William Penn

Force may subdue, but love gains, and he that forgives first wins the laurel.

Friendship . . . is an Union of Spirits, a Marriage of Hearts, and the Bond thereof Vertue.

It were endless to dispute upon everything that is disputable.

A good end cannot sanctify evil means; nor must we ever do evil that good may come of it.

If thou wouldst rule well, thou must rule for God; and to do that, thou must be ruled by him who has given to kings his grace to command themselves and their subjects, and to the people the grace to obey God and their kings.

Zeal ever follows an appearance of truth, and the assured are too apt to be warm; but it is their weak side in argument; zeal being better shown against sin than persons, or their mistakes.

The world is like a grand staircase, some are going up and some are going down.

Hell is paved with good intentions, not with bad ones. All men mean well.

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.

Don’t order any black things. Rejoice in his memory; and be radiant: leave grief to the children. Wear violet and purple. Be patient with the poor people who will snivel: they don’t know; and they think they will live for ever, which makes death a division instead of a bond.

In the word of no master am I bound to believe.

Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail.

Faith keeps many doubts in her pay. If I could not doubt, I should not believe.

Coal is a portable climate. It carries the heat of the tropics to Labrador and the polar circle; and it is the means of transporting itself whithersoever it is wanted. Watt and Stephenson whispered in the ear of mankind their secret, that a half-ounce of coal will draw two tons a mile, and coal carries coal, by rail and by boat, to make Canada as warm as Calcutta, and with its comfort brings its industrial power.

Revenge is the act of passion, vengeance is an act of justice.

Subdue your passion or it will subdue you.

Love of beauty is taste. The creation of beauty is art.

A little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men’s minds about to religion.

Nothing is more hopeless than a scheme of merriment.

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

The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.