Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, in Milk Street, Boston, Massachusetts, United States. He was a pivotal Founding Father of the United States. He was an American polymath, a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. His achievements include signing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, inventing lightning rods and bifocals, founding the first US fire department and the Library Company, and discovering fundamental electrical principles. May these Benjamin Franklin quotes on life offer you insights that will inspire you to focus on self-improvement, productivity, and prudence, enabling you to succeed in life.
1. “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” – Benjamin Franklin
2. “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.” – Benjamin Franklin
3. “When you are finished changing, you're finished.” – Benjamin Franklin
4. “The person who deserves most pity is a lonesome one on a rainy day who doesn't know how to read.” – Benjamin Franklin
5. “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” – Benjamin Franklin
6. “Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.” – Benjamin Franklin
7. “Whatever is begun in anger, ends in shame.” – Benjamin Franklin
8. “The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of a wise man is in his heart.” – Benjamin Franklin
9. “When you're testing to see how deep water is, never use two feet.” – Benjamin Franklin
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10. “A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over.” – Benjamin Franklin
11. “Trouble knocked at the door, but, hearing laughter, hurried away.” – Benjamin Franklin
12. “Life biggest tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.” – Benjamin Franklin
13. “Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.” – Benjamin Franklin
14. “We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.” – Benjamin Franklin
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15. “Never ruin an apology with an excuse.” – Benjamin Franklin
16. “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” – Benjamin Franklin
17. “I didn't fail the test, I just found one hundred ways to do it wrong.” – Benjamin Franklin
18. “If a man could have half of his wishes, he would double his troubles.” – Benjamin Franklin
19. “Speak ill of no man, but speak all the good you know of everybody.” – Benjamin Franklin
-min.jpg "Famous quotes and sayings by Benjamin Franklin")
20. “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin
21. “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 others, charity.” – Benjamin Franklin
22. “The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason.” – Benjamin Franklin
23. “Security without liberty is called prison.” – Benjamin Franklin
24. “All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.” – Benjamin Franklin
-min.jpg "Famous quotes and sayings by Benjamin Franklin")
25. “When the well is dry, we know the worth of water.” – Benjamin Franklin
26. “To be humble to superiors is a duty, to equals courtesy, to inferiors nobleness.” – Benjamin Franklin
27. “Those things that hurt, instruct.” – Benjamin Franklin
28. “Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech.” – Benjamin Franklin
29. “Fools make feasts and wise men eat them.” – Benjamin Franklin
.jpg "Famous quotes and sayings by Benjamin Franklin")
30. “Work as if you were to live a thousand years, play as if you were to die tomorrow.” – Benjamin Franklin
More Benjamin Franklin Famous Sayings and Phrases
31. “Words may show a man's wit, actions his meaning.” – Benjamin Franklin
32. “You will find the key to success under the alarm clock.” – Benjamin Franklin
33. “There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one's self.” – Benjamin Franklin
34. “How few there are who have courage enough to own their faults, or resolution enough to mend them.” – Benjamin Franklin
35. “A good example is the best sermon.” – Benjamin Franklin
36. “Reading makes a full man, meditation a profound man, discourse a clear man.” – Benjamin Franklin
37. “So convenient a thing to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for every thing one has a mind to do.” – Benjamin Franklin
38. “Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools that don't have brains enough to be honest.” – Benjamin Franklin
39. “He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money.” – Benjamin Franklin
40. “Instead of cursing the darkness, light a candle.” – Benjamin Franklin
41. “Happiness consists more in the small conveniences of pleasures that occur every day, than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom to a man in the course of his life.” – Benjamin Franklin
42. “Many a man thinks he is buying pleasure, when he is really selling himself to it.” – Benjamin Franklin
43. “All the little money that ever came into my hands was ever laid out in books.” – Benjamin Franklin
44. “To cease to think creatively is to cease to live.” – Benjamin Franklin
45. “For every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned.” – Benjamin Franklin
46. “A false friend and a shadow attend only while the sun shines.” – Benjamin Franklin
47. “When the well is dry we know the value of water.” – Benjamin Franklin
48. “To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals.” – Benjamin Franklin
49. “Critics are our friends, they show us our faults.” – Benjamin Franklin
