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I Have Thought That Wild Flowers Might Be The Alphabet Of Angels, — Whereby They Write On Hills And Fields Mysterious Truths, Which It Is Not Given Our Fallen Nature To Understand.

-Benjamin Franklin

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I Have Thought That

Benjamin Franklin

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I Have Thought That Wild Flowers Might Be The Alphabet Of Angels, — Whereby They Write On Hills And Fields Mysterious Truths, Which It Is Not Given Our Fallen Nature To Understand.

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A Full Belly Makes A Dull Brain: The Muses Starve In A Cook's Shop.

If You Want A Neat Wife, Choose Her On A Saturday.

Whether A Commonwealth Suffers More By Hypocritical Pretenders To Religion Or By The Openly Profane? The Most Dangerous Hypocrite In A Commonwealth Is One Who Leaves The Gospel For The Sake Of The Law. A Man Compounded Of Law And Gospel Is Able To Cheat A Whole Country With His Religion And Then Destroy Them Under Color Of Law.

If We Can Sleep Without Dreaming, It Is Well That Painful Dreams Are Avoided. If, While We Sleep, We Can Have Any Pleasing Dreams, It Is As The French Say, Tant Gagne, So Much Added To The Pleasure Of Life.

The Eye Of The Master Will Do More Work Than Both His Hands.

Be Not Niggardly Of What Costs Thee Nothing, As Courtesy, Counsel, & Countenance.

Pride That Dines On Vanity, Sups On Contempt.

In My Youth, I Traveled Much, And I Observed In Different Countries, That The More Public Provisions Were Made For The Poor, The Less They Provided For Themselves, And Of Course Became Poorer. And, On The Contrary, The Less Was Done For Them, The More They Did For Themselves, And Became Richer.

Little Rogues Easily Become Great Ones.

The Worst Wheel Of The Cart Makes The Most Noise.

Be Not Disturbed At Trifles, Or At Accidents Common Or Unavoidable.

Freedom Of Speech Is The Great Bulwark Of Liberty; They Prosper And Die Together: And It Is The Terror Of Traitors And Oppressors, And A Barrier Against Them. It Produces Excellent Writers, And Encourages Men Of Fine Genius.

Freedom Of Speech

Distrust And Caution Are The Parents Of Security.

When Confronted With Two Courses Of Action I Jot Down On A Piece Of Paper All The Arguments In Favor Of Each One, Then On The Opposite Side I Write The Arguments Against Each One. Then By Weighing The Arguments Pro And Con And Cancelling Them Out, One Against The Other, I Take The Course Indicated By What Remains.

If Time Be Of All Things The Most Precious, Wasting Time Must Be, As Poor Richard Says, “the Greatest Prodigality'; Since, As He Elsewhere Tells Us, 'lost Time Is Never Found Again'; And 'what We Call Time Enough Always Proves Little Enough'. Let Us Then Up And Be Doing, And Doing To The Purpose; So By Diligence Shall We Do More With Less Perplexity.

Those Disputing, Contradicting, And Confuting People Are Generally Unfortunate In Their Affairs. They Get Victory, Sometimes, But They Never Get Good Will, Which Would Be Of More Use To Them.

My List Of Virtues Contain'd At First But Twelve: But A Quaker Friend Having Kindly Inform'd Me That I Was Generally Thought Proud; That My Pride Show'd Itself Frequently In Conversation; That I Was Not Content With Being In The Right When Discussing Any Point, But Was Overbearing & Rather Insolent; Of Which He Convinc'd Me By Mentioning Several Instances; - I Determined Endeavouring To Cure Myself ..., And I Added Humility To My List, Giving An Extensive Meaning To The Word.

In Reality, There Is, Perhaps, No One Of Our Natural Passions So Hard To Subdue As Pride. Disguise It, Struggle With It, Beat It Down, Stifle It, Mortify It As Much As One Pleases, It Is Still Alive, And Will Every Now And Then Peep Out And Show Itself; You Will See It, Perhaps, Often In This History; For, Even If I Could Conceive That I Had Completely Overcome It, I Should Probably Be Proud Of My Humility.

