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Inspirational Quotes by Benjamin Franklin

Browse 17 quotations connecting Benjamin Franklin with Inspirational, with meanings, source notes and related themes.

Sources

Where these inspirational quotations appear

Sources represented here include Poor Richard’s Almanack, Information to Those Who Would Remove to America, Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.

17 shown
Quotations

17 matching quotations with meanings and source context

Source identified1
Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

“Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.”

Resolution becomes useful only when followed by execution; the maxim links deliberate standards with the habit of carrying them through.

Source details

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Part II, thirteen-virtue table: Resolution. Project Gutenberg #148 (Charles W. Eliot / Harvard Classics, 1909) preserves the represented wording; the reviewed direct locator is Wikisource Section Thirty Six.

Source identified2
In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride.

“In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride.”

Franklin treats humility as a continuing discipline rather than a completed achievement: pride is difficult precisely because it can survive attempts to suppress it and can even attach itself to the appearance of modesty.

Source details

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Part II, Humility discussion near the close of the Passy 1784 continuation. Franklin reflects that pride survives attempts to suppress it and can attach itself even to apparent humility; the reviewed direct locator is Wikisource Section Thirty Nine.

Source identified3
America is the Land of Labour

“America is the Land of Labour”

Franklin rejects European fantasies of effortless prosperity in eighteenth-century North America, emphasizing that newcomers should expect productive labor rather than automatic wealth or patronage.

Source details

Information to Those Who Would Remove to America, before March 1784; Founders Online. This is historical emigration advice written for Europeans and is not a claim about present-day U.S. labor or immigration conditions.

Source identified4
he must work and be industrious to live.

“he must work and be industrious to live.”

Franklin tells prospective emigrants without inherited wealth that livelihood would depend on work and industry, directly countering expectations of effortless advancement after arrival.

Source details

Information to Those Who Would Remove to America, before March 1784; Founders Online. The lowercase opening is retained because this is a clause from Franklin’s longer sentence about strangers, law, liberty and industry.

Source identified5
every one will enjoy securely the Profits of his Industry.

“every one will enjoy securely the Profits of his Industry.”

Franklin presents secure enjoyment of earned returns as one advantage he associated with laws and liberty in the North America of his period.

Source details

Information to Those Who Would Remove to America, before March 1784; Founders Online. The statement is eighteenth-century description and advocacy, not modern financial, employment or immigration guidance.

Source identified6
Little strokes fell great oaks.

“Little strokes fell great oaks.”

Small repeated efforts can accomplish work that seems too large for a single burst of effort, making consistency itself a practical form of strength.

Source details

Poor Richard’s Almanack; a compact maxim about cumulative effort.

Source identified8
Diligence is the mother of good luck.

“Diligence is the mother of good luck.”

Persistent effort improves the odds of useful results because steady work creates more opportunities for progress than waiting for favorable circumstances.

Source details

Poor Richard’s Almanack; the maxim appears in Franklin’s collected Poor Richard material.

Source identified9
Drive thy business, or it will drive thee.

“Drive thy business, or it will drive thee.”

Work becomes harder to control when it is left unmanaged; the maxim favors deliberate direction, priorities, and active stewardship over reactive pressure.

Source details

Poor Richard’s Almanack; a compact maxim about managing work before accumulated demands begin managing you.

Source identified12
Employ thy time well, if thou meanest to gain leisure.

“Employ thy time well, if thou meanest to gain leisure.”

Leisure is easier to protect when working time is used deliberately, linking time management with freedom rather than treating organization as an end in itself.

Source details

Poor Richard’s Almanack; the maxim connects disciplined use of working time with the ability to gain leisure.

Source identified13
Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.

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

The proverb links routine and self-discipline with health, productivity, and practical judgment.

Source details

Poor Richard’s Almanack; proverb on routine, work and practical discipline.

Source identified15
Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.

“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.”

Time is treated as the substance from which life is built, so wasting it means spending something that cannot be recovered.

Source details

Poor Richard’s Almanack; the maxim connects the value of life directly with the use of time.

Source identified16
He that hath a trade hath an estate.

“He that hath a trade hath an estate.”

Voice: Authorial persona / framed maxim · Poor Richard maxim, repeated through Father Abraham

A useful skill or trade is treated as a durable asset because it can keep producing value even when stored wealth is limited.

Source details

The Way to Wealth, where Father Abraham repeats maxims associated with Poor Richard.

Source identified17
Never leave that till tomorrow, which you can do to-day.

“Never leave that till tomorrow, which you can do to-day.”

Voice: Authorial persona / framed maxim · Poor Richard maxim, repeated through Father Abraham

The maxim turns prompt action into a habit: work that can reasonably be completed now should not be needlessly transferred to an uncertain tomorrow.

Source details

The Way to Wealth; a Poor Richard maxim on delay and useful employment of time.

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