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Furnished As All Europe Now Is With Academies Of Science, With Nice Instruments And The Spirit Of Experiment, The Progress Of Human Knowledge Will Be Rapid And Discoveries Made Of Which We Have At Present No Conception. I Begin To Be Almost Sorry I Was Born So Soon, Since I Cannot Have The Happiness Of Knowing What Will Be Known A Hundred Years Hence.

-Benjamin Franklin

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Furnished As All Europe

Benjamin Franklin

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Furnished As All Europe Now Is With Academies Of Science, With Nice Instruments And The Spirit Of Experiment, The Progress Of Human Knowledge Will Be Rapid And Discoveries Made Of Which We Have At Present No Conception. I Begin To Be Almost Sorry I Was Born So Soon, Since I Cannot Have The Happiness Of Knowing What Will Be Known A Hundred Years Hence.

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Be Not Niggardly Of What Costs Thee Nothing, As Courtesy, Counsel, & Countenance.

The Worst Wheel Of The Cart Makes The Most Noise.

An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away.

Virtue And Happiness Are Mother And Daughter.

Mankind Are Dastardly When They Meet With Opposition.

My Father's Little Library Consisted Chiefly Of Books In Polemic Divinity, Most Of Which I Read, And Have Since Often Regretted That, At A Time When I Had Such A Thirst For Knowledge, More Proper Books Had Not Fallen In My Way Since It Was Now Resolved I Should Not Be A Clergyman.

One Good Husband Is Worth Two Good Wives, For The Scarcer Things Are, The More They Are Valued.

Love, Cough, & A Smoke, Can't Well Be Hid.

Speak And Speed: The Close Mouth Catches No Flies.

If We Can Sleep Without Dreaming, It Is Well That Painful Dreams Are Avoided. If, While We Sleep, We Can Have Any Pleasing Dreams, It Is As The French Say, Tant Gagne, So Much Added To The Pleasure Of Life.

Beer Is God's Way Of Telling Us That He Loves Us And Wants Us To Be Happy.

He Was So Learned That He Could Name A Horse In Nine Languages; So Ignorant That He Bought A Cow To Ride On.

Dost Thou Love Life? Then Do Not Squander Time, For That Is The Stuff Life Is Made Of.

Onions Can Make Even Heirs And Widows Weep.

Since Thou Are Not Sure Of A Minute, Throw Not Away An Hour.

As Sore Places Meet Most Rubs, Proud Folks Meet Most Affronts.

By Improving Yourself, The World Is Made Better. Be Not Afraid Of Growing Too Slowly. Be Afraid Only Of Standing Still.

Don't Think To Hunt Two Hares With One Dog.

Take Courage, Mortal; Death Can't Banish Thee Out Of The Universe.

You Made Delay, But Time Will Not, And Lost Time Is Never Found Again.

Procrastination

The Sun Of Liberty Is Set; You Must Light Up The Candle Of Industry And Economy.

Pity And Forbearance Should Characterize All Acts Of Justice.

There Is Much Money Given To Be Laughed At, Though The Purchasers Don't Know It; Witness A.'s Fine Horse, And B.'s Fine House.

Neglect Mending A Small Fault And 'twill Soon Be A Great One.

Without Freedom Of Thought, There Can Be No Such Thing As Wisdom; And No Such Thing As Public Liberty Without Freedom Of Speech; Which Is The Right Of Every Man As Far As By It He Does Not Hurt Or Control The Right Of Another; And This Is The Only Check It Ought To Suffer And The Only Bounds It Ought To Know.... Whoever Would Overthrow The Liberty Of A Nation Must Begin By Subduing The Freedom Of Speech, A Thing Terrible To Traitors.

Notwithstanding My Experiments With Electricity The Thunderbolt Continues To Fall Under Our Noses And Beards; And As For The Tyrant, There Are A Million Of Us Still Engaged At Snatching Away His Sceptre.

A Man May, If He Knows Not How To Save As He Gets, Keep His Nose To The Grindstone.

Pay What You Owe And You'll Know What's Your Own.

In Success Be Moderate.

Chess Is So Interesting In Itself, As Not To Need The View Of Gain To Induce Engaging In It; And Thence It Is Never Played For Money

Success Is The Residue Of Planning.