Nothing Is More Fatal To Health Than An Over Care Of It.

Do Good To Your Friends To Keep Them, To Your Enemies To Win Them.

Keep Flax From Fire, And Youth From Gaming.

Praise To The Undeserving Is Severe Satire.

Sloth, Like Rust, Consumes Faster Than Labor Wears, While The Used Key Is Always Bright.

Force Shites Upon Reason's Back.

Constant Complaint Is The Poorest Sort Of Pay For All The Comforts We Enjoy.

It Is The First Responsibility Of Every Citizen To Question Authority.

A Ship Under Sail And A Big-bellied Woman, Are The Handsomest Two Things That Can Be Seen Common.

Half-wits Talk Much, But Say Little.

No Employment Can Be Managed Without Arithmetic, No Mechanical Invention Without Geometry.

He That Can Have Patience Can Have What He Will.

Lying Rides Upon Debt's Back.

An Iron Rod Being Placed On The Outside Of A Building From The Highest Part Continued Down Into The Moist Earth, In Any Direction Strait Or Crooked, Following The Form Of The Roof Or Other Parts Of The Building, Will Receive The Lightning At Its Upper End, Attracting It So As To Prevent It's Striking Any Other Part; And, Affording It A Good Conveyance Into The Earth, Will Prevent Its Damaging Any Part Of The Building.

Our Whole Life Is But A Greater And Longer Childhood.

I Would Advise You To Read With A Pen In Your Hand And Enter In A Little Book Short Hints Of What You Feel That Is Common Or That May Be Useful; For This Will Be The Best Method Of Imprinting Such Portcullis In Your Memory.

Do Well By Doing Good.

I Think Also, That General Virtue Is More Probably To Be Expected And Obtained From The Education Of Youth, Than From Exhortations Of Adult Persons; Bad Habits And Vices Of The Mind Being, Like Diseases Of The Body, More Easily Prevented Than Cured. I Think Moreover, That Talents For The Education Of Youth Are The Gift Of God; And That He On Whom They Are Bestowed, Whenever A Way Is Opened For Use Of Them, Is As Strongly Called As If He Heard A Voice From Heaven.

Scarcely Have I Ever Heard Or Read The Introductory Phrase, "i May Say Without Vanity," But Some Striking And Characteristic Instance Of Vanity Has Immediately Followed.

Men Take More Pains To Mask Than Mend.

He That Won't Be Counseled Can't Be Helped.

When A Religion Is Good, I Conceive It Will Support Itself; And When It Does Not Support Itself, And God Does Not Take Care To Support It So That Its Professors Are Obliged To Call For Help Of The Civil Power, 'tis A Sign, I Apprehend, Of Its Being A Bad One.

Rather Go To Bed With Out Dinner Than To Rise In Debt.

The Way To Be Safe Is Never To Be Secure.

Great Modesty Often Hides Great Merit.

Tis A Common Observation Here That Our Cause Is The Cause Of All Mankind, And That We Are Fighting For Their Liberty In Defending Our Own.

Trouble Springs From Idleness, And Grievous Toil From Needless Ease.

There Is Much Money Given To Be Laughed At, Though The Purchasers Don't Know It; Witness A.'s Fine Horse, And B.'s Fine House.

Who Judges Best Of A Man, His Enemies Or Himself?

Experience Keeps A Dear School, But Fools Will Learn In No Other, And Scarce In That; For It Is True We May Give Advice, But We Cannot Give Conduct.

The Greatest Inventions Are Those Inquiries Which Tend To Increase The Power Of Man Over Matter.

When About 16 Years Of Age, I Happened To Meet With A Book Written By One Tryon, Recommending A Vegetable Diet. I Determined To Go Into It.... My Refusing To Eat Flesh Occasioned An Inconveniency, And I Was Frequently Chid For My Singularity.

Seek Virtue And Of That Posest, To Providence Resign The Rest.

