorance. knowledge & wisdom

There never was a truly great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous. great & time

The use of money is all the advantage there is in having it. money

Be slow in choosing a friend, slower in changing. friendship

Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man. peace & war

Each year one vicious habit discarded, in time might make the worst of us good. good & time

Remember that credit is money. money

Beware the hobby that eats. food

A place for everything, everything in its place. inspirational

We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid. work

You may delay, but time will not. time

All who think cannot but see there is a sanction like that of religion which binds us in partnership in the serious work of the world. religion & work

Half a truth is often a great lie. great & truth

If time be of all things the most precious, wasting time must be the greatest prodigality. time

Speak ill of no man, but speak all the good you know of everybody. good

Where there's marriage without love, there will be love without marriage. love & marriage

Laws too gentle are seldom obeyed too severe, seldom executed. government

Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn. learning

I conceive that the great part of the miseries of mankind are brought upon them by false estimates they have made of the value of things. great

Employ thy time well, if thou meanest to gain leisure. time

He who falls in love with himself will have no rivals. love

There is no kind of dishonesty into which otherwise good people more easily and frequently fall than that of defrauding the government. good & government

Wise men don't need advice. Fools won't take it. men

Hunger is the best pickle. best

Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship. great

Even peace may be purchased at too high a price. peace

The doors of wisdom are never shut. wisdom

To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals. life

A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body. food & home

Money has never made man happy, nor will it, there is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more of it one has the more one wants. happiness, money & nature

Beauty and folly are old companions. beauty

He that can have patience can have what he will. patience

Work as if you were to live a hundred years. Pray as if you were to die tomorrow. work

How few there are who have courage enough to own their faults, or resolution enough to mend them. courage

Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out. failure & fear

Fatigue is the best pillow. best

The first mistake in public business is the going into it. business

A great empire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished at the edges. great

Human felicity is produced not as much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen as by little advantages that occur every day. good & great

In general, mankind, since the improvement of cookery, eats twice as much as nature requires. nature

Anger is never without a reason, but seldom with a good one. anger & good

The eye of the master will do more work than both his hands. work

God helps those who help themselves. God

Many foxes grow gray but few grow good. good

Observe all men, thyself most. men

Leisure is the time for doing something useful. This leisure the diligent person will obtain the lazy one never. time

He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money. money

The way to see by Faith is to shut the Eye of Reason. faith

I wake up every morning at nine and grab for the morning paper. Then I look at the obituary page. If my name is not on it, I get up. morning

There are three faithful friends - an old wife, an old dog, and ready money. money & wisdom

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest. best, education & knowledge

At twenty years of age the will reigns at thirty, the wit and at forty, the judgment. age

Wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy. funny & God

If you would be loved, love, and be loveable. love

Nine men in ten are would be suicides. men

The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself. happiness

In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. business & death

A life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things. There will be sleeping enough in the grave. life

When men and woman die, as poets sung, his heart's the last part moves, her last, the tongue. men

If you would know the value of money, go and try to borrow some. money

Honesty is the best policy. best & wisdom

The art of acting consists in keeping people from coughing. art

Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards. marriage

Lost time is never found again. time

He that lives upon hope will die fasting. hope

Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame. anger

Diligence is the mother of good luck. good

He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else. good

I look upon death to be as necessary to our constitution as sleep. We shall rise refreshed in the morning. death & morning

Marriage is the most natural state of man, and... the state in which you will find solid happiness. anniversary, happiness & marriage

A good conscience is a continual Christmas. Christmas & good

In the affairs of this world, men are saved not by faith, but by the want of it. faith & men

There was never a good war, or a bad peace. good, peace & war

Thanksgiving November 28, 2024

The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest. 32 sayings from William Blake

32 sayings from William Blake

Drink and be thankful to the host! What seems insignificant when you have it, is important when you need it. 6 thoughts from Franz Grillparzer

6 thoughts from Franz Grillparzer

For what I have received may the Lord make me truly thankful. And more truly for what I have not received. 2 other wisdom & wit from Storm Jameson

2 other wisdom & wit from Storm Jameson

To give thanks in solitude is enough. Thanksgiving has wings and goes where it must go. Your prayer knows much more about it than you do. 73 other wisdom & wit from Victor Hugo

73 other wisdom & wit from Victor Hugo