"The best thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to a friend, your heart; to your child, a good example; to a father, deference; to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you; to yourself, respect; to all others, charity."
"We are spirits. That bodies should be lent us while they afford us pleasure, assist us in acquiring knowledge or in doing good to our fellow-creatures, is a kind of benevolent act of God. When they become unfit for these purposes and afford us pain instead of pleasure, instead of an aid become an encumbrance and answer none of these intentions for which they were given, it is equally kind and benevolent that a way is provided by which we get rid of them. Death is that way."
6 likes
Source: Benjamin Franklin (1986). “The Autobiography and Other Writings”, p.246, Penguin
About the author
Same author
More quotes by Benjamin Franklin
"War is when the government tells you who the bad guy is. Revolution is when you decide that for yourself."
"Women are books, and men the readers be."
"If everyone is thinking alike, then no one is thinking."
"Common sense is something that everyone needs, few have, and none think they lack."
"Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech."