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.

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

Let the people think they govern and they will be governed.

Let us try what love will do.

Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants.

The Humble, Meek, Merciful, Just, Pious and Devout Souls, are everywhere of one religion; and when Death has taken off the Mask, they will know one another, though the divers Liveries they wear here make them Strangers.

The fortune which nobody sees makes a person happy and unenvied.

We live in an atmosphere of shame. We are ashamed of everything that is real about us; ashamed of ourselves, of our relatives, of our incomes, of our accents, of our opinions, of our experience, just as we are ashamed of our naked skins.

A man’s interest in the world is only an overflow from his interest in himself.

To me the sole hope of human salvation lies in teaching Man to regard himself as an experiment in the realization of God, to regard his hands as God’s hand, his brain as God’s brain, his purpose as God’s purpose. He must regard God as a helpless Longing, which longed him into existence by its desperate need for an executive organ.

If it be an evil to judge rashly or untruly any single man, how much a greater sin it is to condemn a whole people.

You always do what you want to do. This is true with every act. You may say that you had to do something, or that you were forced to, but actually, whatever you do, you do by choice. Only you have the power to choose for yourself.

There be three things which make a nation great and prosperous: a fertile soil, busy workshops, easy conveyance for men and goods from place to place.

To the dull mind all nature is leaden. To the illumined mind the whole world burns and sparkles with light.

Our necessities are few, but our wants are endless.

He who waits to do a great deal of good at once will never do anything.

Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it.

I was brought up to hate and fear liberty. I came to love it. That is the secret of my whole career.

Esther liked books out where everyone could see them, a sort of graphic index to the intricate labyrinth of her mind arrayed to impress the most casual guest, a system of immediate introduction which she had found to obtain in a number of grimy intellectual households in Greenwich Village.

Nothing is worth doing unless the consequences may be serious.

None of the affections have been noted to fascinate and bewitch but envy.