Quotes by Benjamin Franklin

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A liar is like a counterfeiter of money; his first lies exceed the truth, but the moment the falsity of his words is revealed, they cease to have any value.

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We call them savages because their manners differ from ours, which we regard as the height of civility. They think the same about their morals.

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Experience is a precious school, but what if for fools there is no other school.

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Absentees are always guilty; those present always have the opportunity to justify themselves.

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The first phase of madness is to think yourself wise, the second - to talk about it, the third - to refuse advice.

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He who sacrifices his freedom for safety deserves neither freedom nor safety.

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Remember that money has the ability to multiply.

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Take control of your activities; don't wait for them to take over you.

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As long as you cannot be sure of even a minute, do not waste alms even an hour.

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Let the child's first lesson be obedience; then the second can be whatever you think is necessary.

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Debauchery has breakfast with Wealth, lunch with Poverty, dinner with Misery and goes to bed with Shame.

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Lend money to an enemy and you will make him your friend; lend money to a friend and you will lose it.

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An egg today is better than a chicken tomorrow.

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True honor is the determination to do something useful for the majority of people in any situation.

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There is no good war or bad peace.

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It is not the righting of a wrong, but the persevering in it that debases the honor of any man or of a human society.

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Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.

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You can't help someone who doesn't want to listen to advice.

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Never expect misfortune or worry about something that may never happen.

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Nothing superfluous.

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Nothing that is dishonest can be beneficial.

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A good husband makes two good wives: the rarer the commodity, the more expensive it is.

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He goes to bed and gets up early - that's what makes a man healthy, rich and smart.

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Ever since humans learned to cook, they have been eating twice as much as nature requires.

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Not controlling your workers means giving them their own wallet, ready to open.

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The celibate is an imperfect being; he resembles the half of a pair of scissors.

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Man is a tool-making animal.

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Man does not live by what he eats, but by what he digests. This applies equally well to the mind and body.

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A man is sometimes more generous when he has less money than when he has more; this may be so as not to think that he would not have at all...

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Read a lot, but not too many books.

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Whatever begins in anger ends in shame.

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To be satisfied with your situation, compare it to a worse situation.

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I would agree to relive my life from beginning to end. I will only ask for the right, which the writers use, to correct in the second edition the mistakes in the first.

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I will not say anything bad about anyone, but I will say the best I know about each one.

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Teach your children to be quiet. They will also learn to speak on their own.

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Fatigue is the best cushion.

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Little boys have their toys, older boys have their toys. The difference is only the price.

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Free peoples must defend their liberty without rest and with zealous vigilance.

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Laws that are too soft are rarely followed, laws that are too harsh are rarely enforced.

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He who is patient can get anything he wants.

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Where hunger reigns, laws are not respected; where laws are not respected, hunger reigns.

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Trade has not yet brought any people to the wood hoe.

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Temperance puts wood on the fire, meat in the pot, bread on the table, gives credit to the state, puts money in the pocket, keeps strength in the body, gives birth to wisdom in the head, and preserves prosperity in the family.

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Three changes of residence make one fire.

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

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Work is the mother of happiness.

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It is hard to imagine how much power man can have over matter.

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If you want to sleep well, take a clear conscience with you to bed.

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It's rude to shut up a fool, but it's cruel to let him talk.

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A standing plowman is superior to a kneeling gentleman.

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Before considering a fad, consider what's in your wallet.

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Of all medicines, the best are rest and abstinence.

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The busy man is seldom visited by stinkers: flies do not flock to the boiling pot.

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What is the use of your new invention? But what good is a newborn?

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The key you use often always shines like a new one.

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If you want to have free time, don't waste your time.

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If you want to find out a girl's faults, praise her in front of her friends.

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If you want to prolong your life, reduce your cravings.

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Being proud of what you know is like being blinded by the light.

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Pride that feeds on vanity for lunch receives contempt for dinner.