Virtues, Of ... Moderation: Avoid Extremes. Forbear Resenting Injuries So Much As You Think They Deserve.

Great Good Nature Without Prudence Is A Great Misfortune.

The Best Is The Cheapest.

I Made The Greater Progress, From That Clearness Of Head And Quicker Apprehension Which Generally Attend Temperance In Eating And Drinking.

People Willing To Trade Their Freedom For Temporary Security Deserve Neither And Will Lose Both.

Security And Freedom

Forewarn'd, Forearm'd.

Wars Are Not Paid For In Wartime. The Bill Comes Later.

All Human Situations Have Their Inconveniences. We Feel Those Of The Present But Neither See Nor Feel Those Of The Future; And Hence We Often Make Troublesome Changes Without Amendment, And Frequently For The Worse.

In This World Nothing Can Be Said To Be Certain, Except Death And Taxes.

Industry Pays Debts, While Despair Increases Them.

So Much For Industry, My Friends, And Attention To One's Own Business; But To These We Must Add Frugality If We Would Make Our Industry More Certainly Successful. A Man May, If He Knows Not How To Save As He Gets, Keep His Nose All His Life To The Grindstone, And Die Not Worth A Grout At Last.

There's No Gain, Without Pain.

Hunger Never Saw Bad Bread.

The English Love An Insult. It's Their Only Test Of A Man's Sincerity.

Fear God, And Your Enemies Will Fear You.

In General, Mankind, Since The Improvement Of Cookery, Eats Twice As Much As Nature Requires.

It Is A Strange Anomaly That Men Could Be Careful To Insure Their Houses, Their Ships, Their Merchandise, And Yet Neglect To Insure Their Lives - Surely The Most Important Of All To Their Families, And More Subject To Loss.

Take Counsel In Wine, But Resolve Afterwards In Water.

In Short, I Conceive That Great Part Of The Miseries Of Mankind Are Brought Upon Them By The False Estimates They Have Made Of The Value Of Things, And By Their Giving Too Much For Their Whistles.

What I Am To Be, I Am Now Becoming.

Fond Pride Of Dress Is Sure A Very Curse

Never Confuse Motion With Action.

Snowy Winter, A Plentiful Harvest.

Many Complain Of Their Memory, Few Of Their Judgment.

We Are Not Certain, We Are Never Certain. If We Were We Could Reach Some Conclusions, And We Could, At Last, Make Others Take Us Seriously. In This World Nothing Can Be Said To Be Certain, Except Death And Taxes.

Much Virtue In Herbs, Little In Men.

Gentlemen, I Have Lived A Long Time And Am Convinced That God Governs In The Affairs Of Men. If A Sparrow Cannot Fall To The Ground Without His Notice, Is It Probable That An Empire Can Rise Without His Aid? I Move That Prayer Imploring The Assistance Of Heaven Be Held Every Morning Before We Proceed To Business.

A Man May, If He Knows Not How To Save As He Gets, Keep His Nose To The Grindstone.

When You Get Into A Tight Place And Everything Goes Against You, Till It Seems As Though You Could Not Hold On A Minute Longer, Never Give Up Then, For That Is Just The Place And Time That The Tide Will Turn. When You're Down To Nothing, God Is Up To Something. The Faithful See The Invisible, Believe The Incredible And Then Receive The Impossible. Where Liberty Dwells There Is My Country.

Mankind Are Dastardly When They Meet With Opposition.

The Foundation Of All Happiness In Thinking Rightly.

Beauty And Folly Are Old Companions.

By Diligence And Patience, The Mouse Bit In Two The Cable.

Perhaps I'm Too Saucy Or Provoking?

Men's Minds Do Not Die With Their Bodies But Are Made More Happy Or Miserable After This Life According To Their Actions.

A Man Separated From His Reflective Belt Is No Man At All.

