Benjamin Franklin Men Quotations

We are more thoroughly an enlightened people, with respect to our political interests, than perhaps any other under heaven. Every man among us reads, and is so easy in his circumstances as to have leisure for conversations of improvement and for acquiring information.

When men and woman die, as poets sung, his heart's the last part moves, her last, the tongue.

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

There never was a truly great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous.

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

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

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.

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

Words may show a man's wit but actions his meaning.

Marriage is the most natural state of man, and... the state in which you will find solid happiness.

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

And whether you're an honest man, or whether you're a thief, depends on whose solicitor has given me my brief.

In the affairs of this world, men are saved not by faith, but by the want of it.

Nine men in ten are would be suicides.

Fools need advice most, but wise men only are the better for it.

Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the water they loved to drink. This good man, Noah, having seen that all his contemporaries had perished by this unpleasant drink, took a dislike to it; and God, to relieve his dryness, created the vine and revealed to him the art of making le vin. By the aid of this liquid he unveiled more and more truth.

There is much difference between imitating a good man and counterfeiting him.

Every other sect supposes itself in possession of the truth, and that those who differ are so far in the wrong. Like a man traveling in foggy weather they see those at a distance before them wrapped up in a fog, as well as those behind them, and also people in the fields on each side; but near them, all appears clear, though in truth they are as much in the fog as any of them.

Life is rather a state of embryo, a preparation for life; a man is not completely born till he has passed through death.

The general policy of the past has been to drive, but the era of force must give way to that of knowledge, and the policy of the future will be to teach and to lead, to the advantage of all concerned. Henry Gantt If a man empties his purse into his head no man can take it from him. An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

No man ought to own more property than needed for his livelihood; the rest, by right, belonged to the state.

I am the laziest man in the world. I invented all those things to save myself from toil.

After crosses and losses men grow humbler and wiser.

The busy man has few idle visitors; to the boiling pot the flies come not.

It is a strange anomaly that men could be careful to insure their houses, their ships, their merchandise, and yet neglect to insure their lives - surely the most important of all to their families, and more subject to loss.

Wise men learn by others' harms, fools scarcely by their own.

And where is the Prince who can afford to so cover his country with troops for its defense, as that ten thousand men descending from the clouds, might not in many places do an infinite deal of mischief, before a force could be brought together to repel them?

The discontented man finds no easy chair.

Here is my Creed. I believe in one God, creator of the Universe. That he governs it by his Providence. That he ought to be worshiped. That the most acceptable service we render him is doing good to his other children. That the soul of Man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this.

If you wish information and improvement from the knowledge of others, and yet at the same time express yourself as firmly fix'd in your present opinions, modest, sensible men, who do not love disputation, will probably leave you undisturbed in the possession of your error.

Strangers are welcome because there is room enough for them all, and therefore the old Inhabitants are not jealous of them; the Laws protect them sufficiently so that they have no need of the Patronage of great Men; and every one will enjoy securely the Profits of his Industry. But if he does not bring a Fortune with him, he must work and be industrious to live.

An old young man, will be a young old man.

I have always thought that one man of tolerable abilities may work great changes, and accomplish great affairs among mankind, if he first forms a good plan, and, cutting off all amusements or other employments that would divert his attention, make the execution of that same plan his sole study and business.

A man is not completely born until he is dead. Why then should we grieve that a new child is born among the immortals, a new member added to their happy society?

Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom; and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech; which is the right of every man as far as by it he does not hurt or control the right of another; and this is the only check it ought to suffer and the only bounds it ought to know.... Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freedom of speech, a thing terrible to traitors.

Don't judge men's wealth or godliness by their Sunday appearance.

A single man has not nearly the value he would have in a state of union. He is an incomplete animal. He resembles the odd half of a pair of scissors.

The refusal of King George to allow the colonies to operate an honest money system, which freed the ordinary man from clutches of the money manipulators was probably the prime cause of the revolution.

Much Virtue in Herbs, little in Men.

It is better to let 100 criminals go free than to imprison 1 innocent man.

The most acceptable service of God is doing good to man.

I believe there is one Supreme most perfect being. ... I believe He is pleased and delights in the happiness of those He has created; and since without virtue man can have no happiness in this world, I firmly believe He delights to see me virtuous

Men take more pains to mask than mend.

That there is one God, who made all things. That he governs the world by his providence. That he might be worshipped by adoration, prayer, and thanksgiving. But that the most acceptable service of God is doing good to Man. That the Soul is immortal. And that God will certainly reward virtue and punish vice, either here or hereafter.

Men and Melons are hard to know.

I think opinions should be judged by their influences and effects; and if a man holds none that tend to make him less virtuous or more vicious, it may be concluded that he holds none that are dangerous, which I hope is the case with me.

I have lived a long time, sir, and the longer I live the more convincing proofs I see of this truth - that God governs in the affairs of men.

If Men are so wicked as we now see them with Religion what would they be if without it?

A wise man will desire no more than what he may get justly, use soberly, distribute cheerfully, and leave contently.

Poverty often deprives a man of all spirit and virtue; it is hard for an empty bag to stand upright.

Man will ultimately be governed by God or by tyrants.

