100+ Powerful Ben Franklin Freedom Quotes to Inspire & Share

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

"The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself."

"A republic, if you can keep it."

"It is the nature of war to increase the power of rulers and the taxes of subjects."

"Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom."

"Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature."

"He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression."

"In free governments, the rulers are the servants and the people their superiors and sovereigns."

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote."

"An armed society is a polite society."

"The more they restrict the people, the more the people will rise against them."

"Liberty depends on the energy of a free citizenry."

"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest."

"The doors of wisdom are never shut."

"Who has deceived thee? Has not thy own heart done so a thousand times?"

"Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing than he who believes what is wrong."

"To be humble to superiors is duty, to equals courtesy, to inferiors nobleness."

"Distrust and caution are the parents of security."

"He that falls into sin is a man; he that grieves at it, is a saint; he that boasts of it, is a devil."

"The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together."

"Let all new experiments be made with great caution."

"A learned blockhead is a greater fool than an ignorant one."

"Knowledge is power."

"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance."

"Responsibility shall follow wherever the privilege of voting is enjoyed."

"He that waits upon fortune is never sure of a dinner."

"God helps those who help themselves."

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

"The diligent spinner has a large shift; and now I have a sheep that belongs to me."

"Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labor wears."

"Lost time is never found again."

"Energy and persistence conquer all things."

"One today is worth two tomorrows."

"Industry pays debts, while despair increases them."

"At the working man's house hunger looks in but will not enter."

"Keep thy shop, and thy shop will keep thee."

"Truth will always prevail where there is no intention to deceive."

"Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead."

"Never speak ill of the dead."

"Lying rides upon debt's back."

"Fish and visitors stink in three days."

"He that speaks much, is much mistaken."

"Speak little, do much."

"It is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them."

"Remember, that time is money."

"Honesty is the best policy."

"The lips of the wise disperse knowledge: the lips of the foolish pour it out."

"A lie stands on one leg, while truth stands on two."

"We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."

"Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are."

"The noblest question in the world is What good may I do in it?"

"The eyes of others our prisons; their thoughts our cages."

"Well done is better than well said."

"Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man."

"Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom—and no such thing as public liberty."

"A small leak will sink a great ship."

"Public good is the great thing to be considered."

"He who lives upon hope will die fasting."

"The soul grows rich in giving."

"Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out."

"Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquility, Chastity, Humility."

"The corruptible man judges by favor or hate."

"The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal."

"Wish not so much to live long as to live well."

"There are three faithful friends—an old wife, an old dog, and ready money."

"Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half-shut afterwards."

"Love your enemies, for they tell you your faults."

"The best sermon is living well."

"Plough deep while sluggards sleep."

"He has changed his opinion—he has repented."

"A good example is the best sermon."

"He that respects not himself, deserves not respect from others."

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

"Tyranny begins when the government fears the people."

"When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty."

"No nation was ever ruined by trade."

"The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive."

"Rebellion against tyrants is obedience to God."

"A king’s power is absolute, but his authority is limited by law and custom."

"Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."

"Oppression makes wise men mad."

"Where liberty is, there is my country."

"Fear of punishment is the lowest motive of obedience."

"Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people."

"Freedom of speech is a principal pillar of liberty."

"Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech."

"Silence is sometimes an answer."

"He that talks much errs much."

"The tongue is the only instrument that gets sharper with use."

"The art of pleasing is the art of deceiving."

"Speak sincerely and from the heart."

"Great talkers are little doers."

"Keep silence, or say something better than silence."

"The ears grow more obedient than the tongue."

"Empty vessels make the most sound."

"He that respects not truth, deserves not credit."

"Necessity is the mother of invention."

"To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions."

"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason."

"Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other."

"He that has once done you kindness will be more ready to do you another than he whom you yourself have obliged."

"Diligence is the mother of good luck."

"Don't throw stones at your neighbors, if your own windows are glass."

"Keep your firewood piled high and dry."

"If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins."

"The used key is always bright."

"Fly pleasures, and they'll follow you."

"A place for everything, everything in its place."

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing."

"What is history? A fable agreed upon."

"If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing."

"Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."

"Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late."

"Man is a tool-using animal… Without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all."

"The only thing more expensive than education is ignorance."

"He that falls asleep in church may wake in hell."

"Time wasted is existence; used, is life."

"A full belly is the mother of all evil."

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

"The future is purchased by the present."