William Penn

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William Penn

William Penn (1644 – 1718) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonial era. He was an advocate of democracy and religious freedom. Penn was also an enslaver.

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Retire into your own soul

"At what time soever thou wilt, it is in thy power to retire into thyself, and to be at rest: for a man cannot retire any whither to be more at rest, and freer from... Read more.

Silence Is to the Spirit What Sleep Is to the Body

"Love silence, even in the mind; for thoughts are to the mind as words are to the body, troublesome; much speaking, as well as much thinking, spends True silence... Read more.

William Penn: Why Man Abuses the World

"It would go a great way to caution and direct people in their use of the world, that they were better studied and known in the creation of it. For how could... Read more.

The Hardest Lesson

"Love is the hardest lesson in Christianity; but, for that reason, it should be most our care to learn it."... Read more.

Exciting Our Endeavors to Mend the World

"True godliness does not turn men out of the world, but enables them to live better in it, and excites their endeavours to mend it; not to hide their candle under... Read more.