“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”

— Benjamin Franklin, Reply to the Governor, Pennsylvania Assembly (11 November 1755)

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.”

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

“It is unlikely that the good of a snail should reside in its shell: so is it likely that the good of a man should?”

“In theory there is nothing to hinder our following what we are taught; but in life there are many things to draw us aside.”

“If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men's cottages princes' palaces.”

“That which makes the man no worse than he was makes his life no worse: it has no power to harm, without or within.”

“Always take the short cut; and that is the rational one. Therefore say and do everything according to soundest reason.”