Quote #37

Let men be good, and the government cannot be bad; if it be ill, they will cure it. But, if men be bad, let the government be never so good, they will endeavor to warp and spoil it to their turn. - Frame of Government

More from William Penn

  1. Less judgment than wit is more sail than ballast.
  2. Liberty without obedience is confusion, and obedience without liberty is slavery.
  3. Knowledge is the treasure, but judgment the treasurer of a wise man.
  4. O Lord, help me not to despise or oppose what I do not understand.
  5. Hasty resolutions are of the nature of vows, and to be equally avoided.
  6. Whereas the glory of Almighty God and the good of mankind is the reason and end of government, therefore, government in itself is a venerab…
  7. Government seems to me to be a part of religion itself- a thing sacred in its institutions and ends.
  8. I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good thing, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow human being…

All William Penn quotes