He That Won't Be Counseled Can't Be Helped.

Before You Consult Your Fancy, Consult Your Purse.

Wink At Small Faults; Remember Thou Hast Great Ones.

O Powerful Goodness! Bountiful Father! Merciful Guide! Increase In Me That Wisdom Which Discovers My Truest Interest. Strengthen My Resolution To Perform What That Wisdom Dictates. Accept My Kind Offices To Thy Other Children As The Only Return In My Power For Thy Continual Favours To Me.

I Say It Is Impossible That So Sensible A People [citizens Of Paris], Under Such Circumstances, Should Have Lived So Long By The Smoky, Unwholesome, And Enormously Expensive Light Of Candles, If They Had Really Known That They Might Have Had As Much Pure Light Of The Sun For Nothing.

Outside Independence Hall When The Constitutional Convention Of 1787 Ended, Mrs. Powel Of Philadelphia Asked Benjamin Franklin, "well, Doctor, What Have We Got, A Republic Or A Monarchy?" With No Hesitation Whatsoever, Franklin Responded, "a Republic, If You Can Keep It."

When Knaves Betray Each Other, One Can Scarce Be Blamed Or The Other Pitied.

He That Drinks His Cyder Alone, Let Him Catch His Horse Alone.

Content And Riches Seldom Meet Together, Riches Take Thou, Contentment I Had Rather.

By Playing At Chess Then, We May Learn... First: Foresight. Second: Circumspection. Third: Caution.

I Have So Much Faith In The General Government Of The World By Providence That I Can Hardly Conceive A Transaction Of Such Momentous Importance [as The Framing Of The Constitution] ... Should Be Suffered To Pass Without Being In Some Degree Influenced, Guided, And Governed By That Omnipotent, Omnipresent, And Beneficent Ruler In Whom All Inferior Spirits Live And Move And Have Their Being.

Eat Few Suppers, And You'll Need Few Medicines.

Love Your Enemies, For They Tell You Your Faults.

I Have Lived, Sir, A Long Time, And The Longer I Live, The More Convincing Proofs I See Of This Truth — That God Governs In The Affairs Of Men.

Little Minds Think And Talk About People. Average Minds Think And Talk About Things And Actions. Great Minds Think And Talk About Ideas.

Eat To Live, Not Live To Eat.

And We Daily In Our Experiments Electrise Bodies Plus Or Minus, As We Think Proper. [these Terms We May Use Till Your Philosophers Give Us Better.] To Electrise Plus Or Minus, No More Needs To Be Known Than This, That The Parts Of The Tube Or Sphere, That Are Rubb'd, Do, In The Instant Of Friction, Attract The Electrical Fire, And Therefore Take It From The Thin Rubbing; The Same Parts Immediately, As The Friction Upon Them Ceases, Are Disposed To Give The Fire They Have Received, To Any Body That Has Less.

Cunning Proceeds From Want Of Capacity.

Where Liberty Is, There Is My Country.

Most Fools Think They Are Only Ignorant.

Pride Breakfasted With Plenty, Dined With Poverty, And Supped With Infamy.

Poverty Often Deprives A Man Of All Spirit And Virtue; It Is Hard For An Empty Bag To Stand Upright.

We Must, Indeed, All Hang Together Or, Most Assuredly, We Shall All Hang Separately.

Getting Into Debt, Is Getting Into A Tanglesome Net.

Hast Thou Virtue? Acquire Also The Graces And Beauties Of Virtue.

Leisure Is The Time For Doing Something Useful.

Some Are Weatherwise, Some Are Otherwise.

Three May Keep A Secret, If Two Of Them Are Dead.

Be In General Virtuous, And You Will Be Happy.

Christianity Commands Us To Pass By Injuries; Policy, To Let Them Pass By Us.

If This Lady Is Pleased To Spend Her Days With Franklin, He Would Be Just As Pleased To Spend His Nights With Her.

A Man Must Have A Good Deal Of Vanity Who Believes, And A Good Deal Of Boldness Who Affirms, That All The Doctrines He Holds Are True, And All He Rejects Are False.

