Benjamin Franklin

Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do.

Early morning hath gold in its mouth.

He who multiplies riches multiplies cares.

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.

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

Read much, but not many books.

Fish and visitors smell in three days.

If your head is wax, don't walk in the sun.

Drive thy business or it will drive thee.

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

Glass, china, and reputation are easily cracked, and never well mended.

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

Sir, I agree to this Constitution, with all its Faults, if they are such; because I think a General Government necessary for us, and there is no Form of Government but what may be a Blessing to the People if well administered; and I believe farther that this is likely to be well administered for a Course of Years, and can only end in Despotism as other Forms have done before it, when the People shall become so corrupted as to need Despotic Government, being incapable of any other.

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.

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

If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as getting.

All cats are gray in the dark.

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

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.

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

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.

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

Think what you do when you run into debt; you give another power over your liberty.

To lengthen thy Life, lessen thy meals

Who is rich? He that is content. Who is that? Nobody.

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.

Search others for their virtues, thyself for thy vices.

A penny saved is a penny earned.

We must hang together, gentlemen...else, we shall most assuredly hang separately.

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

Three people can keep a secret so long as two of them are dead.

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

Where sense is wanting, everything is wanting,

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

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

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

Creditors have better memories than debtors.

But in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.

Lost time is never found again.

If you would persuade, you must appeal to interest rather than intellect.

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

To follow by faith alone is to follow blindly.

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

Write injuries in dust, benefits in marble.

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

Distrust and caution are the parents of security.

The strictest law sometimes becomes the severest injustice.

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

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

Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What's a sun-dial in the shade?

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.

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

Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade.

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.

Pride breakfasted with plenty, dined with poverty, and supped with infamy.

Passion governs, and she never governs wisely.

To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals.

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

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.

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

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?

If you wouldst live long, live well, for folly and wickedness shorten life.

He that lives upon hope will die fasting.

Well done is better than well said.

You may delay, but time will not.

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

Who is rich? He who is content. Who is that? Nobody.

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

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.

To the generous mind the heaviest debt is that of gratitude, when it is not in our power to repay it.

Our critics are our friends; they show us our faults.

Necessity never made a good bargain.

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

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

If you would be loved, love and be lovable.

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

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

Who is wise? He that learns from every One.Who is powerful? He that governs his Passions.Who is rich? He that is content.Who is that? Nobody.

Content makes poor men rich; discontentment makes rich men poor.

A good conscience is a continual Christmas.

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

We'll either hang together or we'll hang separately.

A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over.

He is a fool that cannot conceal his wisdom.

When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic. Sell not liberty to purchase power.

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

God heals, and the doctor takes the fees.

Energy and persistence conquer all things.

Genius without education is like silver in the mine.

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

He is ill clothed that is bare of virtue.

He that can have patience can have what he will.

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

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.

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

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

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

The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason.

I am in the prime of senility.

Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!

Rules too soft are seldomly followed; rules too harsh are seldomly executed.

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

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

An investment in knowledge still yields the best returns.

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

Tell me....And I Forget,Teach me.....And I Learn,Involve Me.....And I Remember.

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

Critics are our friends, they tell us our faults.

Take it from Richard, poor and lame,what's begun in anger ends in shame.

Old boys have their playthings as well as young ones; the difference is only in the price.

Anger is never without Reason, but seldom with a good One.

All would live long, but none would be old.

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

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

How many observe Christ's birthday! How few, his precepts! O! 'tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments.

Be slow in choosing a friend, slower in changing.

Beware of the young doctor and the old barber.

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. If it satisfies one want, it doubles and trebles that want another way. That was a true proverb of the wise man, rely upon it; "Better is little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure, and trouble therewith."

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.

An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.

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

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

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 and say: "This is my country."

Perhaps the history of the errors of mankind, all things considered, is more valuable and interesting than that of their discoveries. Truth is uniform and narrow; it constantly exists, and does not seem to require so much an active energy, as a passive aptitude of the soul in order to encounter it. But error is endlessly diversified; it has no reality, but is the pure and simple creation of the mind that invents it. In this field the soul has room enough to expand herself, to display all her boundless faculties, and all her beautiful and interesting extravagancies and absurdities.