Thoughts by Benjamin Franklin Quotes in English

Has not the famous political Fable of the Snake, with two Heads and one Body, some useful Instruction contained in it?. She was going to a Brook to drink, and in her Way was to pass thro a Hedge, a Twig of which opposed her direct Course; one Head chose to go on the right side of the Twig, the other on the left, so that time was spent in the Contest, and, before the Decision was completed, the poor Snake died with thirst.

If you can't pay for a thing, don't buy it. If you can't get paid for it, don't sell it. Do this, and you will have calm and drowsy nights, with all of the good business you have now and none of the bad. If you have time, don't wait for time.

Employ thy time well if thou meanest to gain leisure; and since thou art not sure of a minute, throw not away an hour. Leisure is time for doing something useful, and this leisure the diligent man will obtain, but the lazy man never, for a life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things.

Diligence is the mother of good luck, and God gives all things to industry. Work while it is called today, for you know not how much you may be hindered tomorrow. One today is worth two tomorrows; never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.

Remember that time is money. He that can earn ten shillings a day by his labor, and goes abroad or sits idle one half of that day, though he spends but sixpence during his diversion or idleness, ought not to reckon that the only expense; he has really spent, or rather thrown away, five shillings besides.

You have despoiled churches. You have threatened every corporation and endowment in the country. You have examined into everybodys affairs. You have criticised every profession and vexed every trade. No one is certain of his property, and nobody knows what duties he may have to perform to-morrow. This is the policy of confiscation as compared with that of concurrent endowment.

I confess that there are several parts of this Constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them. For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged by better information, or fuller consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise.

I am a Conservative to preserve all that is good in our constitution, a Radical to remove all that is bad. I seek to preserve property and to respect order, and I equally decry the appeal to the passions of the many or the prejudices of the few.

Be studious in your profession, and you will be learned. Be industrious and frugal, and you will be rich. Be sober and temperate, and you will be healthy. Be in general virtuous, and you will be happy. At least you will, by such conduct, stand the be

Hunger is the best pickle.

Sloth makes all things difficult, but industry, all things easy. He that rises late must trot all day, and hall scarce overtake his business at night, while laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes him.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained!!!

Poverty wants some things, Luxury many things, Avarice all things.

If Man could have Half his Wishes, he would double his Troubles.

God heals and the doctor takes the fee.

Distrust and caution are the parents of security.

The Wolf sheds his Coat once a Year, his Disposition never.

He that won't be counseled can't be helped.

Fear to do ill, and you need fear naught else.

Better slip with foot than tongue.

The best of all medicines is resting and fasting.

- Quotation

A false friend and a shadow attend only while the sun shines.

If you would be loved, love, and be loveable.

The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.

Laws like to Cobwebs catch small Flies, Great ones break thro' before your eyes.

Fools make feasts and wise men eat ’em.

The Sting of a Reproach, is the Truth of it.

By diligence and patience, the mouse bit in two the cable.

A Temper to bear much, will have much to bear.

Think twice before you speak, or act once, and you will speak or act the more wisely for it.

Wink at small faults; remember thou hast great ones.

Make yourself sheep and the wolves will eat you.

Hear not ill of a friend, nor speak any of an enemy.

He that goes a borrowing goes a sorrowing.

What has become clear to you since we last met?

The poor have little, beggars none, the rich too much, enough not one.

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

A wolf eats sheep but now and then, ten thousands are devoured by men.

There are three great friends: an old wife, an old dog, and ready money.

There are three faithful friends, an old wife, an old dog, and ready money.

Time is an herb that cures all Diseases.

He’s a Fool that cannot conceal his Wisdom.

Interest which blinds some People, enlightens others.

Where there’s marriage without love, there will be love without marriage.

By diligence and patience, the mouse bit in two the cable.

Don't misinform your Doctor nor your Lawyer.

A fine genius in his own country, is like a gold in the mine.

Would you persuade, speak of Interest, not of Reason.

Never complain and never explain.

Leisure is time for doing something useful; this leisure the diligent man will obtain, but the lazy man never.

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

It is hard for an empty sack to stand upright

Do good to thy friend to keep him, to thy enemy to gain him.

A word to the wise is enough, and many words won’t fill a bushel.

To bear other peoples afflictions, every one has courage enough, and to spare.

Visit your Aunt, but not every Day; and call at your Brother's, but not every night.

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

Industry need not wish.

