William Penn

“They have a right to censure that have a heart to help.”

“Death is but crossing the world, as friends do the seas; they live in one another still.”

“True silence is the rest of the mind, and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment.”

“Let the people think they govern and they will be governed.”

“Sense never fails to give them that have it, Words enough tomake them understood. It too often happens in some conversations,as in Apothecary Shops, that those Pots that are Empty, or haveThings of small Value in them, are as gaudily Dress'd as those thatare full of precious Drugs.They that soar too high, often fall hard, making a low and levelDwelling preferable. The tallest Trees are most in the Power of theWinds, and Ambitious Men of the Blasts of Fortune. Buildings haveneed of a good Foundation, that lie so much exposed to theWeather.”

“Men are generally more careful of the breed of their horses and dogs than of their children.”

“A good End cannot sanctify evil Means; nor must we ever do Evil, that Good may come of it.”

“In all debates, let truth be thy aim, not victory, or an unjust interest.”

“He that lives to live forever, never fears dying.”

“To be a man's own fool is bad enough, but the vain man is everybody's.”

“For death is no more than a turning of us over from time to eternity.”

“They that love beyond the world cannot be separated by it. Death cannot kill what never dies. Nor can spirits ever be divided, that love and live in the same divine principle, the root and record of their friendship. If absence be not death, neither is theirs. Death is but crossing the world, as friends do the seas; they live in one another still. For they must needs be present, that love and live in that which is omnipresent. In this divine glass they see face to face; and their converse is free, as well as pure. This is the comfort of friends, that though they may be said to die, yet their friendship and society are, in the best sense, ever present, because immortal.”

“He who is taught to live upon little owes more to his father's wisdom than he who has a great deal left him does to his father's care.”

“Rarely promise, but, if lawful, constantly perform.”

“Only trust thyself, and another shall not betray thee.”

“We are apt to love praise, but not deserve it. But if we would deserve it, we must love virtue more than that.”

“Between a man and his wife nothing ought to rule but love. Authority is for children and servants, yet not without sweetness.”

“Humility and knowledge in poor clothes excel pride and ignorance in costly attire.”

“I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore there be any kindness I can show...let me do it now.”

“Speak properly, and in as few words as you can, but always plainly; for the end of speech is not ostentation, but to be understood.”