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

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Letter to Josiah Quincy [September 11, 1783]

“When the well’s dry, we know the worth of water.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Poor Richard’s Almanac (1746). January

“’Tis easier to prevent bad habits than to break them.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Poor Richard’s Almanack (Oct., 1745)

“Search others for their virtues, thyself for thy vices.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Poor Richard’s Almanack (Dec., 1738)

“Would you persuade, speak of Interest, not of Reason.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Poor Richard’s Almanack (June, 1734)

“The most exquisite folly is made of wisdom spun too fine.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Poor Richard’s Almanack (Sep., 1746)

“None preaches better than the ant, and she says nothing.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Poor Richard’s Almanack (July, 1736)

“I shall never ask, never refuse, nor ever resign an office.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Autobiography, begun 1771 [published in full, 1868]

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

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Poor Richard’s Almanac (1749)

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

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1753

“Wise men learn by others’ harms, fools scarcely by their own.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Poor Richard: An Almanack (ed. David McKay Company, 1976)

“There’s many witty men whose brains can’t fill their bellies.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Poor Richard: The Almanacks for the Years 1733-1758 (ed. 1976)

“Pride is said to be the last vice the good man gets clear of.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1732–57

“Suspicion may be no fault, but showing it may be a great one.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Wit and Wisdom from Poor Richard’s Almanack (ed. Courier Corporation, 2012) – ISBN: 9780486110738

“Neglect mending a small fault and ’twill soon be a great one.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Autobiography: Poor Richard. Letters (ed. 1904)

“He that resolves to mend hereafter, resolves not to mend now.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Autobiography: Poor Richard. Letters (ed. 1904)

“Pride is as loud a beggar as want, and a great deal more saucy”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, The Life and Essays, of Dr. Franklin (ed. 1816)

“He that drinks his cider alone, let him catch his Horse alone.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, The Life of Benjamin Franklin, Written by Himself (ed. 1902)

“I looked around for God’s judgments, but saw no signs of them.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, The Works of Benjamin Franklin (ed. 1904)

“He that can take rest is greater than he that can take cities.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Poor Richard comes to Life (ed. 1942)

“In rivers and bad governments the lightest things swim at top.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Poor Richard’s Almanack (ed. 2007)

“God works wonders now and then; Behold a lawyer, an honest man.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Poor Richard’s Almanack (ed. 2013)

“Laws too gentle are seldom obeyed; too severe, seldom executed.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1756

“A father’s a treasure; a brother’s a comfort; a friend is both.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Autobiography: Poor Richard. Letters (ed. 1904)

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

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

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

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Poor Richard’s Almanac (1758) January

“A ploughman on his legs is higher than a gentleman on his knees.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, The Complete Works in Philosophy, Politics, and Morals, of the Late Dr. Benjamin Franklin, Now First Collected and Arranged (ed. 1806)

“Can anything be constant in a world which is eternally changing?”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, The Select Works of Benjamin Franklin: Including His Autobiography (ed. 1854)

“Avoid dishonest gain: no price can recompense the pangs of vice.”

“Avoid dishonest gain: no price can recompence the pangs of vice.”

“To be proud of virtue, is to poison yourself with the Antidote.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, The Life of Benjamin Franklin, Written by Himself (ed. 1902)