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If scammers knew all the advantages of honesty, then for the sake of profit, they would stop scamming people.

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If time is the most precious thing, then the loss of time is the greatest of losses.

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If we spill the contents of our wallet somewhere inside our head, no one will be able to steal it.

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If people, having a religion, are so bad, what would it be like if they didn't have it?

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If you do not pay attention to wisdom, it will surely take revenge on you.

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If you buy something you don't need, you will soon have to sell something you do need.

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The bell calls people to church, but it itself never listens to the sermons.

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The crown doesn't cure your headaches.

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Laziness is like rust, it destroys you faster than work wears you out.

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The best doctor is the one who knows the ineffectiveness of most medicines.

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do you love life Then don't waste time, because time is the stuff of which life is made.

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Lovers, travelers and poets are ready to pay just to be heard.

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There are no small enemies.

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He who is good at finding justifications is rarely good at anything else.

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Many people came to the wooden hoe because they wanted to buy a little cheaper.

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"Mine" is better than "ours".

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Laziness makes anything difficult.

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Laziness is the rust of mind and body.

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The mitten doesn't catch mice.

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Creditors have a better memory than debtors.

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He who understands the world best loves it least.

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He who kindles the flame of conflict and scolds the tyranny, should not complain if sparks fly into his eyes.

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Who deceives you more often than you do yourself?

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The one who believes that money solves all problems can be suspected of being able to do anything for the sake of money.

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It is easier to suppress the first urge than to quell what comes after it.

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It is easier to build two stoves than to stock up on wood for one.

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We eat for our own pleasure and dress for the pleasure of others.

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Haughty people hate other people's arrogance.

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Anger always has reasons, but they are rarely well-founded.

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In rivers and bad governments the easiest things rise to the surface.

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Regardless of their situation, people can find both comfort and discomfort.

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In this world, people are saved not because of faith, but because of the lack of it.

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At the age of twenty a man is dominated by desire, at thirty by reason, and at forty by judgment.

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Being modest with your superior is a duty, with your equal, it is a sign of politeness, and with your inferior, a sign of nobility.

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Be careful with small expenses: a small hole can sink a big ship.

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Be polite to all, sociable with many, but familiar with only some.

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Brother is not always your friend, but your friend is always like a brother.

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Marriage without love can give birth to love outside of marriage.

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In this world, two things are inevitable: death and taxes.

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The good man must also have some shortcomings, so as not to make his friends sick.

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The master's eye does more than his hands.

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Don't rush to choose your friends, let alone change them.

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All philosophers are wise in their sentences, but foolish in their conduct.

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The advantage of having money is that you can use it.

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Time is the stuff life is made of.

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Time means money.

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Enthusiasm is the son of ignorance.

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It's easy to see, hard to predict.

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Perhaps of all our innate passions, pride is the hardest to overcome; no matter how much you camouflage it, no matter how much you fight it, suppress it, repress it - it remains whole and from time to time comes out.

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The atheist is an unhappy child who tries in vain to convince himself that he has no father.

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Wealth depends mainly on two things: diligence and thrift, in other words, waste neither time nor money, and use both to the best advantage.

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A large empire, like a large pie, is more easily eaten from the edges.

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You may delay, but time will not.

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There are three loyal friends - an old wife, an old dog and cash.

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Human happiness is rarely the fruit of huge wealth, rather it arises from small daily joys.

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I didn't fail, I just found a hundred ways, none of which worked.

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

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When the well dries up, we learn the true value of water.

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Who is strong? The one who can overcome his bad habits.

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In our twenties, we are ruled by the will, in our 30s by reason, and in our 40s by consideration.

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Sinful acts are not harmful because they are forbidden, but they are forbidden because they are harmful.

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Anyone who gives up their basic freedom for temporary security deserves neither freedom nor security.

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Motivation is when your dreams take on work clothes.

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I believe in the one God, the creator of the universe. I believe that He governs the universe with providence. I believe it is worthy of worship that the most willing service we can give Him is to do good to His children.