This Gave Me Occasion To Observe, That When Men Are Employ'd They Are Best Contented. For On The Days They Work'd They Were Good-natur'd And Chearful; And With The Consciousness Of Having Done A Good Days Work They Spent The Evenings Jollily; But On The Idle Days They Were Mutinous And Quarrelsome, Finding Fault With Their Pork, The Bread, And In Continual Ill-humour. (autobiography, 1771)

If Passion Drives You, Let Reason Hold The Reins.

If Any Form Of Government Is Capable Of Making A Nation Happy, Ours I Think Bids Fair Now For Producing That Effect. But After All Much Depends Upon The People Who Are Governed.

The Punishment Of Murder By Death Is Contrary To Reason, And To The Order And Happiness Of Society, And Contrary To Divine Revelation.

Divine Revelation

Neither A Fortress Nor A Maidenhead Will Hold Out Long After They Begin To Parley.

Many A Long Dispute Among Divines May Be Thus Abridged: It Is So; It Is Not So. It Is So; It Is Not So.

A Full Belly Is The Mother Of All Evil.

The Tongue Offends And The Ears Get The Cuffing

Nothing Is So Tiresome To One's Self, As Well As So Odious To Others, As Disguise And Affectation.

The Happy State Of Matrimony Is, Undoubtedly, The Surest And Most Lasting Foundation Of Comfort And Love . . . The Cause Of All Good Order In The World, And What Alone Preserves It From The Utmost Confusion.

In The Dark, All Cats Are Grey.

Lose No Time; Be Always Employed In Something Useful.

Moral Perfection

I Am On This Account Not Displeased That The Figure Is Not Known As A Bald Eagle, But Looks More Like A Turkey. For The Truth The Turkey Is In Comparison A Much More Respectable Bird, And Withal A True Original Native Of America... He Is Besides, Though A Little Vain & Silly, A Bird Of Courage, And Would Not Hesitate To Attack A Grenadier Of The British Guards Who Should Presume To Invade His Farm Yard With A Red Coat On.

Behold The Rain Which Descends From Heaven Upon Our Vineyards; There It Enters The Roots Of The Vines, To Be Changed Into Wine; A Constant Proof That God Loves Us, And Loves To See Us Happy.

Moses Lifting Up His Wand, And Dividing The Red Sea, And Pharaoh In His Chariot Overwhelmed With The Waters. This Motto: "rebellion To Tyrants Is Obedience To God."

A Change Of Fortune Hurts A Wise Man No More Than A Change Of The Moon.

When Men And Woman Die, As Poets Sung, His Heart's The Last Part Moves, Her Last, The Tongue.

Display Is As False As It Is Costly.

Wine Is Constant Proof That God Loves Us And Likes To See Us Happy.

Eat Not To Dullness, Drink Not To Elevation.

Self Improvement

The Moral And Religious System Which Jesus Christ Transmitted To Us Is The Best The World Has Ever Seen, Or Can See.

Those Who Prefer Security To Liberty Deserve Neither.

I Know As Well As Thee That I Am No Poet Born It Is A Trade, I Never Learnt Nor Indeed Could Learn If I Make Verses-'tis In Spite Of Nature And My Stars I Write.

It Is Observable That God Has Often Called Men To Places Of Dignity And Honor When They Have Been Busy In The Honest Employment Of Their Vocation.

Graft Good Fruit All, Or Graft Not At All.

If You Ride A Horse, Sit Close And Tight, If You Ride A Man, Sit Easy And Light.

...it Is Prodigious The Quantity Of Good That May Be Done By One Man If He Will Make A Business Of It.

Do You Sincerely Declare That You Love Mankind In General, Of What Profession Or Religion Soever? Do You Think Any Person Ought To Be Harmed In His Body, Name, Or Goods, For Mere Speculative Opinions, Or His External Way Of Worship? Do You Love Truth For Truth's Sake; And Will You Endeavor Impartially To Find And Receive It Yourself, And Communicate It To Others.

He That Would Live In Peace And At Ease, Must Not Speak All He Knows Nor Judge All He Sees.

Self Improvement

La Pereza Anda Tan Despacio Que La Pobreza No Tarda En Alcanzarla.

