Quotes by Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706 in Boston, Massachusetts. He was one of the founding fathers of the United States as well as: an inventor, statesman, economist, philosopher, writer, and musician. Ben Franklin is probably most known for his scientific work with electricity, including his famous kite experiment.

Young fifteen year old Benjamin began working at his brother's newspaper, The New England Courant , where he began writing for the newspaper under an anonymous name. Knowing that his brother, James, would never let the young apprentice write any of the popular opinion pieces or articles the paper published, he created Silence Dogood .

Silence Dogood was a fictional widow who was very critical of the world and filled with advice, especially on issues concerning how women are treated. He would write the letters late at night and slip them under the door at the print shop. After sixteen letters, and Silence Dogood was a big hit, Ben confessed to his brother that he was the female mystery writer.

Franklin died at the age of 84 on April 17, 1790, twenty thousand mourners attended his funeral services. He is buried in the Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia.

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

 

~ One today is worth two tomorrows. ~

~ To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals. ~

~ There's none deceived but he that trusts. ~

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

~ Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75. ~

~ Do not squander time for that is the stuff life is made of. ~

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

~ It is much easier to suppress a first desire than to satisfy those that follow. ~

~ A life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things. There will be sleeping enough in the grave. ~

~ At twenty years of age the will reigns; at thirty, the wit; and at forty, the judgment. ~

~ How few there are who have courage enough to own their faults, or resolution enough to mend them. ~

~ It is the working man who is the happy man. It is the idle man who is the miserable man. ~

~ 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. ~

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

~ A small leak can sink a great ship. ~

~ Those things that hurt, instruct. ~

~ A little neglect may breed great mischief. ~

~ By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. ~

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

~ He is not well bred, that cannot bear ill breeding in others. ~

~ Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do. ~

~ Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.~

~ Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age, but they die young. ~

~ Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools talk because they have to say something. ~

~ What makes resisting temptation difficult for many people, is that they don't want to discourage it completely. ~

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

~ Our necessities never equal our wants. ~

~ Half a truth is often a great lie.~

~ Lost time is never found again. ~

~ He that rises late must trot all day. ~

~ He that speaks much, is much mistaken. ~

~ Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame. ~

~ Love your enemies, for they tell you your faults. ~

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

~ When you're finished changing, you're finished. ~

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

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

~ Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards. ~

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

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

~ Many a man thinks he is buying pleasure, when he is really selling himself to it.~

~ Death takes no bribes. ~

~ Necessity never made a good bargain. ~

~ Better slip with foot than tongue. ~

~ The doors of wisdom are never shut. ~

~ The discontented man finds no easy chair. ~

~ An investment in knowledge pays the best interest. ~

~ Absence sharpens love, presence strengthens it. ~

~ If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins. ~

~ Be slow in choosing a friend, slower in changing. ~

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

~ The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is a knowledge of our own ignorance. ~

~ If a man could have half of his wishes, he would double his troubles. ~

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

~ Speak ill of no man, but speak all the good you know of everybody. ~

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

~ 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. ~

 

~ Fatigue is the best pillow. ~

~ Time is money. ~

~ A penny saved is a penny earned. ~

~ Remember that credit is money. ~

~ Half a truth is often a great lie.~

~ Games lubricate the body and the mind. ~

~ Energy and persistence conquer all things. ~

~ The worst wheel of the cart makes the most noise. ~

~ Those that won't be counseled can't be helped. ~

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

~ He does not possess wealth; it possesses him. ~

~ He that can have patience can have what he will. ~

~ Distrust and caution are the parents of security. ~

~ Originality is the art of concealing your sources. ~

~ Some are weather-wise, some are otherwise. ~

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

~ He that composes himself is wiser than he that composes a book. ~

~ The use of money is all the advantage there is in having it.~

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

~ There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one's self. ~

~ Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. ~

~ All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.~