To the generous mind the heaviest debt is that of gratitude, when it is not in our power to repay it.
Benjamin FranklinRead
Lighthouses are more helpful than churches.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Lighthouses provide guidance in difficult times, whereas churches offer spiritual support, implying practical assistance is more valuable in certain contexts.
Benjamin Franklin's quote emphasizes the idea that tangible guidance and support in times of need—represented by lighthouses—can be more beneficial than spiritual guidance or moral teachings offered by churches. It suggests that in moments of crisis or uncertainty, the need for practical help and direction takes precedence over abstract beliefs or doctrines.
Themes
GuidanceSupportPracticalitySpiritualityHelpfulness
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about community service, I might say, 'Remember, lighthouses are more helpful than churches, as we need to provide real guidance to those in need.'
More from Benjamin Franklin
All quotes →He'll cheat without scruple, who can without fear.
Benjamin FranklinRead
[E]very Man who comes among us, and takes up a piece of Land, becomes a Citizen, and by our Constitution has a Voice in Elections, and a share in the Government of the Country.
Benjamin FranklinRead
Our Constitution is in actual operation; everything appears to promise that it will last; but in this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.
Benjamin FranklinRead
Let honesty and industry be thy constant companions, and spend one penny less than thy clear gains; then shall thy pocket begin to thrive; creditors will not insult, nor want oppress, nor hungerness bite, nor nakedness freeze thee
Benjamin FranklinRead
I think that a young state, like a young virgin, should modestly stay at home, and wait the application of suitors for an alliance with her; and not run about offering her amity to all the world; and hazarding their refusal. Our virgin is a jolly one; and tho at present not very rich, will in time be a great fortune, and where she has a favorable predisposition, it seems to me well worth cultivating.
Benjamin FranklinRead
Similar quotes
Let no one mistake it for comedy, farcical though it may be in all its details. It serves notice on the country that Neanderthal man is organizing in these forlorn backwaters of the land, led by a fanatic, rid of sense and devoid of conscience.
H. L. MenckenRead
I can truly say, after an experience of seventy years, that all the cares and anxieties, the trials and disappointments of my whole life, are light, when balanced with my sufferings in childhood and youth from the theological dogmas which I sincerely believed. . . . The memory of my own suffering has prevented me from ever shadowing one young soul with the superstitions of the Christian religion.
Elizabeth Cady StantonRead
One thing leads to another? Not always. Sometimes one thing leads to the same thing. Ask an addict.
George CarlinRead
Just as invasion is the true and tried weapon in the hands of capital against the class struggle, so on the other hand the fearless pursuit of the class struggle has always proven the most effective preventative of foreign invasions.
Karl LiebknechtRead
It is the voice of the Church that is heard in singing together. It is not you that sings, it is the Church that is singing, and you, as a member of the Church, may share in its song.
Dietrich BonhoefferRead
To serve Armenia is to serve civilization.
William E. GladstoneRead