If you would live longer, live well; for folly and wickedness shorten life.

He that would live in peace and at ease must not speak all he knows or all he sees.

The Sun never repents of the good he does, nor does he ever demand a recompence.

To be humble to superiors is duty, to equals courtesy, to inferiors nobleness.

To follow by faith alone is to follow blindly.

Nothing is more fatal to health than an over care of it.

A good example is the best sermon.

A spoonful of honey will catch more flies than a gallon of vinegar.

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

Reading makes a full man, meditation a profound man, discourse a clear man.

Discussions should be conducted without fondness for dispute or desire for victory.

Eat to please thyself, but dress to please others.

A wicked Hero will turn his back to an innocent coward.

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

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

Have you somewhat to do tomorrow; do it today.

He that’s content, hath enough; He that complains, has too much.

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

Nothing preaches better than the act.

The secret to success is constancy to purpose.

God helps them that help themselves.

Humility makes great men twice honourable.

Better is a little with content than much with contention.

They that won’t be counselled, can’t be helped.

Who has deceiv’d thee so oft as thy self?

Eat to live, don't live to eat.

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The sleeping fox catches no poultry.

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Never complain and never explain.

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Love your Enemies, for they tell you your Faults.

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A friend in need is a friend indeed!

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Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame.

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There never was a good war or a bad peace.

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Lost time is never found again.

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Haste makes waste.

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No gains without pains.

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What more valuable than Gold? Diamonds. Than Diamonds? Virtue.

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Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.

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Don’t throw stones at your neighbors, if your own windows are glass.

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The securest place is a prison cell, but there is no liberty.

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If you have something to do tomorrow, do it today.

You only have the right to pursue happiness; you have to catch it yourself.

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

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He that lives upon Hope, dies fasting.

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Drive your business. Let not your business drive you.

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Critics are our friends, they show us our faults.

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Clean your Finger, before you point at my Spots.

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When you’re good to others, you are best to yourself.

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The best way to see Faith is to shut the eye of Reason.

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An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

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To be proud of knowledge is to be blind with light.

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When you speak to a man, look on his eyes; when he speaks to thee, look on his mouth.

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

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

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You may delay, but time will not, and lost time is never found again.

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Tell a miser he’s rich, and a woman she’s old, you’ll get no money of one, nor kindness of t’other.

Reading was the only amusement I allowed myself.

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Content makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor.

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If we do not hang together, we will all hang separately.

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Genius is nothing but a greater aptitude for patience.

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Fools multiply folly.

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Well, Doctor, what have we gota Republic or a Monarchy?A Republic, if you can keep it.

Don't go to the doctor with every distemper, nor to the lawyer with every quarrel, nor to the pot for every thirst.

Those who would give up essential Liberty to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

When friends are in trouble, don’t bother them by asking if there is anything you can do. Think of something appropriate and do it.

Don’t go to the doctor with every distemper, nor to the lawyer with every quarrel, nor to the pot for every thirst.

Be temperate in wine, in eating, girls, and sloth; Or the Gout will seize you and plague you both.

After Fish, Milk do not wish.

I believe in one God, Creator of the Universe in that He ought to be whipped from pilar to post and back again for His shameful actions toward Humanity.

If you argue and rankle and contradict, you may achieve a temporary victory - sometimes; but it will be an empty victory because you will never get your opponent's good will.

Nothing's so apt to undermine your confidence in a product as knowing that the commercial selling it has been approved by the company that makes it.

I have always thought that every woman should marry, and no man.

Clean your finger before you point at my spots.

Observe all men; thy self most.

The doors of wisdom are never shut.

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

If what most men admire, they would despise, 'Twould look as if mankind were growing wise.

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

Think of three Things, whence you came, where you are going, and to whom you must account.

Avarice and Happiness never saw each other, how then shou’d they become acquainted.

To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions.

Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out.

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.

If you desire many things, many things will seem but a few.

Everyone likes flattery; and when you come to Royalty you should lay it on with a trowel.

The excellency of hogs is fatness, of men virtue.

Do not do what you would not have known.

He who waits upon fortune is never sure of dinner.

The proof of gold is fire, the proof of woman, gold; the proof of man, a woman.

Wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy.

Diligence is the mother of good luck.

Half the Truth is often a great Lie.

Reading makes a full Man, Meditation a profound Man, discourse a clear Man.

A true great Man will neither trample on a Worm, nor sneak to an Emperor.

