Top 100 Famous Benjamin Franklin Quotes

Last Updated: November 19, 2022 by Quote.cc Team

Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 – April 17, 1790) was an American polymath and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Franklin earned the title of “The First American” for constantly campaigning for colonial unity and co-drafting both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. Though most of the writing is Thomas Jefferson’s, most of the contribution is Franklin’s. He is the only Founding Father who is a signatory of all four of the major documents of the founding of the United States: the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Alliance with France, the Treaty of Paris, and the United States Constitution.

As a scientist, he was a major figure in the American Enlightenment and the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity. As an inventor, he is known for the lightning rod, bifocals, and the Franklin stove, among other inventions. he was a major figure in the American Enlightenment and founded many civic organizations, including the first successful American lending library, Philadelphia’s first fire department, and the University of Pennsylvania.

Looking for the best Benjamin Franklin quotes? We’ve compiled a list of the top 100 famous Franklin quotes and sayings on life, liberty, religion, happiness, people, work, wisdom, and more.

Top 100 Famous Benjamin Franklin Quotes

“He that speaks much, is much mistaken.” – Benjamin Franklin

“One today is worth two tomorrows.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Don’t cry over spilled milk.” – Benjamin Franklin

“What more valuable than Gold? Diamonds. Than Diamonds? Virtue.” – Benjamin Franklin

“He that can have patience can have what he will.” – Benjamin Franklin

“I didn’t fail the test, I just found ways to do it wrong.” – Benjamin Franklin

“When you are finished changing, you’re finished.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Lost Time is never found again.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Perhaps the history of the errors of mankind, all things considered, is more valuable and interesting than that of their discoveries.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Pardoning the Bad, is injuring the Good.” – Benjamin Franklin

“It is better to take many Injuries than to give one.” – Benjamin Franklin

“All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.” – Benjamin Franklin

“A friend in need is a friend indeed!” – Benjamin Franklin

“To the generous mind the heaviest debt is that of gratitude, when it is not in our power to repay it.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Tis a great confidence in a friend to tell him your faults; greater to tell him his.” – Benjamin Franklin

“To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals.” – Benjamin Franklin

“He that would live in peace & at ease, Must not speak all he knows or judge all he sees.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Who is powerful? He that governs his Passions.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Wish not so much to live long as to live well.” – Benjamin Franklin

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Do you love life? Then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of.” – Benjamin Franklin

“He that is of the opinion that money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money.” – Benjamin Franklin

“He that lies down with Dogs, shall rise up with fleas.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Whatever is begun in anger, ends in shame.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Glass, China, and Reputation, are easily crack’d, and never well mended.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it, is.” – Benjamin Franklin

“A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Employ your time well, if you mean to get leisure.” – Benjamin Franklin

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Fear not death for the sooner we die, the longer we shall be immortal.” – Benjamin Franklin

“You may delay, but time will not.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Life’s tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.” – Benjamin Franklin

“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

“We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing!” – Benjamin Franklin

“Happiness depends more on the inward disposition of mind than on outward circumstances.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Sloth makes all things difficult, but industry, all things easy. He that rises late must trot all day, and shall scarce overtake his business at night, while laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes him.” – Benjamin Franklin

“If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as getting.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Speak little, do much.” – Benjamin Franklin

“If a man could have half of his wishes, he would double his troubles.” – Benjamin Franklin

“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

“No gains without pains.” – Benjamin Franklin

“For every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Better slip with foot than tongue.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Look before, or you’ll find yourself behind.” – Benjamin Franklin

“A false friend and a shadow attend only while the sun shines.” – Benjamin Franklin

“He that falls in love with himself will have no rivals.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Never confuse motion with action.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander Time; for that’s the Stuff Life is made of.” – Benjamin Franklin

“There never was a good war or a bad peace.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Search others for their virtues, thy self for thy vices.” – Benjamin Franklin

“When you’re testing to see how deep water is, never use two feet.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Creditors have better memories than debtors.” – Benjamin Franklin

“We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.” – Benjamin Franklin

“The only thing that is more expensive than education is ignorance.” – Benjamin Franklin

“If you would persuade, you must appeal to interest rather than intellect.” – Benjamin Franklin

“It is the working man who is the happy man. It is the idle man who is the miserable man.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.” – Benjamin Franklin

“If you would know the value of money, go try to borrow some; for he that goes a-borrowing goes a-sorrowing.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Don’t throw stones at your neighbors, if your own windows are glass.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Well done is better than well said.” – Benjamin Franklin

“A true Friend is the best Possession.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Energy and persistence conquer all things.” – Benjamin Franklin

“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Honesty is the best policy.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.” – Benjamin Franklin

“To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Security without liberty is called prison.” – Benjamin Franklin

“He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Love your Enemies, for they tell you your Faults.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Take it from Richard, poor and lame, what’s begun in anger ends in shame.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Content makes poor men rich; discontentment makes rich men poor.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.” – Benjamin Franklin

“You only have the right to pursue happiness; you have to catch it yourself.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship.” – Benjamin Franklin

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” – Benjamin Franklin

“To find out a girl’s faults, praise her to her girlfriends.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Many people die at twenty five and aren’t buried until they are seventy five.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Haste makes Waste.” – Benjamin Franklin

“If a man empties his purse into his head no one can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.” – Benjamin Franklin

“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