It Is Wonderful How Preposterously The Affairs Of The World Are Managed. We Assemble Parliaments And Councils To Have The Benefit Of Collected Wisdom, But We Necessarily Have, At The Same Time, The Inconvenience Of Their Collected Passions, Prejudices And Private Interests: For Regulating Commerce An Assembly Of Great Men Is The Greatest Fool On Earth

He's A Fool Who Cannot Conceal His Wisdom.

In Rivers And Bad Governments The Lightest Things Swim At Top.

Every Pot Must Sit On Its Own Bottom.

Nothing's So Apt To Undermine Your Confidence In A Product As Knowing That The Commercial Selling It Has Been Approved By The Company That Makes It.

Is There Anything Men Take More Pains About Than To Render Themselves Unhappy?

A [desire] To Abolish Slavery Prevails In North America, Many Of The Pennsylvanians Have Set Their Slaves At Liberty, And [virginia Legislators] Have Petitioned The King For Permission To Make A Law For Preventing The Importation Of More [slaves] Into That Colony. This Request, However, Will Probably Not Be Granted, As Their Former Laws Of That Kind Have Always Been Repealed.

Motivation Is When Your Dreams Put On Work Clothes

Marry Above Thy Match And You Will Get A Master.

The Devil Wipes His Breech With Poor Folks' Pride.

In Going On With These Experiments, How Many Pretty Systems Do We Build, Which We Soon Find Ourselves Oblig'd To Destroy! If There Is No Other Use Discover'd Of Electricity, This, However, Is Something Considerable, That It May Help To Make A Vain Man Humble.

The Art Of Acting Consists In Keeping People From Coughing.

Write With The Learned, Pronounce With The Vulgar.

Approve Not Of Him Who Commends All You Say.

When Women Cease To Be Handsome, They Study To Be Good.

Freedom Of Speech Is The Great Bulwark Of Liberty; They Prosper And Die Together: And It Is The Terror Of Traitors And Oppressors, And A Barrier Against Them. It Produces Excellent Writers, And Encourages Men Of Fine Genius.

Freedom Of Speech

The Busy Man Has Few Idle Visitors; To The Boiling Pot The Flies Come Not.

I Know As Well As Thee That I Am No Poet Born It Is A Trade, I Never Learnt Nor Indeed Could Learn If I Make Verses-'tis In Spite Of Nature And My Stars I Write.

Life With Fools Consists In Drinking; With The Wise Man, Living's Thinking.

[it Was] The Poverty Caused By The Bad Influence Of The English Bankers On The Parliament Which Has Caused In The Colonies Hatred Of The English And . . . The Revolutionary War.

Lend Money To An Enemy, And Thou Will Gain Him, To A Friend And Thou Will Lose Him.

Indeed The General Natural Tendency Of Reading Good History, Must Be, To Fix In The Minds Of Youth Deep Impressions Of The Beauty And Usefulness Of Virtue Of All Kinds, Publick Spirit, Fortitude.

One Of The Greatest Tragedies Of Life Is The Murder Of A Beautiful Theory By A Gang Of Brutal Facts.

Seek Virtue And Of That Posest, To Providence Resign The Rest.

I Wish To Live Without Committing Any Fault At Any Time.

Moral Perfection

Kill No More Pigeons Than You Can Eat.

What Good Shall I Do This Day?

Money Has Never Made Man Happy, Nor Will It, There Is Nothing In Its Nature To Produce Happiness. The More Of It One Has The More One Wants.

Learn Of The Skillful; He That Teaches Himself, Has A Fool For His Master.

If Everyone Is Thinking Alike, Then No One Is Thinking.

In General, Mankind, Since The Improvement Of Cookery, Eats Twice As Much As Nature Requires.

La Pereza Anda Tan Despacio Que La Pobreza No Tarda En Alcanzarla.

The Key That Unlocks A Door Is A Key To Keep If You Want To Go Through That Door Again.

Since I Cannot Govern My Own Tongue, Though Within My Own Teeth, How Can I Hope To Govern The Tongue Of Others?

The States Acceded To The Union.

Great Modesty Often Hides Great Merit.

He That Steals The Old Man's Supper Does Him No Wrong.

