Fact Sheet

Ben Franklin: In His Own Words

Benjamin Franklin

Photo by B. Krist for GPTMC

PHILADELPHIA, January 3, 2006 - A thoughtful man of many ideas and opinions, Benjamin Franklin was the ultimate dispenser of advice in colonial America. Offering thoughts on money, marriage, health and hard work, among dozens of other topics, Franklin shared his philosophies for living in his newspapers, letters and, most frequently, in his annually published Poor Richard’s Almanack. Here’s a look at some of his words of wisdom:

Living Fully:

• One To-day is worth two To-morrows
• Lost Time is never found again
• Work as if you were to live 100 Years, Pray as if you were to die To-morrow
• Wish not so much to live long as to live well
• Dost thou love Life? then do not squander Time; for that’s the Stuff Life is made of

Knowing Yourself:

• Reading makes a full Man, Meditation a profound Man, discourse a clear Man
• How few there are who have courage enough to own their Faults, or resolution enough to mend them!
• Observe all men; thy self most
• He that falls in love with himself, will have no Rivals
• Think of three Things, whence you came, where you are going, and to whom you must account
• Neglect mending a small Fault, and ’twill soon be a great One
• Trust thy self, and another shall not betray thee
• Let our Fathers and Grandfathers be valued for their Goodness, ourselves for our own

Doing Good:

• The noblest question in the world is What Good may I do in it?
• Innocence is its own defence
• Would you live with ease, Do what you ought, and not what you please
• When you’re good to others, you are best to yourself
• Keep Conscience clear, Then never fear
• A good Example is the best sermon
• If you wou’d not be forgotten As soon as you are dead and rotten, Either write things worth reading, Or do things worth the writing.
• Engage the mind, save the public, improve society.

Family, Friends And Neighbors:

• Be slow in chusing a Friend, slower in changing
• Fish and Visitors stink in 3 days
• A true Friend is the best Possession
• Teach your child to hold his tongue, he’l learn fast enough to speak
• Let thy Child’s first Lesson be Obedience, and the second may be what thou wilt
• Don’t throw stones at your neighbours, if your own windows are glass

Diet, Food And Drink:

• Eat to live, and not live to eat
• He that spills the Rum, loses that only; He that drinks it, often loses both that and himself
• When the Wine enters, out goes the Truth
• To lengthen thy Life, lessen thy Meals

Hard Work, Business And Collaboration:

• No gains without pains
• Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy wealthy and wise
• No man e’er was glorious, who was not laborious
• God helps them that help themselves
• Diligence is the Mother of Good-Luck
• Drive thy business; let not that drive thee
• We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately
• The Good particular Men may do separately...is small, compared with what they may do collectively

Knowledge Or Lack Thereof:

• They that won’t be counselled, can’t be helped
• Experience keeps a dear school, yet Fools will learn in no other
• Success has ruin’d many a man
• Haste makes Waste
• Well done, is twice done
• Experience keeps a dear school, yet Fools will learn in no other
• There are lazy Minds as well as lazy Bodies
• Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being unwilling to learn

Money, Money, Money:

• He that is of Opinion Money will do every Thing, may well be suspected of doing every Thing for Money
• The Use of Money is all the Advantage there is in having Money
• If you’d know the Value of Money, go and borrow some

Emotionally Speaking:

• Three may keep a Secret, if two of them are dead
• When you speak to a man, look on his eyes; when he speaks to thee, look on his mouth
• Great Talkers, little Doers
• Well done is better than well said
• Silence is not always a Sign of Wisdom, But Babbling is ever a Mark of Folly
• As we must account for every idle word, so we must for every idle silence
• Anger is never without a Reason, but seldom with a good One
• Who is wise? He that learns from every One.
  Who is powerful? He that governs his Passions.
  Who is rich? He that is content.
  Who is that? Nobody.
• Nothing dries sooner than a Tear

Political Observations:

• There never was a good war, or a bad peace
• To serve the Publick faithfully, and at the same time please it entirely, is impracticable
• They who can give up essential Liberty to obtain a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety

On Philadelphia:

• ...I am determin’d to see Philadelphia...next Spring at farthest, if not sooner.
• I...anxiously desire once more the happy Society of my Friends and Family in Philadelphia.

Ben Franklin 300 Philadelphia is a year-long celebration of Benjamin Franklin’s 300th birthday, coordinated and marketed by the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary, the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, the National Constitution Center and CBS 3. Festivities will run from fall 2005 through 2006 and will focus on the world premiere of the international traveling exhibition, Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World at the National Constitution Center. The Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary, a non-profit organization, is supported by a lead grant of $4 million from The Pew Charitable Trusts and established to reaffirm Franklin’s enduring legacy in his 300th birthday year. The Tercentenary was founded in 2000 by the American Philosophical Society, The Franklin Institute, the Library Company of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the University of Pennsylvania. For more information about the exhibition, related programs and traveling to Philadelphia, visit www.gophila.com/ben.

Note to Editors: For photos of Greater Philadelphia, visit our Photo Gallery.

CONTACT:

Cara Schneider, GPTMC
(215) 599-0789, cara@gptmc.com