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PENN, William Quotes
(1644-1718), English Quaker and American colonist, founder of Pennsylvania
Always rise from the table with an appetite, and you will never sit down without one.
The tallest trees are most in the power of the winds, and ambitious men of the blasts of fortune.
How vilely has he lost himself who has become a slave to his servant, and exalts him to the dignity of his Maker!
Believe nothing against another but on good authority; and never report what may hurt another, unless it be a greater hurt to some other to conceal it.
Above all things endeavor to breed them up in the love of virtue, and that holy plain way of it which we have lived in, that the world in no part of it get into my family. I had rather they were homely, than finely bred as to outward behavior; yet I love sweetness mixed with gravity, and cheerfulness tempered with sobriety.
If a civil word or two will render a man happy, he must be a wretch, indeed, who will not give them to him.— Such a disposition is like lighting another man's candle by one's own, which loses none of its brilliancy by what the other gains.
It were endless to dispute upon everything that is disputable.
The country is both the philosopher's garden and his library, in which he reads and contemplates the power, wisdom, and goodness of God.
The only gratification a covetous man gives his neighbors, is, to let them see that he himself is as little better for what he has, as they are.
No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no crown.
Do not use thyself to dispute against thine own judgment to show thy wit, lest it prepare thee to be indifferent about what is right; nor against another man to vex him, or for mere trial of skill, since to inform or be informed ought to be the end of all conferences.
All excess is ill; but drunkenness is of the worst sort. It spoils health, dismounts the mind, and unmans men. It reveals secrets, is quarrelsome, lascivious, impudent, dangerous, and mad. He that is drunk is not a man, because he is void of reason that distinguishes a man from a beast.
He who is taught to live upon little owes more to his father's wisdom than he that has a great deal left him does to his father's care.
When thou art obliged to speak, be sure to speak the truth; for equivocation is half way to lying, and lying is the wnole way to hell.
To be a man's own fool is bad enough; but the vain man is everybody's.
Frugality is good if liberality be joined with it.—The first is leaving off superfluous expenses; the last is bestowing them for the benefit of those who need.—The first, without the last, begets covetousness; the last without the first begets prodigality.
Dislike what deserves it, but never hate, for that is of the nature of malice, which is applied to persons, not to things.
Sense shines with a double luster when it is set in humility. An able and yet humble man is a jewel worth a kingdom.
Sense shines with a double lustre when set in humility.
To be innocent is to be not guilty; but to be virtuous is to overcome our evil inclinations.
Interest has the security, though not the virtue of a principle.—As the world goes, it is the surest side; for men daily leave both relations and religion to follow it.
It were better to be of no church than to be bitter for any.
Justice is the insurance we have on our lives and property, and obedience is the premium we pay for it.
I expect to pass through life but once.—If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.
Kings, in this chiefly, should imitate God; their mercy should be above all their works.
Love, therefore, labor; if thou shouldst not want it for food, thou mayest for physic. It is wholesome to the body and good for the mind; it prevents the fruit of idleness.
Lend not beyond thy ability, nor refuse to lend out of thy ability; especially when it will help others more than it can hurt thee. If thy debtor be honest and capable, thou hast thy money again, if not with increase, with praise. If he prove insolvent do not ruin him to get that which it will not ruin thee to lose; for thou art but a steward, and another is thy owner, master, and judge.
Be rather bountiful than expensive; do good with what thou hast, or it will do thee no good.
Frugality is good, if liberality be joined with it. The first is leaving off superfluous expenses; the last bestowing them to the benefit of others that need. The first without the last begets covetousness; the last without the first begets prodigality. Both together make an excellent temper. Happy the place where that is found.
Nothing but a good life here can fit men for a better one hereafter.
The truest end of life is to know the life that never ends.
He that lives to live forever, never fears dying.
Love is the hardest lesson in Christianity; but, for that reason, it should be most our care to learn it.
Love is indeed heaven upon earth; since heaven above would not be heaven without it; for where there is not love, there is fear; but, "Perfect love casteth out fear." And yet we naturally fear most to offend what we most love.
It is the difference betwixt lust and love, that this is fixed, that volatile. Love grows, lust wastes, by enjoyment; and the reason is, that one springs from a union of souls, and the other springs from a union of sense.
When thou art obliged to speak, be sure to speak the truth; for equivocation is half way to lying, and lying is whole way to hell.
