Benjamin Franklin's Famous Quotes

“Love your Enemies, for they tell you your Faults.”
- Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1756

“He that falls in love with himself will have no rivals.”
- Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1739

“There never was a good war or a bad peace.”
-Letter to Sir Joseph Banks, president of the Royal Society of London, July 1783. Also cited in a letter to Quincy, Sr., American merchant, planter and politician, September 1783.

“He that lies down with Dogs, shall rise up with fleas.”
- Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1733

“Better slip with foot than tongue.”
- Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1734

“Look before, or you’ll find yourself behind.”
- Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1735

“Don’t throw stones at your neighbors, if your own windows are glass.”
- Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1736

“He that would live in peace & at ease, Must not speak all he knows or judge all he sees.”
- Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1736

“Well done is better than well said.”
- Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1737

“A right Heart exceeds all.”
- Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1739

“What you seem to be, be really.”
- Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1744

“A true Friend is the best Possession.”
- Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1744

“No gains without pains.”
- Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1745

“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander Time; for that’s the Stuff Life is made of.”
- Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1746

“Lost Time is never found again.”
- Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1747

“When you’re good to others, you’re best to yourself.”
- Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1748

“Pardoning the Bad, is injuring the Good.”
- Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1748

“Hide not your Talents, they for Use were made. What’s a Sun-Dial in the shade!”
- Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1750

“Glass, China, and Reputation, are easily crack’d, and never well mended.”
- Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1750

“What more valuable than Gold? Diamonds. Than Diamonds? Virtue.”
- Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1751

“Haste makes Waste.”
- Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1753

“Search others for their virtues, thy self for thy vices.”
- Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1738