Benjamin Franklin
Traced to source
17 quotes we’ve traced to Benjamin Franklin
“Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none”
Verified“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of”
Verified“He that can have patience can have what he will”
Verified“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes”
Verified“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety”
Verified“Time is Money”
Verified“Energy and persistence conquer all things”
Attributed“A penny saved is a penny earned”
Disputed“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest”
Disputed“Be at War with Your Vices, at Peace with Your Neighbours, and Let Every New Year Find You a Better Person”
Disputed“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy”
Disputed“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail”
Disputed“Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch”
Disputed“Either write something worth reading or do something worth the writing”
Disputed“There is plenty of time to sleep in the grave”
Disputed“We need a revolution every 200 years”
Disputed“When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic”
DisputedNot actually Benjamin Franklin
Often misattributed to Benjamin Franklin
Famous lines widely pinned on Benjamin Franklin that we’ve traced to someone else.
“A penny saved is a penny earned”
actually Unknown — a traditional English proverb
“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest”
actually Unknown (19th-century American press)
“Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do”
actually Dale Carnegie
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail”
actually Anonymous (proverbial)
“Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch”
Anonymous (falsely credited to Benjamin Franklin)
“God helps those who help themselves”
actually Algernon Sidney
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”
actually Rita Mae Brown
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I may remember. Involve me and I learn”
actually Xunzi (Xun Kuang)
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”
actually Anonymous (12-step recovery fellowships)
“Those Who Love Deeply Never Grow Old”
actually Arthur Wing Pinero
“We do not stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing”
actually G. Stanley Hall
“We need a revolution every 200 years”
actually Unknown
“When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic”
Unknown — not Benjamin Franklin
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