Even peace may be purchased at too high a price.

He that is rich need not live sparingly, and he that can live sparingly need not be rich.

Sloth like rust, consumes faster than labor wears, while the used key is always bright.

A benevolent man should allow a few faults in himself, to keep his friends in countenance.

Be civil to all, sociable to many, familiar with few, friends to one, enemy to none.

A Man without ceremony has need of great merit in its place.

Lend money to an enemy, and thou will gain him, to a friend and thou will lose him.

When the Well’s dry, we know the Worth of Water.

You may delay, but time will not.

Speak little, do much.

Well done is better than well said.

Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see.

What you seem to be, be really.

Rich widows are the only secondhand goods that sell at first-class prices.

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

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

Never confuse motion with action.

He that lives upon hope will die fasting.

Games lubricate the body and the mind.

Words may show a man's wit, but actions his meaning.

Search others for their virtues, thy self for thy vices.

Genius without education is like silver in the mine.

Wealth is not his that has it, but his that enjoys it.

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

Diligence overcomes Difficulties, Sloth makes them.

Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.

I wake up every morning at nine and grab for the morning paper. Then I look at the obituary page. If my name is not on it, I get up.

Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.

Let thy discontents be thy secrets; if the world knows them 'twill despise thee and increase them.

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

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

He that displays too often his wife and his wallet is in danger of having both of them borrowed.

There are three faithful friends - an old wife, an old dog, and ready money.

An empty bag will not stand upright.

Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve

He that can compose himself, is wiser than he that composes books.

Pay what you owe, and you’ll know what’s your own.

If time be of all things most precious, wasting time must be the greatest prodigality, since lost time is never found again.

Deny Self for Self's sake.

Promises may fit the friends, but non-performance will turn them into enemies.

Constant complaint is the poorest sort of pay for all the comforts we enjoy.

Do not do that which you would not have known.

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

If you wou'd have Guests merry with your cheer, Be so your self, or so at least appear.

If you would be revenged of your enemy, govern yourself.

Singularity in the right hath ruined many; happy those who are convinced of the general opinion.

Beware the hobby that eats.

Drink does not drown care, but waters it, and makes it grow faster.

In a progressive country change is constant; change is inevitable.

He that can travel well afoot, keeps a good horse.

I guess I don't so much mind being old, as I mind being fat and old.

Wise men don’t need advice. Fools won’t take it.

Be slow in chusing a Friend, slower in changing.

He that sows thorns, should not go barefoot.

Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few.

Want of Care does us more Damage than Want of Knowledge.

Fear not Death; for the sooner we die, the longer shall we be immortal.

Don’t throw stones at your neighbours, if your own windows are glass.

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

To-morrow, every fault is to be amended; but that To-morrow never comes.

The things which hurt, instruct.

An old young man, will be a young old man.

Your net worth to the world is usually determined by what remains after your bad habits are subtracted from your good ones.

Let thy child’s first lesson be obedience, and the second will be what thou wilt.

Pay what you owe, and you'll know what's your own.

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

The second vice is lying, the first is running in debt

Look before, or you'll find yourself behind. Bad Commentators spoil the best of books, So God sends meat (they say) the devil Cooks.

That it is better 100 guilty Persons should escape than that one innocent Person should suffer, is a Maxim that has been long and generally approved.

The world is full of fools and faint hearts; and yet everyone has courage enough to bear the misfortunes, and wisdom enough to manage the affairs of his neighbor.

Waste neither time nor money, but make the best use of both. Without industry and frugality, nothing will do, and with them everything.

Let no pleasure tempt thee, no profit allure thee, no persuasion move thee, to do anything which thou knowest to be evil; so shalt thou always live jollity; for a good conscience is a continual Christmas.

The praise of a fool is incense to the wisest of us.

I saw few die of hunger; of eating, a hundred thousand.

Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.

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

Trouble knocked on the door, but, hearing laughter, hurried away.

Silence is not always a Sign of Wisdom, but Babbling is ever a Mark of Folly.

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

If you’d know the Value of Money, go and borrow some.

Marry your Son when you will, but your Daughter when you can.

If you wouldn't live long, live well; for folly and wickedness shorten life.

The noblest question in the world is, What Good may I do in it?

Tell me my Faults, and mend your own. Men take more pains to mask than mend.

If you want something done, ask a busy person.

What signifies your Patience, if you can’t find it when you want it.

Love, and be loved.

Be neither silly, nor cunning, but wise.