Never marry but for love; but see that thou lovest what is lovely.
Men are generally more careful of the breed of their horses and dogs than of their children.
Method goes far to prevent trouble in business; for it makes the task easy, hinders confusion, saves abundance of time, and instructs those who have business depending, what to do and what to hope.
How vilely he has lost himself who becomes a slave to his servant, and exalts him to the dignity of his Maker! Gold is the God, the wife, the friend of the money-monger of the world.
He that does good for good's sake, seeks neither praise nor reward, but he is sure of both in the end.
Some men do as much begrudge others a good name, as they want one themselves; and perhaps that is the reason of it.
It were happy if we studied nature more in natural things; and acted according to nature, whose rules are few, plain, and most reasonable.
A wise neuter joins with neither, but uses both as his honest interest leads him.
Five things are requisite to a good officer—ability, clean hands, despatch, patience, and impartiality.
In all things reason should prevail; it is quite another thing to be stiff, than to be steady in an opinion.
Excess in apparel is another costly folly.—The very trimming of the vain world would clothe all the naked ones.
Show is not substance; realities govern wise men.
Do what good thou canst unknown, and be not vain of what ought rather to be felt than seen.
Next to God, thy parents.
Passion may not unfitly be termed the mob of the man, that commits a riot on his reason.
Some are so very studious of learning what was done by the ancients, that they know not how to live with the moderns.
Avoid popularity; it has many snares, and no real benefit.
We are too careless of posterity, not considering that as they are so the next generation will be.
If we would amend the world we should mend ourselves and teach our children to be not what we are but what they should be.
The wisdom of nations lies in their proverbs, which are brief and pithy. Collect and learn them; they are notable measures of directions for human life; you have much in little; they save time in speaking; and upon occasion may be the fullest and safest answers.
All humble, meek, merciful, just, pious, and devout souls are everywhere of one religion, and when death has taken off the mask, they will know one another, though the divers liveries they wear make them strangers.
Religion is the fear and love of God; its demonstration is good works; and faith is the root of both, for without faith we cannot please God; nor can we fear and love what we do not believe.
All we have is the Almighty's, and shall not God have his own when he calls for it?
It is the amends of a short and troublesome life, that doing good and suffering ill entitles man to a longer and better.
There is truth and beauty in rhetoric; but it oftener serves ill turns than good ones.
We are very apt to be full of ourselves, instead of Him that made what we so much value, and but for whom we have no reason to value ourselves. For we have nothing that we can call our own, no, not ourselves; for we are all but tenants, and at will too, of the great Lord of ourselves, and of this great farm, the world that we live upon.
True silence is the rest of the mind, and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment. It is a great virtue; it covers folly, keeps secrets, avoids disputes, and prevents sin.
If thou wouldst conquer thy weakness thou must never gratify it.—No man is compelled to evil; only his consent makes it his.—It is no sin to be tempted; it is to yield and be overcome.
Believe nothing against another, but on good authority; nor report what may hurt another, unless it be a greater hurt to some other to conceal it.
Were the superfluities of a nation valued, and made a perpetual tax or benevolence, there would be more almshouses than poor, more schools than scholars, and enough to spare for government beside.
The receipts of cookery are swelled to a volume, but a good stomach excels them all; to which nothing contributes more than industry and temperance.
The smaller the drink the clearer the head and the cooler the blood, which are great benefits in temper and business.
God is better served in resisting a temptation to evil than in many formal prayers.
Man being made a reasonable, and so a thinking creature, there is nothing more worthy of his being, than the right direction and employment of his thoughts, since upon this depend both his usefulness to the public, and his own present and future benefit in all respects.
Time is what we want most, but what alas! we use worst.
To be a man's own fool is bad enough; but the vain man is everybody's.
To be innocent is to be not guilty; but to be virtuous is to overcome our evil feelings and intentions.
Content not thyself that thou art virtuous in the general; for one link being wanting, the chain is defective. Perhaps thou art rather innocent than virtuous, and owest more to thy constitution than to thy religion.
Hasty resolutions are of the nature of vows, and to be equally avoided.
That plenty should produce either covetousness or prodigality is a perversion of providence; and yet the generality of men are the worse for their riches.
Less judgment than wit, is more sail than ballast. Yet it must be confessed, that wit gives an edge to sense, and recommends it extremely.
Where judgment has wit to express it, there is the best orator.
To be furious in religion is to be irreligiously religious.
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