Quotes from Benjamin Franklin

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

Never confuse Motion with Action.

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.

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

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

Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.

Be slow in choosing a friend, slower in changing.

For the want of a nail the shoe was lost, For the want of a shoe the horse was lost, For the want of a horse the rider was lost, For the want of a rider the battle was lost, For the want of a battle the kingdom was lost, And all for the want of a horseshoe-nail.

When you are finished changing, you're finished.

To find out a girl's faults, praise her to her girlfriends.

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

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

Life biggest tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late

Trouble knocked at the door, but, hearing laughter, hurried away

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

If Jack's in love, he's no judge of Jill's beauty.

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.

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

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

We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing!

My refusing to eat flesh occasioned an inconveniency, and I was frequently chided for my singularity, but, with this lighter repast, I made the greater progress, for greater clearness of head and quicker comprehension. Flesh eating is unprovoked murder.

Never leave till tomorrow that which you can do today.

While we may not be able to control all that happens to us, we can control what happens inside us.

Were I a Roman Catholic, perhaps I should on this occasion vow to build a chapel to some saint, but as I am not, if I were to vow at all, it should be to build a light-house. [Letter to his wife, 17 July 1757, after narrowly avoiding a shipwreck; often misquoted as "Lighthouses are more helpful than churches."]