William Penn

For we put the power in the people.

God is better served in resisting a Temptation to Evil, than in many formal Prayers.

Where charity keeps pace with grain, industry is blessed, but to slave to get, and keep it sordidly, is a sin against Providence, a vice in government and an injury to their neighbours.

Amuse not thy self therefore with the numerous Opinions of the World, nor value thy self upon verbal Orthodoxy, Philosophy, or thy Skill in Tongues, or Knowledge of the Fathers; (too much the Business and Vanity of the World). But in this rejoyce, That thou knowest God, that is the Lord, who exerciseth loving Kindness, and Judgment; and Righteousness in the Earth.

Love is indeed Heaven upon Earth; since Heaven above would not be Heaven without it: For where there is not Love; there is Fear: But perfect Love casts out Fear. And yet we naturally fear most to offend what we most Love. What we Love, we’ll Hear; what we Love, we’ll Trust; and what we Love, we’ll serve, ay, and suffer for too. If you love me (says our Blessed Redeemer) keep my Commandments. Why? Why then he’ll Love us; then we shall be his Friends; then he’ll send us the Comforter; then whatsoever we ask, we shall receive; and then where he is we shall be also, and that for ever. Behold the Fruits of Love; the Power, Vertue, Benefit and Beauty of Love! Love is above all; and when it prevails in us all, we shall all be Lovely, and in Love with God and one with another.

It is the amends of a short and troublesome life, that doing good and suffering ill entitles man to a longer and better

A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.

As for doing good; that is one of the professions which is full. Moreover I have tried it fairly and, strange as it may seem, am satisfied that it does not agree with my constitution.

If you live for people’s acceptance, you’ll die from their rejections.

You must not blame me if I do talk to the clouds.

The first step, my son, which one makes in the world, is the one on which depends the rest of our days.

Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.

Cities force growth and make people talkative and entertaining, but they also make them artificial.

If man is to be liberated to enjoy more leisure, he must also be prepared to enjoy this leisure fully and creatively.

Men have become the tools of their trade.

To be, or not to be; that is the bare bodkin That makes calamity of so long life;

The search after the great men is the dream of youth, and the most serious occupation of manhood.

There is this benefit in brag, that the speaker is unconsciously expressing his own ideal. Humor him by all means; draw it all out, and hold him to it.

How could youths better learn to live than by at once trying the experiment of living?

A man sits as many risks as he runs.

I never think at all when I write. Nobody can do two things at the same time and do them both well.