Either Write Something Worth Reading Or Do Something Worth Writing.

Would You Persuade, Speak Of Interest, Not Of Reason.

In Short, I Conceive That Great Part Of The Miseries Of Mankind Are Brought Upon Them By The False Estimates They Have Made Of The Value Of Things, And By Their Giving Too Much For Their Whistles.

Sloth Makes All Things Difficult, But Industry All Easy; And He That Riseth Late Must Trot All Day, And Shall Scarce Overtake His Business At Night; While Laziness Travels So Slowly, That Poverty Soon Overtakes Him.

Our New Constitution Is Now Established, And Has An Appearance That Promises Permanency; But In The World Nothing Can Be Said To Be Certain Except Death And Taxes.

As To The Kindness You Mention, I Wish I Could Have Been Of More Service To You Than I Have Been, But If I Had, The Only Thanks That I Should Desire Are That You Would Always Be Ready To Serve Any Other Person That May Need Your Assistance, And So Let Good Offices Go Around, For Humankind Are All Of A Family. As For My Own Part, When I Am Employed In Serving Others I Do Not Look Upon Myself As Conferring Favors But Paying Debts.

A Greater Quantity Of Some Things May Be Eaten Than Of Others, Some Being Of Lighter Digestion Than Others.

Time Is An Herb That Cures All Diseases.

Savages We Call Them Because Their Manners Differ From Ours.

I Believe There Is One Supreme Most Perfect Being.

Take Courage, Mortal... Death Cannot Banish You From The Universe.

Christians Are Directed To Have Faith In Christ, As The Effectual Means Of Obtaining The Change They Desire.

To Err Is Human, To Repent Divine; To Persist Devilish.

Conceiving God To Be The Fountain Of Wisdom, I Thought It Right And Necessary To Solicit His Assistance For Obtaining It.

He That Displays Too Often His Wife And His Wallet Is In Danger Of Having Both Of Them Borrowed.

Rules Too Soft Are Seldomly Followed; Rules Too Harsh Are Seldomly Executed.

Change Is The Only Constant In Life. Ones Ability To Adapt To Those Changes Will Determine Your Success In Life.

Success In Life

No Nation Was Ever Ruined By Trade.

A Man Wrapped Up In Himself Makes A Very Small Bundle.

Display Is As False As It Is Costly.

It's The Easiest Thing In The World For A Man To Deceive Himself.

He That Would Fish, Must Venture His Bait.

A Quarrelsome Man Has No Good Neighbours.

Search Others For Their Virtues, Thyself For Thy Vices.

He That Drinks Fast, Pays Slow.

Never Take A Wife Till Thou Hast A House (and A Fire) To Put Her In.

Great Beauty, Great Strength, And Great Riches Are Really And Truly Of No Great Use; A Right Heart Exceeds All

That Is Simple. In The Colonies We Issue Our Own Money. It Is Called Colonial Scrip. We Issue It In Proper Proportion To The Demands Of Trade And Industry To Make The Products Pass Easily From The Producers To The Consumers. In This Manner Creating For Ourselves Our Own Paper Money, We Control Its Purchasing Power, And We Have No Interest To Pay.

Let The Child's First Lesson Be Obedience, And The Second Will Be What Thou Wilt.

Nor Eye In A Letter, Nor Hand In A Purse, Nor Ear In The Secret Of Another.

Fond Pride Of Dress Is Sure A Very Curse

What Science Can There Be More Noble, More Excellent, More Useful For Men, More Admirably High And Demonstrative, Than This Of Mathematics?

I Am A Mortal Enemy To Arbitrary Government And Unlimited Power. I Am Naturally Very Jealous For The Rights And Liberties Of My Country, And The Least Encroachment Of Those Invaluable Privileges Is Apt To Make My Blood Boil.

A Child Thinks 20 Shillings And 20 Years Can Never Be Spent.

Grief For A Dead Wife, And A Troublesome Guest, Continues To The Threshold, And There Is At Rest; But I Mean Such Wives As Are None Of The Best

That Which Resembles Most Living One's Life Over Again, Seems To Be To Recall All The Circumstances Of It; And, To Render This Remembrance More Durable, To Record Them In Writing.