50. “A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body.” – Benjamin Franklin
51. “As we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every idle silence.” – Benjamin Franklin
52. “The people heard it, and approved the doctrine, and immediately practiced the contrary.” – Benjamin Franklin
53. “If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins.” – Benjamin Franklin
54. “To all apparent beauties blind, each blemish strikes an envious mind.” – Benjamin Franklin
55. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” – Benjamin Franklin
56. “He that speaks much, is much mistaken.” – Benjamin Franklin
57. “He that won't be counseled can't be helped.” – Benjamin Franklin
58. “Thinking aloud is a habit which is responsible for most of mankind's misery.” – Benjamin Franklin
59. “The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason.” – Benjamin Franklin
60. “It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.” – Benjamin Franklin
61. “He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged.” – Benjamin Franklin
62. “He that falls in love with himself will have no rivals.” – Benjamin Franklin
63. “Clean your finger, before you point at my spots.” – Benjamin Franklin
64. “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” – Benjamin Franklin
65. “Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other, and scarce in that.” – Benjamin Franklin
66. “A learned blockhead is a greater blockhead than an ignorant one.” – Benjamin Franklin
67. “He that blows the coals in quarrels that he has nothing to do with, has no right to complain if the sparks fly in his face.” – Benjamin Franklin
68. “There are two ways to increase your wealth. Increase your means or decrease your wants. The best is to do both at the same time.” – Benjamin Franklin
69. “It is a grand mistake to think of being great without goodness and I pronounce it as certain that there was never a truly great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous.” – Benjamin Franklin
70. “Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.” – Benjamin Franklin
71. “Well done is better than well said.” – Benjamin Franklin
72. “Nothing was useful which was not honest.” – Benjamin Franklin
73. “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” – Benjamin Franklin
74. “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” – Benjamin Franklin
75. “Don't value a man for the quality he is of, but for the qualities he possesses.” – Benjamin Franklin
76. “Lost time is never found again.” – Benjamin Franklin
77. “Genius without education is like silver in the mine.” – Benjamin Franklin
78. “Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out.” – Benjamin Franklin
79. “The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is a knowledge of our own ignorance.” – Benjamin Franklin
80. “Do not squander time for that is the stuff life is made of.” – Benjamin Franklin
81. “You may delay, but time will not.” – Benjamin Franklin
82. “Love your enemies, for they tell you your faults.” – Benjamin Franklin
83. “Energy and persistence conquer all things.” – Benjamin Franklin
84. “If a man empties his purse into his head, no one can take it from him.” – Benjamin Franklin
85. “A life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things. There will be sleeping enough in the grave.” – Benjamin Franklin
86. “If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.” – Benjamin Franklin
87. “Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.” – Benjamin Franklin
88. “There never was a good war or a bad peace.” – Benjamin Franklin
89. “Diligence is the mother of good luck.” – Benjamin Franklin
90. “It is the working man who is the happy man.” – Benjamin Franklin
91. “Wise men don't need advice. Fools won't take it.” – Benjamin Franklin
92. “He that lies down with dogs, shall rise up with fleas.” – Benjamin Franklin
93. “To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions.” – Benjamin Franklin
94. “Write your injuries in dust, your benefits in marble.” – Benjamin Franklin
95. “When you’re good to others, you’re best to yourself.” – Benjamin Franklin
96. “Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.” – Benjamin Franklin
97. “A penny saved is a penny earned.” – Benjamin Franklin
98. “Look before, or you’ll find yourself behind.” – Benjamin Franklin
99. “Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards.” – Benjamin Franklin
100. “Rather go to bed supperless than rise in debt.” – Benjamin Franklin
101. “Don’t throw stones at your neighbors, if your own windows are glass.” – Benjamin Franklin
102. “If you would know the value of money, go try to borrow some.” – Benjamin Franklin
103. “Industry need not wish.” – Benjamin Franklin
104. “He that would live in peace and at ease, must not speak all he knows or judge all he sees.” – Benjamin Franklin
105. “Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” – Benjamin Franklin
106. “A right Heart exceeds all.” – Benjamin Franklin
107. “Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.” – Benjamin Franklin
108. “What you seem to be, be really.” – Benjamin Franklin
109. “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” – Benjamin Franklin
110. “Pardoning the bad, is injuring the good.” – Benjamin Franklin
Share these Benjamin Franklin Best Quotes and Sayings on Wisdom with your friends, family, and loved ones to inspire them as well.
