William Penn

We meet on the broad pathway of good faith and good will; no advantage shall be taken on either side, but all shall be openness and love. I will not call you children, — for parents sometimes chide their children too severely; nor brothers only, — for brothers differ. The friendship between me and you I will not compare to a chain; for that the rains might rust, or the falling tree might break. We are the same as if one man’s body were to be divided into two parts, we are all one flesh and blood.

If thou art clean and warm, it is sufficient; for more doth but rob the Poor, and please the Wanton.

True godliness does not turn men out of the world, but enables them to live better in it and excites their endeavors to mend it.

Justice is the insurance which we have on our lives and property. Obedience is the premium which we pay for it.

Some men do as much begrudge others a good name, as they want one themselves: and perhaps that is the reason of it.

If men be good, government cannot be bad.

Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.

If any man cannot feel the power of God when he looks upon the stars, then I doubt whether he is capable of any feeling at all. [Ut haec ipsa qui non sentiat deorum vim habere is nihil omnino sensurus esse videatur.]

Goodness is the only investment which never fails.

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

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.

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

No one won the last war, and no one will win the next war.

We can know only that we know nothing. And that is the highest degree of human wisdom.

Life is tough, my darling, but so are you.

What men call social virtues, good fellowship, is commonly but the virtue of pigs in a litter, which lie close together to keep each other warm.

Depriving the oppressed of a beacon of hope could lose us the world we have built and thrived in. It could cost our reputation in history as the nation distinct from all others in our achievements, our identity, and our enduring influence on mankind. Our values are central to all three.

Speech is power: speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel. It is to bring another out of his bad sense into your good sense.

I believe in Michelangelo, Velasquez, and Rembrandt; in the might of design, the mystery of color, the redemption of all things by Beauty everlasting, and the message of Art that has made these hands blessed. Amen. Amen.

More helpful than all wisdom is one draught of simple human pity that will not forsake us.

Except during the nine months before he draws his first breath, no man manages his affairs as well as a tree does.