QuotesBenjamin Franklin quotes
Benjamin Franklin (1706 to 1790) was an American printer, scientist, inventor and statesman. From 1732 to 1758 he published Poor Richard's Almanack, a yearly booklet filled with short sayings on thrift and hard work. Many were older proverbs that he polished.
From Poor Richard's Almanack
Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's AlmanackWell done is better than well said.
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's AlmanackLittle strokes fell great oaks.
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's AlmanackLost time is never found again.
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's AlmanackGod helps them that help themselves.
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's AlmanackDiligence is the mother of good luck.
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's AlmanackHaste makes waste.
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's AlmanackOne today is worth two tomorrows.
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's AlmanackA small leak will sink a great ship.
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's AlmanackEat to live, and not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's AlmanackThree may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's AlmanackHe that lies down with dogs, shall rise up with fleas.
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's AlmanackFish and visitors stink in three days.
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's AlmanackKeep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards.
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's AlmanackLove your neighbour; yet don't pull down your hedge.
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's AlmanackEither write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack
From his letters and essays
Remember that time is money.
Benjamin Franklin, Advice to a Young Tradesman (1748)An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Benjamin Franklin, The Pennsylvania Gazette, 1735There never was a good war or a bad peace.
Benjamin Franklin, Letter to Josiah Quincy, 1783In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.
Benjamin Franklin, Letter to Jean-Baptiste Le Roy, 1789
Nothing matches. Try a shorter word, or choose All.
What Poor Richard's Almanack was
An almanack was a small yearly booklet with a calendar, weather guesses, tide tables and odd bits of advice. Franklin's sold in great numbers in the American colonies. In the blank spaces between the dates he printed short sayings under the name of "Richard Saunders", a poor and henpecked stargazer he had invented. In 1758 he gathered the best sayings about work and thrift into one speech, later reprinted around the world as The Way to Wealth.
Franklin's own or older?
Franklin said openly that many of the sayings were not his own invention: he collected proverbs from older English books and sharpened them. "God helps them that help themselves" and "Haste makes waste" were proverbs before he printed them. What he added was economy. His versions are usually shorter and easier to remember than the ones he found, which is why they survived under his name. On this page "Poor Richard's Almanack" tells you where the wording comes from, not that the idea was born there.
Using these lines
- For a talk on saving and spending: "A small leak will sink a great ship" and "Remember that time is money".
- For study habits: "Little strokes fell great oaks" and "Lost time is never found again".
- For a prize day: "Well done is better than well said".
- For a light moment: "Fish and visitors stink in three days", used kindly.
"Early to bed and early to rise" was written when "a man" was the usual way to say "a person". If you prefer, introduce it as Franklin's words and let the audience make the adjustment.
The man behind the sayings
Franklin was a printer by trade who retired early and gave the rest of his life to science and public service. He is remembered for his experiments with electricity and for the lightning rod, and he helped to draft the American Declaration of Independence in 1776. The famous sentence about death and taxes comes from a letter he wrote in French in 1789, a few months before he died.
Good to know
- Franklin gathered and reworded proverbs as well as writing new ones. "Poor Richard" is the name of the almanack's pretend author.