2. “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.” – Benjamin Franklin
3. “When you are finished changing, you're finished.” – Benjamin Franklin
4. “The person who deserves most pity is a lonesome one on a rainy day who doesn't know how to read.” – Benjamin Franklin
5. “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” – Benjamin Franklin
6. “Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.” – Benjamin Franklin
7. “Whatever is begun in anger, ends in shame.” – Benjamin Franklin
8. “The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of a wise man is in his heart.” – Benjamin Franklin
9. “When you're testing to see how deep water is, never use two feet.” – Benjamin Franklin
11. “Trouble knocked at the door, but, hearing laughter, hurried away.” – Benjamin Franklin
12. “Life biggest tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.” – Benjamin Franklin
13. “Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.” – Benjamin Franklin
14. “We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.” – Benjamin Franklin
16. “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” – Benjamin Franklin
17. “I didn't fail the test, I just found one hundred ways to do it wrong.” – Benjamin Franklin
18. “If a man could have half of his wishes, he would double his troubles.” – Benjamin Franklin
19. “Speak ill of no man, but speak all the good you know of everybody.” – Benjamin Franklin
21. “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 others, charity.” – Benjamin Franklin
22. “The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason.” – Benjamin Franklin
23. “Security without liberty is called prison.” – Benjamin Franklin
24. “All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.” – Benjamin Franklin
26. “To be humble to superiors is a duty, to equals courtesy, to inferiors nobleness.” – Benjamin Franklin
27. “Those things that hurt, instruct.” – Benjamin Franklin
28. “Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech.” – Benjamin Franklin
29. “Fools make feasts and wise men eat them.” – Benjamin Franklin
More Benjamin Franklin Famous Sayings and Phrases
31. “Words may show a man's wit, actions his meaning.” – Benjamin Franklin
32. “You will find the key to success under the alarm clock.” – Benjamin Franklin
33. “There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one's self.” – Benjamin Franklin
34. “How few there are who have courage enough to own their faults, or resolution enough to mend them.” – Benjamin Franklin
35. “A good example is the best sermon.” – Benjamin Franklin
36. “Reading makes a full man, meditation a profound man, discourse a clear man.” – Benjamin Franklin
37. “So convenient a thing to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for every thing one has a mind to do.” – Benjamin Franklin
38. “Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools that don't have brains enough to be honest.” – Benjamin Franklin
39. “He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money.” – Benjamin Franklin
40. “Instead of cursing the darkness, light a candle.” – Benjamin Franklin
41. “Happiness consists more in the small conveniences of pleasures that occur every day, than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom to a man in the course of his life.” – Benjamin Franklin
42. “Many a man thinks he is buying pleasure, when he is really selling himself to it.” – Benjamin Franklin
43. “All the little money that ever came into my hands was ever laid out in books.” – Benjamin Franklin
44. “To cease to think creatively is to cease to live.” – Benjamin Franklin
45. “For every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned.” – Benjamin Franklin
46. “A false friend and a shadow attend only while the sun shines.” – Benjamin Franklin
47. “When the well is dry we know the value of water.” – Benjamin Franklin
48. “To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals.” – Benjamin Franklin
49. “Critics are our friends, they show us our faults.” – Benjamin Franklin
50. “A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body.” – Benjamin Franklin
51. “As we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every idle silence.” – Benjamin Franklin
52. “The people heard it, and approved the doctrine, and immediately practiced the contrary.” – Benjamin Franklin
53. “If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins.” – Benjamin Franklin
54. “To all apparent beauties blind, each blemish strikes an envious mind.” – Benjamin Franklin
55. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” – Benjamin Franklin
56. “He that speaks much, is much mistaken.” – Benjamin Franklin
57. “He that won't be counseled can't be helped.” – Benjamin Franklin