She Laughs At Everything You Say. Why? Because She Has Fine Teeth.

Handle Your Tools Without Mittens.

Get What You Can, And What You Get Hold; 'tis The Stone That Will Turn All Your Lead Into Gold.

Some Make Conscience Of Wearing A Hat In The Church, Who Make None Of Robbing The Altar.

The Best Of All Medicines Is Resting And Fasting

He That Lives Well, Is Learned Enough.

I Have So Much Faith In The General Government Of The World By Providence That I Can Hardly Conceive A Transaction Of Such Momentous Importance [as The Framing Of The Constitution] ... Should Be Suffered To Pass Without Being In Some Degree Influenced, Guided, And Governed By That Omnipotent, Omnipresent, And Beneficent Ruler In Whom All Inferior Spirits Live And Move And Have Their Being.

Here Comes The Orator With His Flood Of Words And His Drop Of Reason.

Repeal That [welfare] Law, And You Will Soon See A Change In Their Manners. ... Six Days Shalt Thou Labor, Though One Of The Old Commandments Long Treated As Out Of Date, Will Again Be Looked Upon As A Respectable Precept; Industry Will Increase, And With It Plenty Among The Lower People; Their Circumstances Will Mend, And More Will Be Done For Their Happiness By Inuring Them To Provide For Themselves, Than Could Be Done By Dividing All Your Estates Among Them.

Hereafter, If You Should Observe An Occasion To Give Your Officers And Friends A Little More Praise Than Is Their Due, And Confess More Fault Than You Can Justly Be Charged With, You Will Only Become The Sooner For It, A Great Captain.

I Believe That Man Is Not The Most Perfect Being But One, Rather That As There Are Many Degrees Of Beings His Inferiors, So There Are Many Degrees Of Beings Superior To Him.

An Old Young Man, Will Be A Young Old Man.

No Man Ought To Own More Property Than Needed For His Livelihood; The Rest, By Right, Belonged To The State.

What Is Without Us Has No Connection With Happiness, Only So Far As The Preservation Of Our Lives And Health Depends Upon It. . . . Happiness Springs Immediately From The Mind.

Search Others For Their Virtues, Thyself For Thy Vices.

Private Property ... Is A Creature Of Society, And Is Subject To The Calls Of That Society, Whenever Its Necessities Shall Require It, Even To Its Last Farthing, Its Contributors Therefore To The Public Exigencies Are Not To Be Considered A Benefit On The Public, Entitling The Contributors To The Distinctions Of Honor And Power, But As The Return Of An Obligation Previously Received, Or As Payment For A Just Debt.

It Is Wonderful How Preposterously The Affairs Of The World Are Managed. We Assemble Parliaments And Councils To Have The Benefit Of Collected Wisdom, But We Necessarily Have, At The Same Time, The Inconvenience Of Their Collected Passions, Prejudices And Private Interests: For Regulating Commerce An Assembly Of Great Men Is The Greatest Fool On Earth

I Cannot Conceive Otherwise Than That He, The Infinite Father, Expects Or Requires No Worship Or Praise From Us, But That He Is Even Infinitely Above It.

A Single Man Has Not Nearly The Value He Would Have In A State Of Union. He Is An Incomplete Animal. He Resembles The Odd Half Of A Pair Of Scissors.

A Brother May Not Be A Friend, But A Friend Will Always Be A Brother.

They That Can Give Up Essential Liberty To Purchase A Little Temporary Safety, Deserve Neither Liberty Nor Safety.

Security And Freedom

A Great Empire, Like A Great Cake, Is Most Easily Diminished At The Edges.

A [desire] To Abolish Slavery Prevails In North America, Many Of The Pennsylvanians Have Set Their Slaves At Liberty, And [virginia Legislators] Have Petitioned The King For Permission To Make A Law For Preventing The Importation Of More [slaves] Into That Colony. This Request, However, Will Probably Not Be Granted, As Their Former Laws Of That Kind Have Always Been Repealed.

