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How Do You Become Better Tomorrow? By Improving Yourself, The World Is Made Better. Be Not Afraid Of Growing Too Slowly. Be Afraid Of Standing Still. Forget Your Mistakes, But Remember What They Taught You. So How Do You Become Better Tomorrow? By Becoming Better Today.

-Benjamin Franklin

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How Do You Become

Benjamin Franklin

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How Do You Become Better Tomorrow? By Improving Yourself, The World Is Made Better. Be Not Afraid Of Growing Too Slowly. Be Afraid Of Standing Still. Forget Your Mistakes, But Remember What They Taught You. So How Do You Become Better Tomorrow? By Becoming Better Today.

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Becoming Better

More From Benjamin Franklin

Hope Of Gain Lessens Pain.

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

For Over 1,700 Years, The Jews Have Been Bewailing Their Sad Fate In That They Have Been Exiled From Their Homeland, As They Call Palestine. But Gentlemen, Did The World Give It To Them In Fee Simple, They Would At Once Find Some Reason For Not Returning. Why? Because They Are Vampires, And Vampires Do Not Live On Vampires. They Cannot Live Only Among Themselves. They Must Subsist On Christians And Other People Not Of Their Race.

Force Shites Upon Reason's Back.

Who Judges Best Of A Man, His Enemies Or Himself?

Take A Coin From Your Purse And Invest It In Your Mind. It Will Come Pouring Out Of Your Mind And Overflow Your Purse.

Don't Put Off Until Tomorrow What You Can Do Today.

Funny Motivational

Procrastination

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

Moral Perfection

Those Who Give Up Liberty For The Sake Of Security, Deserve Neither Liberty Nor Security.

Leisure Is The Time For Doing Something Useful.

He That Goes A Borrowing Goes A Sorrowing.

Debt By Founding Fathers

Pride Is Said To Be The Last Vice The Good Man Gets Clear Of.

He That Hath A Trade Hath An Estate; And He That Hath A Calling Hath A Place Of Profit And Honor. A Ploughman On His Legs Is Higher Than A Gentleman On His Knees.

Chess Teaches Foresight, By Having To Plan Ahead; Vigilance, By Having To Keep Watch Over The Whole Chess Board; Caution, By Having To Restrain Ourselves From Making Hasty Moves; And Finally, We Learn From Chess The Greatest Maxim In Life - That Even When Everything Seems To Be Going Badly For Us We Should Not Lose Heart, But Always Hoping For A Change For The Better, Steadfastly Continue Searching For The Solutions To Our Problems.

A People Who Chose Security Over Liberty Will Receive Neither Nor Deserve Either.

Alas, I Know If I Ever Became Truly Humble, I Would Be Proud Of It.

Some Men Grow Mad By Studying Much To Know, But Who Grows Mad By Studying Good To Grow.

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

Willows Are Weak, But They Bind The Faggot.

Those Who Would Give Up Liberty For Safety Deserve Neither.

Vice Knows She Is Ugly, So Puts On Her Mask.

Make No Expense But To Do Good To Others Or Yourself.

Moral Perfection

Don't Misinform Your Doctor Nor Your Lawyer.

A House Is Not A Home Unless It Contains Food And Fire For The Mind As Well As The Body.

It Is Foolish To Lay Out Money For The Purchase Of Repentance.

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.

Paintings And Fightings Are Best Seen At A Distance.

Thou Can'st Not Joke An Enemy Into A Friend, But Thou May'st A Friend Into An Enemy.

If A Sound Body And A Sound Mind, Which Is As Much As To Say Health And Virtue, Are To Be Preferred Before All Other Considerations, Ought Not Men, In Choosing A Business Either For Themselves Or Children, To Refuse Such As Are Unwholesome For The Body, And Such As Make A Man Too Dependent, Too Much Obliged To Please Others, And Too Much Subjected To Their Humors In Order To Be Recommended And Get A Livelihood?

If You Can't Pay For A Thing, Don't Buy It. If You Can't Get Paid For It, Don't Sell It. Do This, And You Will Have Calm And Drowsy Nights, With All Of The Good Business You Have Now And None Of The Bad. If You Have Time, Don't Wait For Time.

