William Penn

If there be three distinct and separate Persons, then three distinct and separate Substances. . . . And since the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Spirit is God . . . then unless the Father, Son and Spirit are three distinct Nothings, they must be three distinct Substances, and consequently three distinct Gods.

You are now fixed at the mercy of no governor that comes to make his fortune great; you shall be governed by laws of your own making and live a free, and if you will, a sober and industrious life. I shall not usurp the right of any, or oppress his person. God has furnished me with a better resolution and has given me his grace to keep it.

Men being born with a title to perfect freedom and uncontrolled enjoyment of all the rights and privileges of the law of nature . . . no one can be put out of his estate and subjected to the political view of another, without his consent.

She is but half a wife that is not, nor is capable of being, a friend.

A Man in Business must put up many Affronts, if he loves his own Quiet.

I will never do this, says one, yet does it: I am resolved to do this, says another; but flags upon second Thoughts: Or does it, tho’ awkwardly, for his Word’s sake: As if it were worse to break his Word, than to do amiss in keeping it.

I at least have so much to do in unraveling certain human lots, and seeing how they were woven and interwoven, that all the light I can command must be concentrated on this particular web, and not dispersed over that tempting range of relevancies called the universe.

He who would begun has half done. Dare to be wise; begin.

There is no thought in any mind, but it quickly tends to convert itself into power.

Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all others.

I’ve learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same thing as ‘making a life’.

I have thought of a pulley to raise me gradually; but that would give me pain, as it would counteract my natural inclination. I would have something that can dissipate the inertia and give elasticity to the muscles. We can heat the body, we can cool it; we can give it tension or relaxation; and surely it is possible to bring it into a state in which rising from bed will not be a pain.

People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.

We hand folks over to God’s mercy, and show none ourselves.

The hour of departure has arrived and we go our ways; I to die, and you to live. Which is better? Only God knows.

If you are always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be.

Every great movement must experience three stages ridicule, discussion, adoption.

A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.

The finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits, can be preserved only by the most delicate handling. Yet we do not treat ourselves nor one another thus tenderly.

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

Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.