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Benjamin Franklin Quotes About Wisdom

Browse 10 quotations connecting Benjamin Franklin with Wisdom, with meanings, source notes and related themes.

Sources

Where these wisdom quotations appear

Sources represented here include Poor Richard’s Almanack, Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, The Way to Wealth.

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Quotations

10 matching quotations with meanings and source context

Source identified1
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 identified5
Creditors have better memories than debtors.

“Creditors have better memories than debtors.”

Debt can feel less urgent to the borrower than to the person awaiting repayment, making the line a dry reminder about financial obligations and accountability.

Source details

Poor Richard’s Almanack for 1736; Franklin uses a short contrast to emphasize the persistence of financial obligations.

Source identified7
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 identified8
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 identified9
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 identified10
Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.

“Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.”

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

Small recurring costs can matter more than they appear individually, so careful attention to minor spending is part of long-term financial discipline.

Source details

The Way to Wealth; Father Abraham repeats the Poor Richard maxim while warning about small but cumulative expenses.

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