If You Give Up Your Freedom For Safety, You Don't Deserve Either One

Ambition Has Its Disappointments To Sour Us, But Never The Good Fortune To Satisfy Us.

'tis More Noble To Forgive, And More Manly To Despise, Than To Revenge An Injury.

You May Delay, But Time Will Not.

I Know Not Which Lives More Unnatural Lives, Obeying Husbands, Or Commanding Wives.

I Therefore Beg Leave To Move That Henceforth Prayers Imploring The Assistance Of Heaven, And Its Blessing On Our Deliberations, Be Held In This Assembly Every Morning.

Happiness Consists More In Small Conveniences Or Pleasures That Occur Every Day, Than In Great Pieces Of Good Fortune That Happen But Seldom To A Man In The Course Of His Life.

This Gave Me Occasion To Observe, That When Men Are Employ'd They Are Best Contented. For On The Days They Work'd They Were Good-natur'd And Chearful; And With The Consciousness Of Having Done A Good Days Work They Spent The Evenings Jollily; But On The Idle Days They Were Mutinous And Quarrelsome, Finding Fault With Their Pork, The Bread, And In Continual Ill-humour. (autobiography, 1771)

Pride Is As Loud A Beggar As Want, And A Great Deal More Saucy. When You Have Bought One Fine Thing, You Must Buy Ten More, That Your Appearance May Be All Of A Piece; But It Is Easier To Suppress The First Desire Than To Satisfy All That Follow It.

History Affords Us Many Instances Of The Ruin Of States, By The Prosecution Of Measures Ill Suited To The Temper And Genius Of Their People. The Ordaining Of Laws In Favor Of One Part Of The Nation, To The Prejudice And Oppression Of Another, Is Certainly The Most Erroneous And Mistaken Policy. ... These Measures Never Fail To Create Great And Violent Jealousies And Animosities Between The People Favored And The People Oppressed; Whence A Total Separation Of Affections, Interests, Political Obligations, And All Manner Of Connections, By Which The Whole State Is Weakened.

He That Blows The Coals In Quarrels That He Has Nothing To Do With, Has No Right To Complain If The Sparks Fly In His Face. - Ben Franklin

The Noblest Question In The World Is: 'what Good May I Do In It?'

I Hope...that Mankind Will At Length, As They Call Themselves Reasonable Creatures, Have Reason And Sense Enough To Settle Their Differences Without Cutting Throats; For In My Opinion There Never Was A Good War, Or A Bad Peace.

Reading Was The Only Amusement I Allowed Myself

To Get The Bad Customs Of A Country Changed And New Ones, Though Better, Introduced, It Is Necessary First To Remove The Prejudices Of The People, Enlighten Their Ignorance, And Convince Them That Their Interests Will Be Promoted By The Proposed Changes; And This Is Not The Work Of A Day.

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 Republic, If You Can Keep It.

He That Composes Himself Is Wiser Than He That Composes A Book.

A Good Conscience Is A Continual Christmas.

A Perfect Character Might Be Attended With The Inconvenience Of Being Envied And Hated; And That A Benevolent Man Should Allow A Few Faults In Himself, To Keep His Friends In Countenance.

Interest Which Blinds Some People, Enlightens Others.

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

I Saw Few Die Of Hunger; Of Eating, A Hundred Thousand.

In Prosperous Fortunes Be Modest And Wise, The Greatest May Fall, And The Lowest May Rise: But Insolent People That Fall In Disgrace, Are Wretched And Nobody Pities Their Case.

If You Would Know The Value Of Money; Go, And Try To Borrow Some! For, He That Goes A Borrowing, Goes A Sorrowing! And Indeed, So Does He That Lends To Such People, When He Goes To Get It In Again!

Carelessness Does More Harm Than A Want Of Knowledge.

A Slip Of The Foot You May Soon Recover, But A Slip Of The Tongue You May Never Get Over.

The Absent Are Never Without Fault. Nor The Present Without Excuse.

Knowledge Of The Investment Is Most Profitable

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

Never Ruin An Apology With An Excuse.

It Is Much To Be Lamented That A Man Of Franklin's General Good Character And Great Influence Should Have Been An Unbeliever In Christianity, And Also Have Done As Much As He Did To Make Others Unbelievers.