58. “Thinking aloud is a habit which is responsible for most of mankind's misery.” – Benjamin Franklin
59. “The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason.” – Benjamin Franklin
60. “It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.” – Benjamin Franklin
61. “He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged.” – Benjamin Franklin
62. “He that falls in love with himself will have no rivals.” – Benjamin Franklin
63. “Clean your finger, before you point at my spots.” – Benjamin Franklin
64. “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” – Benjamin Franklin
65. “Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other, and scarce in that.” – Benjamin Franklin
66. “A learned blockhead is a greater blockhead than an ignorant one.” – Benjamin Franklin
67. “He that blows the coals in quarrels that he has nothing to do with, has no right to complain if the sparks fly in his face.” – Benjamin Franklin
68. “There are two ways to increase your wealth. Increase your means or decrease your wants. The best is to do both at the same time.” – Benjamin Franklin
69. “It is a grand mistake to think of being great without goodness and I pronounce it as certain that there was never a truly great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous.” – Benjamin Franklin
70. “Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.” – Benjamin Franklin
71. “Well done is better than well said.” – Benjamin Franklin
72. “Nothing was useful which was not honest.” – Benjamin Franklin
73. “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” – Benjamin Franklin
74. “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” – Benjamin Franklin
75. “Don't value a man for the quality he is of, but for the qualities he possesses.” – Benjamin Franklin
76. “Lost time is never found again.” – Benjamin Franklin
77. “Genius without education is like silver in the mine.” – Benjamin Franklin
78. “Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out.” – Benjamin Franklin
79. “The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is a knowledge of our own ignorance.” – Benjamin Franklin
80. “Do not squander time for that is the stuff life is made of.” – Benjamin Franklin
81. “You may delay, but time will not.” – Benjamin Franklin
82. “Love your enemies, for they tell you your faults.” – Benjamin Franklin
83. “Energy and persistence conquer all things.” – Benjamin Franklin
84. “If a man empties his purse into his head, no one can take it from him.” – Benjamin Franklin
85. “A life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things. There will be sleeping enough in the grave.” – Benjamin Franklin
86. “If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.” – Benjamin Franklin
87. “Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.” – Benjamin Franklin
88. “There never was a good war or a bad peace.” – Benjamin Franklin
89. “Diligence is the mother of good luck.” – Benjamin Franklin
90. “It is the working man who is the happy man.” – Benjamin Franklin
91. “Wise men don't need advice. Fools won't take it.” – Benjamin Franklin
92. “He that lies down with dogs, shall rise up with fleas.” – Benjamin Franklin
93. “To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions.” – Benjamin Franklin
94. “Write your injuries in dust, your benefits in marble.” – Benjamin Franklin
95. “When you’re good to others, you’re best to yourself.” – Benjamin Franklin
96. “Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.” – Benjamin Franklin
97. “A penny saved is a penny earned.” – Benjamin Franklin
98. “Look before, or you’ll find yourself behind.” – Benjamin Franklin
99. “Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards.” – Benjamin Franklin
100. “Rather go to bed supperless than rise in debt.” – Benjamin Franklin
101. “Don’t throw stones at your neighbors, if your own windows are glass.” – Benjamin Franklin
102. “If you would know the value of money, go try to borrow some.” – Benjamin Franklin
103. “Industry need not wish.” – Benjamin Franklin
104. “He that would live in peace and at ease, must not speak all he knows or judge all he sees.” – Benjamin Franklin
105. “Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” – Benjamin Franklin
106. “A right Heart exceeds all.” – Benjamin Franklin
107. “Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.” – Benjamin Franklin
108. “What you seem to be, be really.” – Benjamin Franklin
109. “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” – Benjamin Franklin
110. “Pardoning the bad, is injuring the good.” – Benjamin Franklin
Share these Benjamin Franklin Best Quotes and Sayings on Wisdom with your friends, family, and loved ones to inspire them as well.