Inspirational Quotes by Benjamin Franklin
“In 1736 I lost one of my sons, a fine boy of four years old, by the small-pox, taken in the common way. I long regretted bitterly, and still regret that I had not given it to him by inoculation. This I mention for the sake of parents who omit that operation, on the supposition that they should never forgive themselves if a child died under it; my example showing that the regret may be the same either way, and that, therefore, the safer should be chosen.”
“A man must have a good deal of vanity who believes, and a good deal of boldness who affirms, that all the doctrines he holds are true, and all he rejects are false.”
“A nation of well-informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins.” Benjamin Franklin”
“It's better to swim in the sea below Than to swing in the air and feed the crow, Says jolly Ned Teach of Bristol.”
“He that drinks his cider alone, let him catch his horse alone.”
“He that blows the coals in quarrels that he has nothing to do with, has no right to complain if the sparks fly in his face. - Ben Franklin”
“...wine [is] a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy.”
“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.”
“There are two ways to increase your wealth. Increase your means or decrease your wants. The best is to do both at the same time.”
“To be proud of virtue, is to poison yourself with the Antidote.”
“Chess teaches foresight, by having to plan ahead; vigilance, by having to keep watch over the whole chess board; caution, by having to restrain ourselves from making hasty moves; and finally, we learn from chess the greatest maxim in life - that even when everything seems to be going badly for us we should not lose heart, but always hoping for a change for the better, steadfastly continue searching for the solutions to our problems.”
“Vicious actions are not hurtful because they are forbidden, but forbidden because they are hurtful.”
“I'd rather be a pessimist because then I can only be pleasantly surprised.”
“Glass, China, and Reputation, are easily cracked, and never well mended.”
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“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.”
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Benjamin Franklin was an important conservative figure in the American Restoration Movement, especially as the leading antebellum conservative in the northern United States branch of the movement. He is notable as the early and lifelong mentor of Daniel Sommer, whose support of the 1889 Sand Creek Declaration set in motion events which led to the formal division of the Churches of Christ from the Disciples of Christ in 1906.
According to contemporary biographies "His early religious training was according to the Methodist faith, though he never belonged to any church until he united with the Disciples."
In 1856, Franklin began to publish the ultra-conservative American Christian Review, which he published until his death in 1878. Its influence, initially considerable, was said to have waned following the American Civil War. Franklin undertook a rigorous program of publication correspondence, and traveling lectures which took him to "many" U. S. states and Canada.
Franklin's last move was to Anderson, Indiana, where he lived from 1864 until his death.