The Game Of Chess Is Not Merely An Idle Amusement; Several Very Valuable Qualities Of The Mind Are To Be Acquired And Strengthened By It, So As To Become Habits Ready On All Occasions, For Life Is A Kind Of Chess.

The Art Of Acting Consists In Keeping People From Coughing.

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.

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

Success In Life

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

Self Improvement

Energy And Persistence Conquer All Things.

Be Neither Silly, Nor Cunning, But Wise

Rebellion Against Tyrants Is Obedience To God.

Let Thy Maid Servant Be Faithful, Strong, And Homely.

Read Much, But Not Too Many Books.

He That Has Done You A Kindness Will Be More Ready To Do You Another, Than He Whom You Yourself Have Obliged.

Beware Of Meat Twice Boiled, And An Old Foe Reconciled.

If You Teach A Poor Young Man To Shave Himself, And Keep His Razor In Order, You May Contribute More To The Happiness Of His Life Than In Giving Him A Thousand Guineas. This Sum May Be Soon Spent, The Regret Only Remaining Of Having Foolishly Consumed It; But In The Other Case, He Escapes The Frequent Vexation Of Waiting For Barbers, And Of Their Sometimes Dirty Fingers, Offensive Breaths, And Dull Razors.

You Must Always Be Prepared. Make Sure To Look At Things From All Angles. If You Are Not Prepared You Will Fail.

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

One Day Is Worth A Thousand Tomorrows.

If A Man Empties His Purse Into His Head, No One Can Take It From Him.

Never Leave That Till Tomorrow Which You Can Do Today.

Virtues, Of ... Justice: Wrong None By Doing Injuries Or Omitting The Benefits That Are Your Duty.

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.

Serving God Is Doing Good To Man, But Praying Is Thought An Easier Service And Therefore More Generally Chosen.

In The Dark, All Cats Are Grey.

Necessity Knows No Law; I Know Some Attorneys Of The Same.

He That Speaks Much, Is Much Mistaken.

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

Think What You Do When You Run In Debt: You Give To Another Power Over Your Liberty

Make Use Of Your Friends By Being Of Use To Them.

Many Would Live By Their Wits, But Break For Want Of Stock.

'tis True There Is Much To Be Done, . . . But Stick To It Steadily, And You Will See Great Effects, For Constant Dropping Wears Away Stones . . . And Little Strokes Fell Great Oaks, As Poor Richard Says. . . .

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

It Is Easier To Prevent Bad Habits Than To Break Them.

Industry And Frugality, As The Means Of Procuring Wealth . . . Thereby [secures] Virtue, It Being More Difficult For A Man In Want To Act Always Honestly. . . .

Blame-all And Praise-all Are Two Blockheads.

As Often As We Do Good, We Sacrifice.

Nothing Preaches Better Than The Act.

But Our Great Security Lies, I Think, In Our Growing Strength.

He That's Content Hath Enough.

Death Is A Fisherman, The World We See His Fish-pond Is, And We The Fishes Be; His Net Some General Sickness; Howe'er He Is Not So Kind As Other Fishers Be; For If They Take One Of The Smaller Fry, They Throw Him In Again, He Shall Not Die: But Death Is Sure To Kill All He Can Get, And All Is Fish With Him That Comes To Net.

Laws Without Morals Are In Vain.

Those Who Are Content Have Enough; Those That Complain, Have Too Much.

A Good Spouse And Health Is A Person's Best Wealth.

The Rotten Apple Spoils His Companion.

Lost Time Is Never Found Again, And What We Call Time Enough, Always Proves Little Enough.

There Is Much Difference Between Imitating A Good Man And Counterfeiting Him.

Do Good To Your Friends To Keep Them, To Your Enemies To Win Them.

Pen, Wax And Parchment Govern The World.

No Nation Has Ever Been Ruined By Trade.

The Man Who Does Things Makes Mistakes, But He Doesn't Make The Biggest Mistake Of All-doing Nothing.

I Resolve To Speak Ill Of No Man Whatever, Not Even In A Matter Of Truth; But Rather By Some Means Excuse The Faults I Hear Charged Upon Others, And Upon Proper Occasions Speak All The Good I Know Of Everybody.

Sell Not Virtue To Purchase Wealth, Nor Liberty To Purchase Power.

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."

