“If a man could half his wishes he would double his troubles.”

— Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack (1752)

About Benjamin Franklin

1706 – 1790

American statesman, scientist, printer and writer, who published 'Poor Richard's Almanack' for many years.

“Well done is better than well said.”

“Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”

“Thou canst not joke an Enemy into a Friend; but thou may'st a Friend into an Enemy.”

“What a strange machine man is! You fill him with bread, wine, fish, and radishes, and out comes sighs, laughter, and dreams.”

“The older I grow, the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom.”

“Wit is cultured insolence.”

“Your race, in its poverty, has unquestionably one really effective weapon—laughter.”

“A sense of humour is a sense of proportion.”

“My way of joking is to tell the truth. It's the funniest joke in the world.”