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.

Patience and diligence, like faith, remove mountains.

Children, Fear God; that is to say, have an holy awe upon your minds to avoid that which is evil, and a strict care to embrace and do that which is good.

Seek not to be Rich, but Happy. The one lies in Bags, the other in Content: which Wealth can never give.

Only trust thyself, and another shall not betray thee.

Be humble. It becomes a creature, a depending and borrowed being, that lives not of itself, but breathes in another’s air with another’s breath, and is accountable for every moment of time and can call nothing its own, but is absolutely a tenant at will of the great Lord of heaven and earth.

In every great time there is some one idea at work which is more powerful than any other, and which shapes the events of the time and determines their ultimate issues.

Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter.

Discretion of speech is more than eloquence, and to speak agreeably to him with whom we deal is more than to speak in good words, or in good order.

In the long run, men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, they had better aim at something high.

The way by which you may get money almost without exception leads downward.

That after an hour’s silence he can say, The one thing I cannot stand is dampness… That’s all, it took him an hour to work that out.

Fierce eagles do not produce timorous doves.

It is easier to stay out than get out.

We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal, and then leap in the dark to our success.

Was there ever such an autumn? And yet there was never such a panic and hard times in the commercial world. The merchants and banks are suspending and failing all the country over, but not the sandbanks, solid and warm, and streaked with bloody blackberry vines.You may run upon them as much as you please – even as the crickets do, and find their account in it. They are the stockholders in these banks, and I hear them creaking their content.

Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway.

Civilization is a limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities.

Censorship ends in logical completeness when nobody is allowed to read any books except the books nobody reads.

Enthusiasm is the mother of effort, and without it nothing great was ever achieved.

What do sad complaints avail if the offense is not cut down by punishment.