Benjamin Franklin

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Security without liberty is called prison.

When the well is dry, we know the worth of water.

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

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

Be slow in choosing a friend, slower in changing.

It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority.

Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.

Originality is the art of concealing your sources.

Applause waits on success.

Without justice, courage is weak.

God helps those who help themselves.

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

Admiration is the daughter of ignorance.

Fatigue is the best pillow.

Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!

Necessity never made a good bargain.

The Doors of Wisdom are never shut.

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

Laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes him.

Clean your finger before you point at my spots.

Whatever is begun in anger, ends in shame.

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

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

Being ignorant is not so much a shame as being unwilling to learn.

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.

Fish and visitors smell in three days.

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

Well done is better than well said.

Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.

Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.

Love your enemies, for they tell you your faults.

Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none.

Content makes poor men rich; discontentment makes rich men poor.

A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over.

A countryman between two lawyers is like a fish between two cats.

The best thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to a friend, your heart; to your child, a good example; to a father, deference; to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you; to yourself, respect; to all men, charity.

Anger is never without a reason, but seldom with a good one.