William Penn

In fine, he that is drunk is not a Man: Because he is so long void of Reason, that distinguishes a Man from a Beast.

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.

Let us try what love will do.

A wise neuter joins with neither, but uses both as his honest interest leads him.

We are apt to love praise, but not deserve it. But if we would deserve it, we must love virtue more than that.

Believe nothing against another but on good authority; and never report what may hurt another, unless it be a greater hurt to some other to conceal it.

The key to the age may be this, or that, or the other, as the young orators describe; the key to all ages is – Imbecility; imbecility in the vast majority of men, at all times, and, even in heroes, in all but certain eminent moments; victims of gravity, custom, and fear.

Knowledge and human power are synonymous.

No great deed is done by falterers who ask for certainty.

No man can taste the fruits of autumn while he is delighting his scent with the flowers of spring.

Our passions do not live apart in locked chambers but dress in their small wardrobe of notions, bring their provisions to a common table and mess together, feeding out of the common store according to their appetite.

Your depression is connected to your insolence and refusal to praise.

Burning logs can carry on quite a conversation! … Have you ever heard apple wood talking? It’s the most loquacious of all. You really can’t get a word in edgeways.

Say what you have to say and first time you come to a sentence with a grammatical ending; sit down.

The drama’s laws, the drama’s patrons give, for we that live to please, must please to live.

There is one topic peremptorily forbidden to all well-bred, to all rational mortals, namely, their distempers. If you have not slept, or if you have slept, or if you have headache, or sciatica, or leprosy, or thunder-stroke, I beseech you, by all angels, to hold your peace, and not pollute the morning.

Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond; cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education.

Do not try to live forever. You will not succeed.

Opposition may become sweet to a man when he has christened it persecution.

Beware when the great God lets loose a thinker on this planet.

The traveler that resolutely follows a rough and winding path will sooner reach the end of his journey than he that is always changing his direction, and wastes the hour of daylight in looking for smoother ground and shorter passages.