Benjamin Franklin


Well done is better than well said.

A lie stands on one leg, the truth on two.

God helps those who help themselves.

A penny saved is a penny earned.

Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.

Then plow deep while sluggard sleep and you shall have corn to sell and keep.

Never spare the parson's wine, nor the baker's pudding.

Who had deceived thee so oft as thyself?

There is no little enemy.

Necessity never made a good bargain.

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

When the well is dry, they know the worth of water.

Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labor wears, while the used key is always bright.

Drive the business, let it not drive thee.

Industry needs not wish, and he that lives upon hope will die.

There are no gains without pains then help hands for I have no lands.

Kill no more pigeons than you can eat.

The sleeping fox catches no poultry.

Think of the things, whence you came, where are you going, and to whom you must account.

Energy and persistence conquer all things.

There is nothing so absurd as knowledge spun too fine.

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

At 20 years of age the will reigns; at 30 the wit; at 40 the judgment.

Clearly spoken, Mr. Fogg; you explain English by Greek.

He that blows the coals in quarrels he has nothing to do with has no right to complain if the sparks fly in his face.

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

A single man has not nearly the value he would have in a state of union. He is an incomplete animal. He resembles the odd half of a pair of scissors.

Vicious actions are not hurtful because they are forbidden, but forbidden because they are hurtful.

Look round the habitable world, how few. Know their own good, or, knowing it, pursue!

Little strokes fell great oaks.

Great Talkers, little Doers.

He that riseth late must trot all day.

Let the child's first lesson be obedience, and the second will be what thou wilt.

But what madness must it be to run in debt for these superfluities! ((clothing for appearance))

He may well win the race that runs by himself.

Constant complaint is the poorest sort of pay for all the comforts we enjoy.

If you would know the value of money, go try to borrow some; for he that goes a-borrowing goes a-sorrowing.

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

They that will not be counselled, cannot be helped. If you do not hear reason she will rap you on the knuckles.

Father Abraham stood up, and reply'd, If you'd have my Advice, I'll give it you in short, for a Word to the Wise is enough, and many Words won't fill a Bushel, as Poor Richard says. They join'd in ...

Carelessness does more harm than a want of knowledge.

Singularity in the right hath ruined many; happy those who are convinced of the general opinion.

A good conscience is a continual Christmas.

If thou injurest Conscience, it will have its Revenge on thee.

God grant, that not only the Love of Liberty, but a thorough Knowledge of the Rights of Man, may pervade all the Nations of the Earth, so that a Philosopher may set his foot anywhere on its Surface, ...

Beware of meat twice boiled, and an old foe reconciled.

A dying man can do nothing easy.

Death takes no bribes.

'Tis against some men's principle to pay interest, and seems against others' interest to pay the principle.

Rather go to bed supperless than rise in debt.

To be thrown upon one's own resources is to be cast into the very lap of fortune: for our faculties then undergo a development and display an energy of which they were previously unsusceptible.

Industry, perseverance, and frugality make fortune yield.

Diligence is the mother of good luck, and God gives all things to industry. Work while it is called today, for you know not how much you may be hindered by tomorrow. One today is worth two tomorrows; ...

Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

By diligence and patience, the mouse bit in two the cable.

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

God heals, and the doctor takes the fee.

The best of all medicines are rest and fasting.

Industry pays debts, despair increases them.

The cat in gloves catches no mice.

Many a one, for the sake of finery on the back, has gone with a hungry belly, and half-starved their families. "Silks and satins, scarlets and velvets, put out the kitchen fire," as Poor Richard says.

A fat kitchen, a lean will.

Eat to live, and not live to eat.

To lengthen thy Life, lessen thy Meals.

If thou art dull and heavy after Meat, it's a sign thou hast exceeded the due Measure; for Meat and Drink ought to refresh the Body, and make it chearful, and not to dull and oppress it.

Ere you consult your fancy, consult your purse.

A penny saved is two pence clear, A pin a day's a groat a year.

Some men grow mad by studying much to know, but who grows mad by studying good to grow.

Learning is to the studious, and riches to the careful, as well as power to the bold, and heaven to the virtuous.

If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.

If you do what you should not, you must bear what you would not.

He that sows thorns, should not go barefoot.

If thou dost ill, the joy fades, not the pains; If well, the pain doth fade, the joy remains.

The rotten apple spoils his companion.

Setting too good an Example is a Kind of Slander seldom forgiven; 'tis Scandalum Magnatum.

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

A benevolent man should allow a few faults in himself, to keep his friends in countenance. He's a Fool that cannot conceal his Wisdom.

Folly is wisdom spun too fine.