One Of The Advantages Of Being A 'reasonable Creature' Is That One Can Find A Reason For Whatever One Wants To Do.

How Can Any Action Be Meritorious Of Praise Or Dispraise, Reward Or Punishment, When The Natural Principle Of Self-love Is The Only And The Irresistible Motive To It?

Mary's Mouth Cost Her Nothing For She Never Opens It But At Others' Expense.

Industry And Patience Are The Surest Means Of Plenty.

Finding Myself To Exist In The World, I Believe I Shall, In Some Shape Or Other, Always Exist.

If You Would Be Loved, Love, And Be Loveable.

Inspirational Life

How Few There Are Who Have Courage Enough To Own Their Faults, Or Resolution Enough To Mend Them.

If You Watch Your Pennies, The Pounds Will Take Care Of Themselves.

An Old Man In A House Is A Good Sign.

Diligence Overcomes Difficulties; Sloth Makes Them.

The Constitution Only Guarantees The American People The Right To Pursue Happiness. You Have To Catch It Yourself.

He That Lives Well, Is Learned Enough.

I Have Found Christian Dogma Unintelligible.

My Refusing To Eat Flesh Occasioned An Inconveniency, And I Was Frequently Chid For My Singularity.

A Life Of Leisure And A Life Of Laziness Are Two Things. There Will Be Sleeping Enough In The Grave.

Keep Thy Shop, And Thy Shop Will Keep Thee.

It Is Observable That God Has Often Called Men To Places Of Dignity And Honor When They Have Been Busy In The Honest Employment Of Their Vocation.

Most People Return Small Favors, Acknowledge Medium Ones And Repay Greater Ones - With Ingratitude.

When I See Nothing Annihilated, And Not Even A Drop Of Water Wasted, I Cannot Suspect The Annihilation Of Souls Thus Finding Myself To Exist In The World, I Believe I Shall, In Some Shape Or Other, Always Exist; With All The Inconveniences Human Life Is Liable To, I Shall Not Object To A New Edition Of Mine; Hoping, However, That The Errata Of The Last May Be Corrected.

Truth And Sincerity Have A Certain Distinguishing Native Lustre About Them Which Cannot Be Perfectly Counterfeited; They Are Like Fire And Flame, That Cannot Be Painted.

Snowy Winter, A Plentiful Harvest.

Be Ashamed To Catch Yourself Idle.

Thank God! We Are In The Full Enjoyment Of All These Privileges. But Can We Be Taught To Prize Them Too Much? Or How Can We Prize Them Equal To Their Value, If We Do Not Know Their Intrinsic Worth, And That They Are Not A Gift Bestowed Upon Us By Other Men, But A Right That Belongs To Us By The Laws Of God And Nature?

Many Have Quarreled About Religion That Never Practice It.

The Honey Is Sweet, But The Bee Has A Sting.

Here Is My Creed. I Believe In One God, The Creator Of The Universe. That He Governs It By His Providence. That He Ought To Be Worshipped.

Revolution Founding Fathers

Founding America

By Playing At Chess Then, We May Learn: First: Foresight... Second: Circumspection... Third: Caution...and Lastly, We Learn By Chess The Habit Of Not Being Discouraged By Present Bad Appearances In The State Of Our Affairs, The Habit Of Hoping For A Favorable Chance, And That Of Persevering In The Secrets Of Resources

Kings Have Long Arms, But Misfortune Longer: Let None Think Themselves Out Of Her Reach.

The Good Or Ill Hap Of A Good Or Ill Life, Is The Good Or Ill Choice Of A Good Or Ill Wife.

A Spoonful Of Honey Will Catch More Flies Than A Gallon Of Vinegar.

He That Lieth Down With Dogs, Shall Rise Up With Fleas.

Be Slow In Choosing A Friend, Slower In Changing.

He That Would Live In Peace And At Ease, Must Not Speak All He Knows Nor Judge All He Sees.

Self Improvement

Singularity In The Right Hath Ruined Many; Happy Those Who Are Convinced Of The General Opinion.

