Benjamin Franklin — An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.
An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.Benjamin Franklin
Attributed to Benjamin Franklin
Franklin, a printer turned statesman, knew the language of money — and chose it deliberately here. Knowledge, he says, is the rare asset that compounds and never depreciates.
Spend an hour on a skill and it does not vanish like a purchase; it sits in you, quietly earning, ready the day you need it. Few investments are so safe or so portable.
The minutes you put into English today are not spent. They are deposited. And like all good interest, the returns grow quietly while you are busy living.
Words that widen the world
To put time, effort, or money into something to gain a future benefit.
Synonyms: commit, devote, put in
She chose to invest an hour a day in her English.
To increase in value steadily, with gains building on previous gains.
Synonyms: accumulate, build, multiply
Small daily habits compound into large results.
Common questions
It means learning gives the greatest long-term return of any investment — knowledge keeps paying off over a lifetime.
It is popularly attributed to Benjamin Franklin; the exact original source is uncertain, so we mark it as attributed.
Time spent learning isn't lost — it compounds. Consistent small efforts yield outsized, lasting returns.
Carry it with you
In your own words, what does this thought mean to you? Write three or four sentences in English about a moment when it felt true — saying it yourself is how it stays with you.
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