The first degree of folly is to conceit one's self wise; the second to profess it; the third to despise counsel.

Most fools think they are only ignorant.

He's a Fool that makes his Doctor his Heir.

Of learned Fools I have seen ten times ten, Of unlearned wise men I have seen a hundred.

Ever since Follies have pleas'd, Fools have been able to divert.

Fools need Advice most, but wise Men only are the better for it.

I have generally found that a man who is good at manufacturing excuses is good at nothing else.

'Tis more noble to forgive, and more manly to despise, than to revenge an Injury.

Fraud and deceit are ever in a hurry. Take time for all things. Great haste makes great waste.

Without Freedom of Thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom; and no such thing as public liberty, without freedom of speech.

He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither.

There have been as great souls unknown to fame as any of the most famous.

Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other, and scarce in that.

Beware of the young Doctor and the old Barber.

Keep flax from fire, youth from gaming.

An old young man, will be a young old man.

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

He that lives on hopes will die fasting.

In the Affairs of the World Men are saved, not by Faith but by the Want of it.

As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of morals and his religion, as he left them to us, the best the world ever saw or is likely to see; but I ...

I've lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing Proofs I see of this Truth —That God governs in the Affairs of Men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his Not...

Be sober and temperate, and you will be healthy.

The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of the wise man is in his heart.

Humility makes great men twice honourable.

After crosses and losses men grow humbler and wiser.

To be humble to Superiors is Duty, to Equals Courtesy, to Inferiors Nobleness.

Idleness is the Dead Sea that swallows all virtues.

Idleness and pride tax with a heavier hand than kings and parliaments.

As we must account for every idle word, so we must for every idle silence.

It would be thought a hard Government that should tax its People one tenth Part of their Time, to be employed in its Service. But Idleness taxes many of us much more, if we reckon all that is spent ...

There is much difference between imitating a good man and counterfeiting him.

Up, sluggard, and waste not life; in the grave will be sleeping enough.

[I am] lord of myself, accountable to none.

Haste makes Waste.

Since such a repetition is not to be expected, the next thing most like living one's life over again seems to be a recollection of that life, and to make that recollection as durable as possible by ...

Each year, one vicious habit rooted out, in time ought to make the worst man good.

Pity and forbearance should characterize all acts of justice.

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.

Without justice, courage is weak.

He that hath a trade hath an estate; he that hath a calling hath an office of profit and honor.

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

Laws gentle are seldom obeyed; too severe seldom executed.

Laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes him.

No qualities were so likely to make a poor man's fortune as those of probity and integrity.

Poverty often deprives a man of all spirit and virtue; it is hard for an empty bag to stand upright.

The poor man must walk to get meat for his stomach, the rich man to get a stomach to his meat.

Would you live with ease, Do what you ought, and not what you please.

Life is rather a state of embryo, a preparation for life; a man is not completely born till he has death.

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

Wish not so much to live long as to live well.

If thou wouldst live long, live well; for Folly and Wickedness shorten Life.

Great Modesty often hides great Merit.

Necessity knows no law. Necessity has no law. Necessity has no Law; I know some Attorneys of the name.

Buy what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou shalt sell thy necessaries.

A little neglect may breed great mischief.

If you would inform, a positive and dogmatic manner in advancing your sentiments may provoke contradiction and prevent a candid attention. If you wish information and improvement from the knowledge ...

Printers are educated in the belief, that when men differ in opinion, both sides ought equally to have the advantage of being heard by the public; and that when the truth and error have fair play, t...

A place for everything and everything in its place.

For every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned.

Pain wastes the body, pleasures the understanding.

Even peace be may purchased at too high a price.

Would you live with ease? Do what you ought, not what you please.

He that would live in peace & at ease, Must not speak all he knows, nor judge all he sees.

There are no ugly Loves, nor handsome Prisons.

Love, and be lov'd.

The eyes of other people are the eyes that ruin us. If all but myself were blind, I should want neither fine clothes, fine houses, nor fine furniture.

None preaches better than the ant, and she says nothing.

Pride that dines on vanity, sups on contempt.

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

Pride breakfasted with Plenty, dined with Poverty, supped with infamy.

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

It is easy to see, hard to foresee.

The best is the cheapest.

We think we are on the right road to improvement because we are making experiments.

If men are so wicked (as we see them now) with religion, what would they be if without it?

Many have quarreled about religion that never practiced it.

It is foolish to lay out money for the purchase of repentance.

No Resolution of Repenting hereafter, can be sincere.

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

There's small revenge in words, but words may be greatly revenged.