I Have Lived, Sir, A Long Time And The Longer I Live, The More Convincing Proofs I See Of This Truth -- That God Governs In The Affairs Of Men. And If A Sparrow Cannot Fall To The Ground Without His Notice, Is It Probable That An Empire Can Rise Without His Aid? We Have Been Assured, Sir, In The Sacred Writings That "except The Lord Build They Labor In Vain That Build It." I Firmly Believe This; And I Also Believe That Without His Concurring Aid We Shall Succeed In This Political Building No Better Than The Builders Of Babel

Hope Of Gain Lessens Pain.

There Seem To Be But Three Ways For A Nation To Acquire Wealth. The First Is By War, As The Romans Did, In Plundering Their Conquered Neighbors. This Is Robbery. The Second By Commerce, Which Is Generally Cheating. The Third By Agriculture, The Only Honest Way, Wherein Man Receives A Real Increase Of The Seed Thrown Into The Ground, In A Kind Of Continual Miracle, Wrought By The Hand Of God In His Favor, As A Reward For His Innocent Life And His Virtuous Industry.

Do Not Do That Which You Would Not Have Known.

Creditors Have Better Memories Than Debtors.

I Never Turned To Drink. It Seemed To Turn To Me.

The Good Will Of The Governed Will Be Starved If Not Fed By The Good Deeds Of The Governors.

A Father's A Treasure; A Brother's A Comfort; A Friend Is Both.

He Does Not Possess Wealth; It Possesses Him.

The Way To Be Safe Is Never To Be Secure.

Lighthouses Are More Helpful Than Churches.

A Ship Under Sail And A Big-bellied Woman, Are The Handsomest Two Things That Can Be Seen Common.

Remember, That Six Pounds A Year Is But A Groat A Day.

History Will Also Give Occasion To Expatiate On The Advantage Of Civil Orders And Constitutions; How Men And Their Properties Are Protected By Joining In Societies And Establishing Government; Their Industry Encouraged And Rewarded, Arts Invented, And Life Made More Comfortable; The Advantages Of Liberty, Mischiefs Of Licentiousness, Benefits Arising From Good Laws And A Due Execution Of Justice. Thus May The First Principles Of Sound Politics Be Fixed In The Minds Of Youth.

An Episcopalian Divine Once Told The Pope That The Only Difference Between Their Denominations Was That "the Church Of Rome Is Infallible And The Church Of England Is Never In The Wrong."

If You Want To Be Loved, Love And Be Loveable.

If Principle Is Good For Anything, It Is Worth Living Up To.

If By The Liberty Of The Press Were Understood Merely The Liberty Of Discussing The Propriety Of Public Measures And Political Opinions, Let Us Have As Much Of It As You Please: But If It Means The Liberty Of Affronting, Calumniating And Defaming One Another, I, For My Part, Own Myself Willing To Part With My Share Of It, Whenever Our Legislators Shall Please So To Alter The Law And Shall Chearfully Consent To Exchange My Liberty Of Abusing Others For The Privilege Of Not Being Abused Myself.

Political Opinions

Slavery Is Such An Atrocious Debasement Of Human Nature, That Its Very Extirpation, If Not Performed With Solicitous Care, May Sometimes Open A Source Of Serious Evils.

Abolition Of Slavery

All Cats Are Gray In The Dark.

Let Thy Vices Die Before Thee.

Do Not Fear Mistakes. You Will Know Failure. Continue To Reach Out.

Blame-all And Praise-all Are Two Blockheads.

Instead Of Cursing The Darkness, Light A Candle.

Hope Is An Essential Constituent Of Human Life.

That Wise Men Have In All Ages Thought Government Necessary For The Good Of Mankind; And, That Wise Governments Have Always Thought Religion Necessary For The Well Ordering And Well-being Of Society, And Accordingly Have Been Ever Careful To Encourage And Protect The Ministers Of It, Paying Them The Highest Publick Honours, That Their Doctrines Might Thereby Meet With The Greater Respect Among The Common People.

A Good Conscience Is A Continual Christmas.

There Is Nothing So Absurd As Knowledge Spun Too Fine.

Idleness And Pride Tax With A Heavier Hand Than Kings And Governments.

Graft Good Fruit All, Or Graft Not At All.

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