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Who really said it

Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none

Written by Benjamin Franklin 1706–1790 · printer, scientist & Founding Father
Verified Free to reuse

Franklin printed this himself in ‘Poor Richard Improved’ for 1756, on the April calendar page — one of hundreds of one-line proverbs in the almanac. The wording is confirmed verbatim in Ford’s 1889 scholarly collection of the almanacs ↗ and catalogued by the Yale Papers of Benjamin Franklin ↗.

Last verified 7 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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“Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none” Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard Improved (almanac for 1756).

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Provenance

Where it really comes from

Work
Poor Richard Improved
Almanac for
the year 1756 (published late 1755)
Placed
on the April calendar page
Author
Benjamin Franklin, writing as ‘Richard Saunders’

Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; Friend to one; enemy to none.
Vain-glory flowereth, but beareth no Fruit. ↑ printed under April, immediately followed by “Vain-glory flowereth, but beareth no Fruit”

In the 1756 almanac the line sits on the April page, one of dozens of terse proverbs Franklin tucked between the calendar grid and the weather notes. The proverb that follows it — “Vain-glory flowereth, but beareth no Fruit” — is printed on the same page.

Poor Richard Improved, 1756 (Yale Papers, Founders Online)

How we traced it

Public domain

The text is public domain: it was printed in 1755–56 and Franklin died in 1790.

Context

Why it mattered

Poor Richard’s Almanack was Franklin’s bestseller and his soapbox: an annual almanac whose calendar pages he salted with pithy rules for living. Under the persona of the struggling astrologer “Richard Saunders,” Franklin sold tens of thousands of copies a year and, in the process, taught a young country its household philosophy of thrift, industry, and prudent sociability.

This little maxim is a graduated scale of intimacy — civility owed to everyone, sociability to many, closeness to a careful few, true friendship to one, and hostility to no one. It captures the cautious, networked temperament that Franklin practiced in business and diplomacy alike.

Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none.

On Franklin as compiler, not always originator

Franklin was candid that his proverbs were gleaned as much as invented. In the famous 1758 preface later called The Way to Wealth, he has Father Abraham quote “Poor Richard” while noting the sayings contained “the Wisdom of many Ages and Nations.” No specific pre-1756 source has been located for this particular line, but its balanced, aphoristic form is typical of the older conduct-book tradition Franklin drew on.

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Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Friendship Character

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Poor Richard Improved, 1756founders.archives.gov

The authoritative Yale Papers of Benjamin Franklin transcription of the 1756 almanac containing the maxim.
Prefaces, Proverbs & Poems of Franklin (1889)archive.org

Paul Leicester Ford’s public-domain collection of every Poor Richard proverb; the line appears verbatim on the “Poor Richard for 1756” page.
Poor Richard’s Almanacken.wikipedia.org

Background on Franklin’s almanac, its run (1733–1758), and the Richard Saunders persona.
Benjamin Franklinen.wikiquote.org

Curated list separating Franklin’s genuine, disputed, and misattributed quotations.

The true author

About Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin

1706–1790 · printer, scientist & Founding Father

Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) was a printer, scientist, and Founding Father who published Poor Richard’s Almanack under the pen name “Richard Saunders” from 1733 to 1758. Its calendar pages carried hundreds of one-line proverbs that Franklin wrote, sharpened, or adapted from older collections. He freely admitted the sayings gathered “the Wisdom of many Ages and Nations,” which is why several — this one included — have the polished ring of an inherited maxim.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source — Chicago

Benjamin Franklin [as Richard Saunders], Poor Richard Improved: Being an Almanack … for the Year … 1756 (Philadelphia: B. Franklin and D. Hall, 1755), April calendar page.

MLA (9th ed.)

Franklin, Benjamin. Poor Richard Improved: Being an Almanack … for the Year … 1756. B. Franklin and D. Hall, 1755.

APA (7th ed.)

Franklin, B. (1755). Poor Richard improved: Being an almanack … for the year … 1756. B. Franklin and D. Hall.

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Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none’?” Last verified 7 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/be-civil-to-all-sociable-to-many-familiar-with-few-friend

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