The way to wealth is as plain as the way to market. It depends chiefly on two words, industry and frugality; that is, waste neither time nor money, but make the best use of both. Without industry and frugality, nothing will do, and with them everything

Savages we call them because their manners differ from us.

Three may keep a secret if two of them are dead.

Sin is not harmful because it is forbidden, but it is forbidden because it is hurtful.

Sin is not hurtful because it is forbidden but it is forbidden because it's hurtful. Nor is a Duty beneficial because it is commanded, but it is commanded, because it's beneficial.

Teach your child to hold his tongue, He'll learn fast enough to speak.

The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of a wise man is in his heart.

Since I cannot govern my own tongue, tho' within my own teeth, how can I hope to govern the tongues of others?

You will find the key to success under the alarm clock.

If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as of getting; the Indies have not made Spain rich, because her outgoes are greater than her incomes.

No morning sun lasts a whole day.

Remember that time is money Advice to a Young Tradesman (1748)

Since thou art not sure of a minute, throw not away an hour.

Time is an herb that cures all Diseases.

Dost thou love Life, then do not squander Time, for that's the Stuff Life is made of.

Lost Time is never found again; and what we call Time-enough, always proves little enough: Let us then up and be doing, and doing to the Purpose; so by Diligence shall we do more with less Perplexity. Sloth makes all things difficult, but industry all easy.

Traveling is one way of lengthening life at least in experience.

Is there anything men take more pains about than to render themselves unhappy?

We must hang together or assuredly we shall hang separately.

By labor may the value of silver be measured as well as other things. . . . Trade in general being nothing else but the exchange of labor for labor, the value of things is, as I have said before, most...

We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall hang separately.

You cannot pluck roses without fear of thorns, nor enjoy a fair wife without danger of horns.

I know not which lives more unnatural lives, obeying husbands, or commanding wives.

A single man resembles the odd half of a pair of scissors.

One good husband is worth two good wives; for the scarcer things are the more they are valued.

Where there is Marriage without Love, there will be Love without Marriage.

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.

Display is as false as it is costly.

I scarce ever heard or saw the introductory words, Without vanity I may say, &c., but some vain thing immediately followed. Most people dislike vanity in others, whatever share they have of it t...

What maintains one vice would bring up two children.

They that are on their guard and appear ready to receive their adversaries, are in much less danger of being attacked than the supine, secure and negligent.

Innocence is its own Defence.

If the rascals knew the advantages of virtue they would become honest men.

God will certainly reward virtue and punish vice, either here or hereafter.

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.

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

Hast thou virtue? acquire also the graces & beauties of virtue.

Search others for their virtues, thy self for thy vices.

Virtue may not always make a Face handsome, but Vice will certainly make it ugly.

No man ever was glorious, who was not laborious.

Plough deep while sluggards sleep.

There never was a good war or a bad peace.

He does not possess wealth that allows it to possess him.

There's many witty men whose brains can't fill their bellies.

Fools make feasts, and wise men eat them.

Wise men learn by others' harms, fools scarcely their own; but felix quem faciunt aliena pericula cautum. ((Fortunate the man who learns caution from the dangers of others.))

If thou hast wit & learning, add to it Wisdom and Modesty.

A countryman between two lawyers is like a fish between two cats.

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

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

A learned blockhead is a greater blockhead than an ignorant one.

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

A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle.

A place for everything, everything in its place.

Absence sharpens love, presence strengthens it.

Admiration is the daughter of ignorance.

All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.

All wars are follies, very expensive and very mischievous ones.

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.

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

And whether you're an honest man, or whether you're a thief,Depends on whose solicitor has given me my brief.

Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.

Applause waits on success.

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

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

Be slow in choosing a friend, slower in changing.

Beauty and folly are old companions.

Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.

Beware the hobby that eats.

Buy what thou hast no need of and ere long thou shalt sell thy necessities.

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

Clean your finger before you point at my spots.

Creditors have better memories than debtors.

Diligence is the mother of good luck.

Distrust and caution are the parents of security.

Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.

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

Do not squander time for that is the stuff life is made of.

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

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

Eat to please thyself, but dress to please others.

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.

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

Even peace may be purchased at too high a price.

Experience is a dear teacher, but fools will learn at no other.

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

For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged, by better information or fuller consideration, to change opinions, even on important subjects, which I once thought right but... Gain may be temporary and uncertain; but ever while you live, expense is constant and certain: and it is easier to build two chimneys than to keep one in fuel.

Games lubricate the body and the mind.

Genius without education is like silver in the mine.

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

Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days.

Half a truth is often a great lie.

Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it, is.

He does not possess wealth; it possesses him.

He that can have patience can have what he will.

He that composes himself is wiser than he that composes a book.

