William Penn

If thou art clean and warm, it is sufficient; for more doth but rob the Poor, and please the Wanton.

Wear none of thine own Chains; but keep free, whilst thou art free.

Nothing does Reason more Right, than the Coolness of those that offer it: for Truth often suffers more by the heat of its defenders than from the arguments of its opposers.

Tis admirable to consider, how Powerful the Kings are, yet they move by the Breath of their People.

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.

Those people who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants.

It is not best that we should all think alike; it is a difference of opinion that makes horse races.

Great people are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any material force, that thoughts rule the world.

It is your character, and your character alone, that will make your life happy or unhappy.

For what are the classics but the noblest thoughts of man? They are the only oracles which are not decayed, and there are such answers to the most modern inquiry in them as Delphi and Dodona never gave. We might as well omit to study Nature because she is old.

Although personally I am quite content with existing explosives, I feel we must not stand in the path of improvement.

A myriad of men are born; they labor and sweat and struggle; …they squabble and scold and fight; they scramble for little mean advantages over each other; age creeps upon them; infirmities follow; …those they love are taken from them, and the joy of life is turned to aching grief. It comes at last-the only unpoisoned gift earth ever had for them-and they vanish from a world where they were of no consequence, …a world which will lament them a day and forget them forever.

Genius at first is little more than a great capacity for receiving discipline.

The true charm of pedestrianism does not lie in the walking, or in the scenery, but in the talking. The walking is good to time the movement of the tongue by, and to keep the blood and the brain stirred up and active; the scenery and the woodsy smells are good to bear in upon a man an unconscious and unobtrusive charm and solace to eye and soul and sense; but the supreme pleasure comes from the talk.

Antiquities are history defaced, or some remnants of history which have casually escaped the shipwreck of time.

We know there is intention and purpose in the universe, because there is intention and purpose in us.

The wonder is always new that any sane man can be a sailor.

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

Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment.

He who has a thousand friends has not a friend to spare. While he who has one enemy will meet him everywhere.

It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.