I resolve to speak ill of no man whatever, not even in a matter of truth; but rather by some means excuse the faults I hear charged upon others, and upon proper occasions speak all the good I know of everybody.

Happiness consists more in small conveniences or 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.

After three days men grow weary, of a wench, a guest, and weather rainy.

The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of a wise man is in his heart.

A Man of Knowledge like a rich Soil, feeds If not a world of Corn, a world of Weeds.

If you teach a poor young man to shave himself, and keep his razor in order, you may contribute more to the happiness of his life than in giving him a thousand guineas. This sum may be soon spent, the regret only remaining of having foolishly consumed it; but in the other case, he escapes the frequent vexation of waiting for barbers, and of their sometimes dirty fingers, offensive breaths, and dull razors.

But the most dangerous Hypocrite in a Common-Wealth, is one who leaves the Gospel for the sake of the Law: A Man compounded of Law and Gospel, is able to cheat a whole Country with his Religion, and then destroy them under Colour of Law: And here the Clergy are in great Danger of being deceiv'd, and the People of being deceiv'd by the Clergy, until the Monster arrives to such Power and Wealth, that he is out of the reach of both, and can oppress the People without their own blind Assistance.

Humility makes great men twice honorable

Most men die at 25, we just don't bury them until they are 70.

Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature.

The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either.

[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.

I never knew a man who was good at making excuses who was good at anything else.

Most men die from the neck up at age twenty-five because they stop dreaming.

Women are books, and men the readers be...

I believe that Man is not the most perfect Being but One, rather that as there are many Degrees of Beings his Inferiors, so there are many Degrees of Beings superior to him.

It is much to be lamented that a man of Franklin's general good character and great influence should have been an unbeliever in Christianity, and also have done as much as he did to make others unbelievers.

In going on with these Experiments, how many pretty systems do we build, which we soon find ourselves oblig'd to destroy! If there is no other Use discover'd of Electricity, this, however, is something considerable, that it may help to make a vain Man humble.

A quarrelsome man has no good neighbours.

A perfect character might be attended with the inconvenience of being envied and hated; and that a benevolent man should allow a few faults in himself, to keep his friends in countenance.

A man must have a good deal of vanity who believes, and a good deal of boldness who affirms, that all the doctrines he holds are true, and all he rejects are false.

On the whole, though I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet as I was, by the endeavor, a better and a happier man than I otherwise should have been had I not attempted it

This gave me occasion to observe, that when Men are employ'd they are best contented. For on the Days they work'd they were good-natur'd and chearful; and with the consciousness of having done a good Days work they spent the Evenings jollily; but on the idle Days they were mutinous and quarrelsome, finding fault with their Pork, the Bread, and in continual ill-humour. (Autobiography, 1771)

Fools make feasts and wise men eat them.

Serving God is doing good to man, but praying is thought an easier service and therefore more generally chosen.

Observe all men, thyself most.

The greatest inventions are those inquiries which tend to increase the power of man over matter.

The cause of the South was the cause of constitutional government, the cause of government regulated by law, and the cause of honesty and fidelity in public servants. No nobler cause did man ever fight for!

An assembly of great men is the greatest fool upon earth.

An honest Man will receive neither Money nor Praise that is not his due.

The honest Man takes Pains, and then enjoys Pleasures; the knave takes Pleasure, and then suffers Pains.

Life with Fools consists in Drinking; with the wise Man, living's Thinking.

Don't think so much of your own Cunning, as to forget other Men's; a Cunning Man is overmatched by a cunning Man and a Half.

Two passions have powerful influence on the affairs of men: the love of power and the love of money.

A change of fortune hurts a wise man no more than a change of the moon.

It is observable that God has often called men to places of dignity and honor when they have been busy in the honest employment of their vocation.

The rapid progress of the sciences makes me sorry, at times, that I was born so soon. Imagine the power that man will have over matter, a few hundred years from now. We may learn how to remove gravity from large masses, and float them over great distances. Agriculture will double its produce with less labor. All diseases will surely be cured... even old age. If only the moral sciences could be improved as well. Perhaps men would cease to be wolves to one another... and human beings could learn to be human.

The man that walks wit crowd, will get no farther than the crowd. The man that walks alone, will reach places unknown.

If you ride a horse, sit close and tight, if you ride a man, sit easy and light.

A lonely man on a rainy night who cannot read.

You may give give a man office, but you cannot give him discretion

Men's minds do not die with their bodies but are made more happy or miserable after this life according to their actions.

The good particular men may do separately, in relieving the sick, is small, compared with what they may do collectively.

Wherever desirable superfluities are imported, industry is excited, and thereby plenty is produced. Were only necessaries permitted to be purchased, men would work no more than was necessary for that purpose.

A man compounded of law and gospel is able to cheat a whole country with his religion and then destroy them under color of law

Virtue alone is sufficient to make a man great, glorious, and happy.

That man alone loves himself rightly who procures the greatest possible good to himself through the whole of his existence and so pursues pleasure as not to give for it more than it is worth.

Freedom of speech is the great bulwark of liberty; they prosper and die together: And it is the terror of traitors and oppressors, and a barrier against them. It produces excellent writers, and encourages men of fine genius.

In a discreet man's mouth, a public thing is private.