William Penn

Less judgment than wit is more sail than ballast.

Equivocation is half-way to lying, and lying the whole way to hell.

Let us then try what love can do to mend a broken world.

The wisdom of nations lies in their proverbs, which are brief and pithy. Collect and learn them; they are notable measures of directions for human life; you have much in little; they save time in speaking; and upon occasion may be the fullest and safest answer.

Never marry but for love; but see that thou lovest what is lovely.

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

When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.

Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each. Let them be your only diet, drink, and botanical medicines.

Follow your own passion – not your parents’, not your teachers’- yours.

I wish for you the wisdom to realize that forgiveness has nothing to do with an apology.

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.

Everything that is made beautiful and fair and lovely is made for the eye of one who sees.

Don’t be a cynic and disconsolate preacher. Don’t bewail and moan. Omit the negative propositions. Challenge us with incessant affirmatives. Don’t waste yourself in rejection, or bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of the good.

Knowledge is the treasure, but judgment is the treasurer of the one who is wise.

Most people want to avoid pain, and discipline is usually painful.

Hell is full of musical amateurs: music is the brandy of the damned.

The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.

Wives are young men’s mistresses, companions for middle age, and old men’s nurses.

I was brought up to hate and fear liberty. I came to love it. That is the secret of my whole career.

The very ink with which history is written is merely fluid prejudice.

Technique is noticed most markedly in the case of those who have not mastered it.