Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1758
Author · 95 quotes
Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) was an American polymath, writer, printer, politician, and inventor. He is known for his role in founding the United States, as well as his scientific discoveries and inventions, such as the lightning rod and bifocals. Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and played a crucial part in drafting the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.
1706–1790·lived 84 years
Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1758
Either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.
To be humble to superiors is duty, to equals courtesy, to inferiors nobleness.
The best of all medicines are resting and fasting.
Early to bed, early to rise makes a man young, wealthy and wise.
Love your enemies, for they tell you your faults.
You can do anything you set your mind to.
Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.
Rather go to bed without dinner than to rise in debt.
It is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them.The Way to Wealth and Poor Richard's Almanac, 2008
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.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1758
Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
Many people die at twenty five and aren't buried until they are seventy five.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1755
Content makes poor men rich; discontentment makes rich men poor.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1758
God helps those that help themselvesPoor Richard, 1736
Genius is nothing but a greater aptitude for patience.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1758
Nothing is certain except for death and taxes.
The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1755
Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.The Pennsylvania Gazette, 1737
At twenty years of age the will reigns; at thirty, the wit; and at forty, the judgment.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1739
From a child I was fond of reading, and all the little money that came into my hands was ever laid out in books. Pleased with the 'Pilgrim's Progress,' my first collection was of John Bunyan's works in separate little volumes.The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, 1791
The use of money is all the advantage there is in having it.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1758
If you would know the value of money, go and try to borrow some.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1758
Money has never made man happy, nor will it, there is nothing in its nature to produce happiness.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1758
Those who are of the opinion that money will do everything may reasonably be expected to do everything for money.He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money
He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1758
I have never entered into any controversy in defense of my philosophical opinions; I leave them to take their chance in the world. If they are right, truth and experience will support them; if wrong, they ought to be refuted and rejected. Disputes are apt to sour one's temper and disturb one's quiet.Franklin letter to King George III, 1784
If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins.Poor Richard's Almanack, May 1749
Time is money.The Way to Wealth, 1758
Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1750
The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.Closing Speech at the Constitutional Convention, 1787
There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one's self.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1739
Work as if you were to live a hundred years. Pray as if you were to die tomorrow.The Way to Wealth, 1758
A life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things. There will be sleeping enough in the grave.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1758
Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools, that don't have brains enough to be honest.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1757
When in doubt, don't.
One today is worth two tomorrows.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1758
Diligence is the mother of good luck.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1757
Honesty is the best policy.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1755
Wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy.Letter to Abbé Morellet, c. July, 1779
Rebellion against tyrants is obedience to God.Bradshaw's Epitaph, Pennsylvania Evening Post, 14 Dec, 1775
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.Pennsylvania Assembly: Reply to the Governor, November 11, 1755
In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.Letter to Jean-Baptiste Le Roy, November 13, 1789
Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1758
Energy and persistence conquer all things.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1758
Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1755
Lost time is never found again.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1758
Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.Lifes Tragedy, The Quotable Coach, 2018
Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.The Way to Wealth, 1758
Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1739
A good conscience is a continual Christmas.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1739
When you're finished changing, you're finished.
He who falls in love with himself will have no rivals.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1739
I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion about the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it.On the Price of Corn, and Management of the Poor, The London Chronicle, 1766
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.
There are three faithful friends - an old wife, an old dog, and ready money.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1750
Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out.
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.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1758
Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade?Poor Richard's Almanack, 1758
Wise men don't need advice. Fools won't take it.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1758
Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1739
A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body.
He that can have patience can have what he will.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1757
It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.Liber Facetiarum: Being a Collection of Curious and Interesting Anecdotes, 1809
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1738
Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1735
By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.The Biblical World, Rev. H. K. Williams, 1919
In general, mankind, since the improvement of cookery, eats twice as much as nature requires.The Art of Procuring Pleasant Dreams, 1786
We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.Statement at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, quoted in Biography of Benjamin Franklin, 2023
Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1736 ed
Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75.
It is the working man who is the happy man. It is the idle man who is the miserable man.
A penny saved is a penny earned.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1758
Money has never made man happy, nor will it, there is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more of it one has the more one wants.On Wealth, Luxury, and Virtue, 1727-1784
Half a truth is often a great lie.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1739
He that lives upon hope will die fasting.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1757
How few there are who have courage enough to own their faults, or resolution enough to mend them.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1743
Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1755
A place for everything, everything in its place.The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, 1791
I never knew a man come to greatness or eminence who lay abed late in the morning.Autobiography, 1771
Well done is better than well said.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1758
Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1758
You may delay, but time will not.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1758
The ingredients of health and long life, are great temperance, open air, easy labor, and little care.Rules of Health, Poor Richard's Almanack, 1742
An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.The Way to Wealth, 1757
Fatigue is the best pillow.The Life and Miscellaneous Writings of Benjamin Franklin, p. 49
You may find that having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting. This is not logical but it is often true.
Some people die at 25. We just bury them at 75.
It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority.
There are more old drunkards than old physicians.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1736
Most people die at 25 and aren't buried until they're 75.
Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.
Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1735
He that would live in peace and at ease must not speak all he knows or all he sees.Poor Richard's Almanack, 1733
That’s all 95 quotes by Benjamin Franklin.