

“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.”
Letter to the Abbés Chalut and Arnaud · 1787
Traced to Letter to the Abbés Chalut and Arnaud (1787).
More from Benjamin Franklin
“If you desire many things, many things will seem but a few.”
Benjamin Franklin
Poor Richard's Almanack · 1736
verified“That it is better 100 guilty Persons should escape than that one innocent Person should suffer, is a maxim that has been long and generally approved; never, that I know of, controverted.”
Benjamin Franklin
Letter to Benjamin Vaughan · 1785
verified“Remember that time is money.”
Benjamin Franklin
Advice to a Young Tradesman, Written by an Old One · 1748
verified“Love your Enemies, for they tell you your Faults.”
Benjamin Franklin
Poor Richard's Almanack · 1756
verified“If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed.”
Benjamin Franklin
Apology for Printers · 1730
verified“Human Felicity is produc'd not so much by great Pieces of good Fortune that seldom happen, as by little Advantages that occur every Day.”
Benjamin Franklin
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
verifiedMore Leadership quotes
“Let the nation try justice and the problem will be solved.”
Frederick Douglass
Lessons of the Hour · 1894
verified“What I ask for the negro is not benevolence, not pity, not sympathy, but simply justice.”
Frederick Douglass
What the Black Man Wants · 1865
verified“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
I Have a Dream · 1963
verified“Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice.”
Nelson Mandela
Speech for the 'Make Poverty History' campaign · 2005
verified“If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”
Nelson Mandela
Long Walk to Freedom · 1995
verified“During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
Nelson Mandela
I Am Prepared to Die (statement from the dock at the Rivonia Trial) · 1964
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