Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature.
- Topic: Freedom, Nature
- Photo: Jeffrey Benjamin
More Quotes from Benjamin Franklin
Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age, but they die young.
In short, the way to wealth, if you desire it, is as plain as the way to market. It depends chiefly on two words, industry and frugality; that is. waste neither time nor money, but make the best use of both.
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.
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What light is to the eyes - what air is to the lungs - what love is to the heart, liberty is to the soul of man.
When one remains silent in the face of oppression, one is on the side of the oppressor.
As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.
Freedom of men under government is to have a standing rule to live by, common to every one of that society, and made by the legislative power vested in it; a liberty to follow my own will in all things when the rule prescribes not, and not to be subject to the inconstant, uncertain, unknown, arbitrary rule of another man.
Our task must be to free ourselves…by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most impressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be saturated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
I could not understand how any man could be so brutalized as to claim the right to dispose of the lives of others, nor how any man could be so lacking in self-esteem as to grant to others the right to dispose of his life.
A primary object should be the education of our youth in the science of government. In a republic, what species of knowledge can be equally important? And what duty more pressing than communicating it to those who are to be the future guardians of the liberties of the country.
The aim of art, the aim of a life can only be to increase the sum of freedom and responsibility to be found in every man and in the world. It cannot, under any circumstances, be to reduce or suppress that freedom, even temporarily.
The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.
The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free.
Leave the beaten track behind occasionally and dive into the woods. Every time you do you will be certain to find something you have never seen before.
Sometimes hath the brightest day a cloud; and after summer evermore succeeds barren winter, with his wrathful nipping cold: so cares and joys abound, as seasons fleet.
In wilderness is the preservation of the world.
I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day.
The highest goal of music is to connect one's soul to their Divine Nature, not entertainment.
Waves are inspiring not because they rise and fall, but because each time they fall they never fail to rise again.
What would be ugly in a garden constitutes beauty in a mountain.
