Franklin, Benjamin
"Experience is a dear teacher, but fools will learn at no other."
"In this world, nothing is certain but death and taxes."
"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."
"A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle."
"Be slow in choosing a friend, slower in changing."
"Fish and visitors stink after three days."
"Diligence is the mother of good luck."
"The absent are never without fault, nor the present without excuse."
"Well done is better than well said."
"Be sober and temperate, and you will be healthy."
"Beauty and folly are old companions."
"Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion, Instead of Truth they use Equivocation, And eke it out with mental Reservation, Which is to good Men an Abomination."
"Beware of meat twice boiled, and an old foe reconciled."
"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
"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 notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?"
"Marriage is the most natural state of man, and...the state in which you will find solid happiness."
"Wealth is not his that has it, but his that enjoys it."
"To find out a girl's faults, praise her to her girlfriends."
"Plough deep while sluggards sleep."
"Remember that time is money." - Advice to a Young Tradesman
"We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately." - attributed (at the signing of the Declaration of Independence)
"Human felicity is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day." - Autobiography
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." - in The Papers of Ben Franklin, ed. L.W. Labaree
"There never was a good war or a bad peace." - letter (1773)
"In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes." - letter (1789)
"Let thy discontents be thy secrets; if the world knows them `t will despise thee and increase them." - Poor Richard's Almanac
"No nation was ever ruined by trade." - Poor Richard's Almanac
"Drive thy Business, or it will drive thee." - Poor Richard's Almanac
"He that falls in love with himself will have no rivals." - Poor Richard's Almanac
"Setting too good an example is a kind of slander seldom forgiven." - Poor Richard's Almanac
"Experience keeps a dear school, yet fools will learn in no other." - Poor Richard's Almanac
"Avarice and happiness never saw each other, how then should they become acquainted." - Poor Richard's Almanac
"Where there's Marriage without Love, there will be Love without Marriage." - Poor Richard's Almanac
"Write with the learned, pronounce with the vulgar." - Poor Richard's Almanac
"Necessity never made a good bargain." - Poor Richard's Almanac
"Let thy Child's first Lesson be Obedience, and the second will be what thou wilt." - Poor Richard's Almanac
"Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead." - Poor Richard's Almanac
"If you'd have it done, Go: if not, Send." - Poor Richard's Almanac
"Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that's the stuff life is made of." - Poor Richard's Almanac
"If your Riches are yours, why don't you take them with you to t'other World?" - Poor Richard's Almanac
"A good conscience is a continual Christmas." - Poor Richard's Almanac
"There is no little enemy." - Poor Richard's Almanac
"God heals, and the doctor takes the fee." - Poor Richard's Almanac
"Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." - Poor Richard's Almanac
"Laws too gentle are seldom obeyed; too severe, seldom executed." - Poor Richard's Almanac
"If you'd know the value of money, go and borrow some." - Poor Richard's Almanac