He that has done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged.

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

He that raises a large family does, indeed, while he lives to observe them, stand a broader mark for sorrow; but then he stands a broader mark for pleasure too.

He that rises late must trot all day.

He that waits upon fortune, is never sure of a dinner.

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

He that's secure is not safe.

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

He who waits upon fortune is never sure of dinner.

Honesty is the best policy.

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

Hunger is the best pickle.

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.

I guess I don't so much mind being old, as I mind being fat and old.

I look upon death to be as necessary to our constitution as sleep. We shall rise refreshed in the morning. I saw few die of hunger; of eating, a hundred thousand.

Were it offered to my choice, I should have no objections to a repetition of the same life from its beginning, only asking the advantages authors have in a second edition to correct some faults of t...

I should have no objection to go over the same life from its beginning to the end: requesting only the advantage authors have, of correcting in a second edition the faults of the first.

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.

If a man could have half of his wishes, he would double his troubles.

If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed.

If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins.

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

If you desire many things, many things will seem few.

If you know how to spend less than you get, you have the philosopher's stone.

If you would be loved, love and be lovable.

If you would have a faithful servant, and one that you like, serve yourself.

If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write something worth reading or do things worth writing.

If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.

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

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

In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.

It is a grand mistake to think of being great without goodness and I pronounce it as certain that there was never a truly great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous.

It is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them.

It is much easier to suppress a first desire than to satisfy those that follow.

It is only when the rich are sick that they fully feel the impotence of wealth.

It is the eye of other people that ruin us. If I were blind I would want, neither fine clothes, fine houses or fine furniture.

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

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

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

Let thy discontents be thy secrets.

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

Lost time is never found again.

Many a long dispute among divines may be thus abridged: It is so. It is not so. It is so. It is not so.

Many a man thinks he is buying pleasure, when he is really selling himself to it.

Many foxes grow gray but few grow good.

Many people die at twenty five and aren't buried until they are seventy five.

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

Mine is better than ours.

Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. There is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of its filling a vacuum, it makes one.

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

Never confuse motion with action.

Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.

Never take a wife till thou hast a house (and a fire) to put her in.

Nine men in ten are would be suicides.

Observe all men, thyself most.

One today is worth two tomorrows.

Our necessities never equal our wants.

Rebellion against tyrants is obedience to God.

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.

Remember that credit is money.

Savages we call them because their manners differ from ours.

She laughs at everything you say. Why? Because she has fine teeth.

Since thou are not sure of a minute, throw not away an hour.

So much for industry, my friends, and attention to one's own business; but to these we must add frugality if we would make our industry more certainly successful. A man may, if he knows not how to ... Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75. Take time for all things: great haste makes great waste.

The absent are never without fault, nor the present without excuse.

The art of acting consists in keeping people from coughing.

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

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

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results

The discontented man finds no easy chair.

The doors of wisdom are never shut.

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

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

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

The learned fool writes nonsense in better language that the unlearned - but it's still nonsense.

The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either.

The strictest law sometimes becomes the severest injustice.

The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. The use of money is all the advantage there is in having it.

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

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

There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one's self.

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

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

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

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

They who give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security.

Those that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. Three can keep a secret if two are dead.

Those who govern, having much business on their hands, do not generally like to take the trouble of considering and carrying into execution new projects. The best public measures are therefore seldom ...

Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead.

To Follow by faith alone is to follow blindly.

Tomorrow every fault is to be amended; but tomorrow never comes.

Tomorrow, every Fault is to be amended; but that Tomorrow never comes.

Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools, that don't have brains enough to be honest.

Trouble springs from idleness, and grievous toil from needless ease.

Wars are not paid for in wartime, the bill comes later.

We are more thoroughly an enlightened people, with respect to our political interests, than perhaps any other under heaven. Every man among us reads, and is so easy in his circumstances as to have ...

We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.

Wealth is not his that has it, but his that enjoys it.

What has become clear to you since we last met?

What's a Sun-Dial in the Shade?

Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame.

When befriended, remember it; when you befriend, forget it.

When in doubt, don't.

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

When will mankind be convinced and agree to settle their difficulties by arbitration?

When you're finished changing, you're finished.

Where liberty is, there is my country.

Where sense is wanting, everything is wanting.

Who is wise? He that learns from everyone. Who is powerful? He that governs his passions. Who is rich? He that is content. Who is that? Nobody.

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

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

Words may show a man's wit but actions his meaning.

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

Write injuries in dust, benefits in marble.

You can bear your own faults, and why not a fault in your wife?

You may delay, but time will not.

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

Back To Top



Back to Collected Wisdom

Home Page

© 2009