Benjamin Franklin Quotes

510 Sourced Quotes

If any man flatters me, I'll flatter him again; tho' he were my best Friend.

Benjamin Franklin
When men differ in opinion, both sides ought equally to have the advantage of being heard by the public; when Truth and Error have fair play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter.

Benjamin Franklin
Death is a fisherman, the world we see His fish-pond is, and we the fishes be; His net some general sickness; howe'er he Is not so kind as other fishers be; For if they take one of the smaller fry, They throw him in again, he shall not die: But death is sure to kill all he can get, And all is fish with him that comes to net.

Benjamin Franklin
Electrical matter differs from common matter in this, that the parts of the latter mutually attract, those of the former mutually repel each other.

Benjamin Franklin
To get the bad customs of a country changed and new ones, though better, introduced, it is necessary first to remove the prejudices of the people, enlighten their ignorance, and convince them that their interests will be promoted by the proposed changes; and this is not the work of a day.

Benjamin Franklin
An honest Man will receive neither Money nor Praise that is not his due.

Benjamin Franklin
When I see nothing annihilated, and not even a drop of water wasted, I cannot suspect the annihilation of souls Thus finding myself to exist in the world, I believe I shall, in some shape or other, always exist; 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.

Benjamin Franklin
He that spends a Groat a day idly, spends idly above 6 l. a year, which is the Price of using 100 l.

Benjamin Franklin
That Quantity that is sufficient, the Stomach can perfectly concoct and digest, and it sufficeth the due Nourishment of the Body.

Benjamin Franklin
Virtue alone is sufficient to make a man great, glorious, and happy.

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

Benjamin Franklin
A wolf eats sheep but now and then, ten Thousands are devour'd by Men.

Benjamin Franklin
Avoid dishonest gain: no price can recompence the pangs of vice.

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

Benjamin Franklin
Men are subject to various inconveniences merely through lack of a small share of courage, which is a quality very necessary in the common occurrences of life, as well as in a battle. How many impertinences do we daily suffer with great uneasiness, because we have not courage enough to discover our dislike.

Benjamin Franklin
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.

Benjamin Franklin
It's the easiest thing in the world for a man to deceive himself.

Benjamin Franklin
Conceiving God to be the fountain of wisdom, I thought it right and necessary to solicit his assistance for obtaining it.

Benjamin Franklin
Take Courage, Mortal; Death can't banish thee out of the Universe.

Benjamin Franklin
The good will of the governed will be starved if not fed by the good deeds of the governors.

Benjamin Franklin
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.

Benjamin Franklin
There has not been any science so much esteemed and honored as this of mathematics, nor with so much industry and vigilance become the care of great men, and labored in by the potentates of the world, viz... emperors, kings, princes, etc.

Benjamin Franklin
Don't you know, that all wives are in the right? It may be you don't, for you are yet a young husband.

Benjamin Franklin
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.

Benjamin Franklin
Christians are directed to have faith in Christ, as the effectual means of obtaining the change they desire.

Benjamin Franklin
One Man may be more cunning than another, but not more cunning than every body else.

Benjamin Franklin
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.

Benjamin Franklin
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.

Benjamin Franklin
What signifies knowing the Names, if you know not the Natures of things.

Benjamin Franklin
How can any Action be meritorious of Praise or Dispraise, Reward or Punishment, when the natural Principle of Self-Love is the only and the irresistible Motive to it?

Benjamin Franklin