The Cunning Man Steals A Horse, The Wise Man Lets Him Alone.

God Will Certainly Reward Virtue And Punish Vice, Either Here Or Hereafter.

Grief For A Dead Wife, And A Troublesome Guest, Continues To The Threshold, And There Is At Rest; But I Mean Such Wives As Are None Of The Best

You Cannot Always Run From A Weakness. You Must Sometime Fight It Out Or Perish.

If You Can't Pay For A Thing, Don't Buy It. If You Can't Get Paid For It, Don't Sell It. Do This, And You Will Have Calm And Drowsy Nights, With All Of The Good Business You Have Now And None Of The Bad. If You Have Time, Don't Wait For Time.

Mary's Mouth Cost Her Nothing For She Never Opens It But At Others' Expense.

Eyes And Priests Bear No Jests.

There's Many Witty Men Whose Brains Can't Fill Their Bellies.

Is There Anything Men Take More Pains About Than To Render Themselves Unhappy?

Let Every One Ascertain His Special Business And Calling, And Then Stick To It If He Wants To Be Successful.

Dost Thou Love Life? Then Do Not Squander Time, For That Is The Stuff Life Is Made Of.

That Which Hurts, Also Instructs.

If Thou Hast Wit And Learning, Add To It Wisdom And Modesty.

All Would Live Long, But None Would Be Old.

Women And Wine, Game And Deceit, Make The Wealth Small, And The Want Great

Fear To Do Ill, And You Need Fear Else.

If By The Liberty Of The Press Were Understood Merely The Liberty Of Discussing The Propriety Of Public Measures And Political Opinions, Let Us Have As Much Of It As You Please: But If It Means The Liberty Of Affronting, Calumniating And Defaming One Another, I, For My Part, Own Myself Willing To Part With My Share Of It, Whenever Our Legislators Shall Please So To Alter The Law And Shall Chearfully Consent To Exchange My Liberty Of Abusing Others For The Privilege Of Not Being Abused Myself.

Political Opinions

The Borrower Is A Slave To The Lender And The Debtor To The Creditor.

People Want To Catch A Buzz. That Is Why Drugs Are Illegal, Yet People Still Try To Get Their Hands On Them No Matter What The Consequence. Drugs Make Us Happy, They May Not Be Healthy.

Singularity In The Right Hath Ruined Many; Happy Those Who Are Convinced Of The General Opinion.

Families Ought To Be Noisy.

Watch The Pennies And The Dollars Will Take Care Of Themselves.

In New England They Once Thought Blackbirds Useless, And Mischievous To The Corn. They Made Efforts To Destroy Them. The Consequence Was, The Blackbirds Were Diminished; But A Kind Of Worm, Which Devoured Their Grass, And Which The Blackbirds Used To Feed On, Increased Prodigiously; Then, Finding Their Loss In Grass Much Greater Than Their Saving In Corn, They Wished Again For Their Blackbirds.

He That's Secure Is Not Safe.

That There Is One God, Who Made All Things. That He Governs The World By His Providence. That He Might Be Worshipped By Adoration, Prayer, And Thanksgiving. But That The Most Acceptable Service Of God Is Doing Good To Man. That The Soul Is Immortal. And That God Will Certainly Reward Virtue And Punish Vice, Either Here Or Hereafter.

Beer Is God's Way Of Telling Us That He Loves Us And Wants Us To Be Happy.

Despair Ruins Some, Presumption Many.

To Find Out A Girl's Faults, Praise Her To Her Girlfriends.

The Ordaining Of Laws In Favor Of One Part Of The Nation, To The Prejudice And Oppression Of Another, Is Certainly The Most Erroneous And Mistaken Policy. An Equal Dispensation Of Protection, Rights, Privileges, And Advantages, Is What Every Part Is Entitled To, And Ought To Enjoy.

A Virtuous And Industrious People May Be Cheaply Governed.

I Am A Mortal Enemy To Arbitrary Government And Unlimited Power.