Have you somewhat to do to-morrow; do it to-day.

Trusting too much to others' care is the ruin of many.

Plough deep, while Sluggards sleep; And you shall have Corn, to sell and to keep.

Necessity never made a good bargain.

If you desire many things, many things will seem few.

Beauty and folly are old companions.

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

Hunger never saw bad bread.

He that scatters Thorns, let him not go barefoot.

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

To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals.

We must all hang together or most assuredly we will all hang separately.

A penny saved is a penny earned.

Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.

If you would keep your Secret from an enemy, tell it not to a friend.

A great Talker may be no Fool, but he is one that relies on him.

The worst wheel of the cart makes the most noise.

A quarrelsome Man has no good Neighbors.

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

Vessels large may venture more, but little boats should keep near shore.

Do good to your friends to keep them, to your enemies to win them.

Work as if you were to live 100 years, Pray as if you were to die To-morrow.

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

Where there's marriage without love, there will be love without marriage.

Happiness consists more in the small conveniences of pleasures that occur every day, than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom to a man in the course of his life.

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

When befriended, remember it; when you befriend, forget it.

Women and wine, game and deceit, make the wealth small, and the want great

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

There's none deceived but he that trusts.

He that waits upon fortune, is never sure of a dinner.

You may give a Man an Office, but you cannot give him Discretion.

Who is strong? He that can conquer his bad Habits.

It's the easiest Thing in the World for a Man to deceive himself.

When the Well's dry, we know the Worth of Water.

Sin is not harmful because it is forbidden, but it is forbidden because it is hurtful.

Take counsel in wine, but resolve afterwards in water.

Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor liberty to purchase power.

None preaches better than the ant, and she says nothing

Then there was a maiden speech, so inaudible, that it was doubted whether, after all, the young orator really did lose his virginity.

Glass, China, and Reputation, are easily crack’d, and never well mended.

A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body.

If you do not want to be forgotten, when you are dead and rotting, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.

Be not niggardly of what costs thee nothing, as courtesy, counsel, & countenance.

He that goes far to marry, will either deceive or be deceived.

Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.

I have climbed to the top of the greasy pole!

If you'd be wealthy, think of saving, more than of getting: The Indies have not made Spain rich, because her Outgoes equal her Incomes.

Don't think to hunt two hares with one dog

None are deceived but they that confide.

He that lies down with dogs, shall rise up with fleas.

How many observe Christ’s Birth-day! How few, his Precepts! O! ’tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments.

If it be the design of Providence to extirpate these savages in order to make room for the cultivation of the earth, it seems not improbable that rum may be the appointed means.

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

They who have nothing to be troubled at, will be troubled at nothing.

Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other.

The proof of gold is fire...

To err is human, to repent divine, to persist devilish.

At present the peace of the world has been preserved, not by statesmen, but by capitalists.

Approve not of him who commends all you say.

There are lazy Minds as well as lazy Bodies.

Wise men don't need advice. Fools won't take it.

Distrust & caution are the parents of security.

Whate’er’s begun in anger ends in shame.

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

In the affairs of this world, men are saved not by faith, but by the want of it.

If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed.

The only thing that is more expensive than education is ignorance.

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

Beware of the young doctor and the old barber.

Up, sluggard, and waste not life; in the grave will be sleeping enough.

An ounce of wit that is bought, is worth a pound that is taught.

Beware of him that is slow to anger: He is angry for some thing, and will not be pleased for nothing.

Without Freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom;and no such thing as public liberty, without freedom of speech.

Human felicity is produced not as much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen as by little advantages that occur every day.

Experience keeps a dear school; but fools will learn in no other, and scarce in that; for it is true, we may give advice, but we cannot give conduct.

He that sells upon Credit, expects to lose 5 per Cent. by bad Debts; therefore he charges, on all he sells upon Credit, an Advance that shall make up that Deficiency.

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.

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!"

When confronted with two courses of action I jot down on a piece of paper all the arguments in favor of each one, then on the opposite side I write the arguments against each one. Then by weighing the arguments pro and con and cancelling them out, one against the other, I take the course indicated by what remains.

A little neglect may breed great mischief. For want of a nail, the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe, the horse was lost; and for want of a horse, the rider was lost; being overtaken, and slain by the enemy. All for want of care about a horse-shoe nail.

Work while it is called today, for you know not how much you will be hindered tomorrow. One today is worth two tomorrow's; never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.