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If you want to see by faith, you must keep the eyes of reason closed.

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Get what you can, but keep what you get. This is the real secret of turning lead into gold.

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Experience is an expensive school, but fools don't learn in any other school, and hardly in this one either.

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You can't help someone who can't be advised.

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Wasting time (...) is the biggest waste, because lost time is never worth it, and what we call enough time always turns out to be very short.

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Laziness moves so slowly that poverty soon catches up.

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If you want to have a servant who is loyal to you and whom you love, serve yourself that way.

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Lies ride on the back of debt.

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Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.

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Since I am convinced that God is the source of wisdom, I consider it proper and necessary to urgently ask for His favor in order to receive it. For this purpose, I formulated the following prayer for daily use: "Oh, great Goodness! Generous Father! Merciful Leader! Increase in me the wisdom that reveals my deepest interests. Strengthen my determination to put into practice all that wisdom offers me . Accept my benevolent service for your other children, for this is the only way I can respond to the proof of your goodness that you constantly show me."

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If a religion is good, it can maintain itself - if it is not able to do this, if God does not tire of supporting it, and thus they have to ask for external support, it is a sign that the religion is not good after all.

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God heals and the doctor gets paid.

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If you think learning is expensive, try ignorance.

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He who is in love with himself has no rivals.

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A fool speaks his heart, but a wise man speaks with his heart.

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He who lives by hope dies of hunger.

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Passion sweeps you away. Reason is the rein that restrains you.

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Humanity is made up of three large groups: the immovable, the movable, and those who move.

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Every penny saved saves another.

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Do you love life? Then don't waste time, because it's what life is all about.

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Love your enemies because they will tell you where you went wrong.

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What hurts, educates.

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A wise man does not need advice, and a fool does not take it anyway.

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Be slow when you choose a friend, even slower when you change.

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However, the main purpose of the conversation is to inform or gain knowledge, as well as to entertain and convince. (...) Because even if the goal was education, the necessity of the method of explanation breeds discord and is also an obstacle to attentive listening. And if you wish to be educated on other people's science, yet you voice your firm opinion, the modest and reasonable people who are not enthusiastic about the debate will leave you in peace in your error.

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If you argue, rage and contradict, sometimes you will win, but it will be a vain success, because you have never won the goodwill of your opponent.

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A thing well done is better than a thing well said.

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The one who runs within himself will always win the race.

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Beware of the young doctor and the old barber.

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

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There is wisdom in wine, freedom in beer, and bacteria in water.

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[Wine] is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.

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A wise man always admits his mistakes to appease his friends.

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I don't want to say bad things about anyone, and I want to say all the good things I know about anyone.

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Speak only that which may benefit others or yourself; avoid idle chatter.

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In fact, we have perhaps few other natural passions that are so difficult to tame as pride.

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You can give advice, but not adapt to it.

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There are three things that are very hard: steel, diamonds and self-knowledge.

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There will be plenty of time to sleep when you're dead.

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There is no justice until those not affected are as outraged as those affected.

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One today is worth more than two tomorrows.

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Early to bed and early to rise - health, wealth, wisdom.

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If you love life, (...) don't waste time, because this is the material from which life is made.

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The one who gets up late, even though he works all day, hardly gets to work, it's already nightfall.

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Go to work as soon as the sun rises, so that the sun, looking at the earth, can say that here is a lazy person who is still sleeping.

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Nothing brings so much pleasure to an author as to see his works respectfully cited by others.

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Keep your shop and your shop will keep you.

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Beware of small expenses, for a small leak sinks the largest ship; and that the sweet mouth makes its owner a beggar's cane, and that fools throw bright dinners, which are eaten by wise men.

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Buy what you don't need, and in a short time you will be forced to sell what you do need.

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Finding myself existing in the world, I believe in one form or another, but I will always exist.

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If you want to do your affairs well, go after them yourself; if you want them done badly, send someone else for you.