Benjamin Franklin

The sleeping fox catches no poultry.

Those renowned generals [Alexander and Caesar] received more faithful service, and performed greater actions by means of the love their soldiers bore them, than they could possibly have done, if instead of being beloved and respected they had been hated and feared by those they commanded.

Hear no ill of a friend, nor speak any of an enemy.

Would you persuade, speak of interest, not of reason.

When religion is good, it will take care of itself. When it is not able to take care of itself, and God does not see fit to take care of it, so that it has to appeal to the civil power for support, it is evidence to my mind that its cause is a bad one.

Love of country is the Mason's deed; world citizenship is his thought.

You will observe with concern how long a useful truth may be known, and exist, before it is generally received and practiced on.

Take one thing with another, and the world is a pretty good sort of a world, and it is our duty to make the best of it, and be thankful.

Thank God! we are in the full enjoyment of all these privileges. But can we be taught to prize them too much? or how can we prize them equal to their value, if we do not know their intrinsic worth, and that they are not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature?

To the haranguers of the populace among the ancients, succeed among the moderns your writers of political pamphlets and news-papers, and your coffee-house talkers.

A penny saved is a penny earned.

If you would know the value of money, go and try to borrow some.

I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God governs in the affairs of men.

Look round the habitable world, how few Know their own good, or, knowing it, pursue!

The problem with doing nothing is not knowing when you're finished.

The two most beautiful sights I have witnessed in my life are a full blown ship at sail and the round-bellied pregnant female.

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

The early morning has gold in its mouth.

Remember this Saying, 'That the good Paymaster is Lord of another Man's Purse.' He that is known to pay punctually and exactly to the Time he promises, may at any Time, and on any Occasion, raise all the Money his Friends can spare.

Before you consult your fancy, consult your purse.

If we look back into history for the character of the present sects in Christianity, we shall find few that have not in their turns been persecutors, and complainers of persecution. The primitive Christians thought persecution extremely wrong in the Pagans, but practised it on one another.