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.

Right is right even if everyone is against it and wrong is wrong even if everyone is for it.

The jealous are troublesome to others, but torment to themselves.

Have a care, therefore, where there is more sail than ballast.

Friendship is the next Pleasure we may hope for: And where we find it not at home, or have no home to find it in, we may seek it abroad. It is an Union of Spirits, a Marriage of Hearts, and the Bond thereof Vertue.

No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no crown.

Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.

Some will always be above others. Destroy the inequality today, and it will appear again tomorrow.

Beware what you set your heart upon. For it shall surely be yours.

A man’s library is a sort of harem.

It is impossible for a man to be cheated by anyone but himself.

Martyrdom covers a multitude of sins.

Consequences are unpitying.

Strivers achieve what dreamers believe.

I have the conviction that excessive literary production is a social offence.

Tis the old secret of the gods that they come in low disguises.

Don’t order any black things. Rejoice in his memory; and be radiant: leave grief to the children. Wear violet and purple. Be patient with the poor people who will snivel: they don’t know; and they think they will live for ever, which makes death a division instead of a bond.

To let friendship die away by negligence and silence is certainly not wise. It is voluntarily to throw away one of the greatest comforts of the weary pilgrimage.

By indignities men come to dignities.

Read not to contradict and confute, not to believe and take for granted, not to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.

Upon retiring, sleep as if you had entered your last sleep. Upon awakening, leave your bed behind you instantly as if you had cast away a pair of old shoes.