William Penn

Zeal ever follows an appearance of truth, and the assured are too apt to be warm; but it is their weak side in argument; zeal being better shown against sin than persons, or their mistakes.

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

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

There can be no friendship where there is no freedom. Friendship loves a free air, and will not be fenced up in straight and narrow enclosures.

Sexes make no Difference; since in Souls there is none: And they are the Subjects of Friendship.

No man is fit to command another that cannot command himself.

The way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d rather not.

Indeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes.

Gossip is a sort of smoke that comes from the dirty tobacco-pipes of those who diffuse it: it proves nothing but the bad taste of the smoker.

I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.

That was Youth with its reckless exuberance when all things were possible pursued by Age where we are now, looking back at what we destroyed, what we tore away from that self who could do more, and its work that’s become my enemy because that’s what I can tell you about, that Youth who could do anything.

While fools shun one set of faults they run into the opposite one.

A private Life is to be preferred; the Honor and Gain of publick Posts, bearing no proportion with the Comfort of it

Who can guess how much industry and providence and affection we have caught from the pantomime of brutes?

A man is usually more careful of his money than he is of his principles.

I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him.

You’ve got a big, big problem if you get caught up in what people say. If you’re gonna live for what people say, you might as well lay down and forget it. Because it doesn’t work that way.

Suffering is but another name for the teaching of experience, which is the parent of instruction and the schoolmaster of life.

The beginning of compunction is the beginning of a new life.

We are ashamed of our thoughts and often see them brought forth by others.

Understanding is a two-way street.