William Penn

It were better to be of no church, than to be bitter for any.

Every stroke our fury strikes is sure to hit ourselves at last.

Eat therefore to live, and do not live to eat.

Children had rather be making of Tools and Instruments of Play; Shaping, Drawing, Framing, and Building, &c. than getting some Rules of Propriety of Speech by Heart: And those also would follow with more Judgment, and less Trouble and Time.

If men be good, government cannot be bad.

They have a right to censure that have a heart to help: the rest is cruelty, not justice.

Opinion has caused more trouble on this little earth than plagues or earthquakes.

Pain never really goes away; you just elevate and get used to it by growing stronger.

Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.

The trouble with her is that she lacks the power of conversation but not the power of speech.

I was not the lion, but it fell to me to give the lion’s roar.

An idea must not be condemned for being a little shy and incoherent; all new ideas are shy when introduced first among our old ones. We should have patience and see whether the incoherency is likely to wear off or to wear on, in which latter case the sooner we get rid of them the better.

Only that day dawns to which we are awake.

Houses are built to live in, and not to look on: therefore let use be preferred before uniformity.

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

Sir, he was dull in company, dull in his closet, dull everywhere. He was dull in a new way, and that made many people think him great.

God’s first creature, which was light.

We, unaccustomed to courage exiles from delight live coiled in shells of loneliness until love leaves its high holy temple and comes into our sight to liberate us into life. Love arrives and in its train come ecstasies old memories of pleasure ancient histories of pain. Yet if we are bold, love strikes away the chains of fear from our souls. We are weaned from our timidity In the flush of love’s light we dare be brave And suddenly we see that love costs all we are and will ever be. Yet it is only love which sets us free.

Count on it, if a person talks of their misfortune, there is something in it that is not disagreeable to them.

The hues of the opal, the light of the diamond, are not to be seen if the eye is too near.

The only advantage of not being too good a housekeeper is that your guests are so pleased to feel how very much better they are.