Man Will Ultimately Be Governed By God Or By Tyrants.

No Nation Has Ever Been Ruined By Trade.

Be In General Virtuous, And You Will Be Happy.

When You Taste Honey, Remember Gall.

I Didn't Fail The Test, I Just Found 100 Ways To Do It Wrong.

A Life Of Leisure And A Life Of Laziness Are Two Things. There Will Be Sleeping Enough In The Grave.

Who Is Wise? He That Learns From Everyone. Who Is Powerful? He That Governs His Passions. Who Is Rich? He That Is Content. Who Is That? Nobody.

Some Men Grow Mad By Studying Much To Know, But Who Grows Mad By Studying Good To Grow.

You May Delay, But Time Will Not.

Laws Without Morals Are In Vain.

One Of The Advantages Of Being A 'reasonable Creature' Is That One Can Find A Reason For Whatever One Wants To Do.

The Apostle Paul Very Seriously Advised Timothy To Put Some Wine In His Water For Health's Sake, But Not One Of The Apostles Nor Any Of The Holy Fathers Have Ever Recommended Putting Water In Wine

The Only Thing That Is More Expensive Than Education Is Ignorance.

Perhaps The History Of The Errors Of Mankind, All Things Considered, Is More Valuable And Interesting Than That Of Their Discoveries. Truth Is Uniform And Narrow; It Constantly Exists, And Does Not Seem To Require So Much An Active Energy, As A Passive Aptitude Of The Soul In Order To Encounter It. But Error Is Endlessly Diversified; It Has No Reality, But Is The Pure And Simple Creation Of The Mind That Invents It. In This Field The Soul Has Room Enough To Expand Herself, To Display All Her Boundless Faculties, And All Her Beautiful And Interesting Extravagancies And Absurdities.

I Have Lived, Sir, A Long Time And The Longer I Live, The More Convincing Proofs I See Of This Truth -- That God Governs In The Affairs Of Men. And If A Sparrow Cannot Fall To The Ground Without His Notice, Is It Probable That An Empire Can Rise Without His Aid? We Have Been Assured, Sir, In The Sacred Writings That "except The Lord Build They Labor In Vain That Build It." I Firmly Believe This; And I Also Believe That Without His Concurring Aid We Shall Succeed In This Political Building No Better Than The Builders Of Babel

The Madness Of Mobs Or The Insolence Of Soldiers, Or Both, When Too Near To Each Other, Occasion Some Mischief.

The Busy Man Has Few Idle Visitors; To The Boiling Pot The Flies Come Not.

That The Vegetable Creation Should Restore The Air Which Is Spoiled By The Animal Part Of It, Looks Like A Rational System, And Seems To Be Of A Piece With The Rest.

Genius Is Nothing But A Greater Aptitude For Patience.

Do You Love Life? Then Don't Waste Time, Because Time Is Life!

Time Management

I Wish It (christianity) Were More Productive Of Good Works ... I Mean Real Good Works ... Not Holy Day Keeping, Sermon-hearing ... Or Making Long Prayers, Filled With Flatteries And Compliments Despised By Wise Men, And Much Less Capable Of Pleasing The Deity.

A Child Thinks 20 Shillings And 20 Years Can Never Be Spent.

Scarcely Was I Arrived At Fifteen Years Of Age, When, After Having Doubted In Turn Of Different Tenets, According As I Found Them Combated In The Different Books That I Read, I Began To Doubt Of Revelation Itself.

The World Is Full Of Fools And Faint Hearts; And Yet Everyone Has Courage Enough To Bear The Misfortunes, And Wisdom Enough To Manage The Affairs, Of His Neighbor.

Kill No More Pigeons Than You Can Eat.

He That Is Good For Making Excuses Is Seldom Good For Anything Else.

Grace Thou Thy House And Let Not That Grace Thee.

If You Have A Secret And Tell Someone Everyone Will Know. You Can Only Keep A Secret If You Don't Tell Anyone.

Success Has Ruin'd Many A Man.

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