Hereafter, If You Should Observe An Occasion To Give Your Officers And Friends A Little More Praise Than Is Their Due, And Confess More Fault Than You Can Justly Be Charged With, You Will Only Become The Sooner For It, A Great Captain.

Buy What Thou Hast No Need Of And Ere Long Thou Shalt Sell Thy Necessities.

Hold Your Council Before Dinner; The Full Belly Hates Thinking As Well As Acting.

Mankind Are Dastardly When They Meet With Opposition.

He Who Would Trade Liberty For Some Temporary Security, Deserves Neither Liberty Nor Security.

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

When About 16 Years Of Age, I Happened To Meet With A Book Written By One Tryon, Recommending A Vegetable Diet. I Determined To Go Into It.... My Refusing To Eat Flesh Occasioned An Inconveniency, And I Was Frequently Chid For My Singularity.

Old Boys Have Their Playthings As Well As Young Ones; The Difference Is Only In The Price.

The Way To Wealth Is As Plain As The Way To Market. It Depends Chiefly On Two Words, Industry And Frugality: That Is, Waste Neither Time Nor Money, But Make The Best Use Of Both. Without Industry And Frugality Nothing Will Do, And With Them Everything.

Fond Pride Of Dress Is Sure A Very Curse

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.

Visit Your Aunt, But Not Every Day; And Call At Your Brother's, But Not Every Night.

He'll Cheat Without Scruple, Who Can Without Fear.

Freedom Is Not A Gift Bestowed Upon Us By Other Men, But A Right That Belongs To Us By The Laws Of God And Nature.

He That Would Travel Much, Should Eat Little.

The Exact Quantity And Quality Being Found Out, Is To Be Kept To Constantly.

Quantity And Quality

Setting Too Good An Example Is A Kind Of Slander Seldom Forgiven.

A Man Of Knowledge Like A Rich Soil, Feeds If Not A World Of Corn, A World Of Weeds.

Gaining Money By My Industry And Frugality, I Lived Very Agreeably. . . .

There Is No Such Thing As A Good War Or A Bad Peace.

Then Plough Deep While Sluggards Sleep, And You Shall Have Corn To Sell And To Keep.

Who Is Wise? He That Learns From Everyone. Who Is Powerful? He That Governs His Passions. Who Is Rich? He That Is Content. Who Is That? Nobody.

When Passion Rules, She Never Rules Wisely.

It Is Only When The Rich Are Sick That They Fully Feel The Impotence Of Wealth.

Getting Into Debt, Is Getting Into A Tanglesome Net.

The Problem With Doing Nothing Is Not Knowing When You're Finished.

Industry Pays Debts, While Despair Increases Them.

When Will Mankind Be Convinced And Agree To Settle Their Difficulties By Arbitration?

The Only Thing That Is More Expensive Than Education Is Ignorance.

After Crosses And Losses Men Grow Humbler And Wiser.

People Are Best Convinced By Things They Themselves Discover.

Motivational Business

If We Restrict Liberty To Attain Security We Will Lose Them Both.

A Quarrelsome Man Has No Good Neighbours.

Avoid Dishonest Gain: No Price Can Recompence The Pangs Of Vice.

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.

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.

Beware The Hobby That Eats.

No Man Ought To Own More Property Than Needed For His Livelihood; The Rest, By Right, Belonged To The State.

Hide Not Your Talents. They For Use Were Made. What's A Sundial In The Shade?

I Consent Sir, To This Constitution Because I Expect No Better, And Because I Am Not Sure, That It Is Not The Best.

Fear To Do Ill, And You Need Fear Else.

He Who Falls In Love With Himself Will Have No Rivals.

Temporary Insanity

Masonic Ideas Are The Precious Jewels Of Speculative Masons; The Should Be Kept Bright And Sparkling For All The Brethren To See And To Admire. As Such, They Should Be The Special Care Of Masonic Leaders Particularly Those Who Teach And Interpret The Philosophy Of Freemasonry.

No Longer Virtuous No Longer Free; Is A Maxim As True With Regard To A Private Person As A Common-wealth.

If You Have A Bald Head Don't Walk Out In The Sun Because You Will Get Burned.

"we Hold These Truths To Be Sacred And Undeniable" In A Draft Of The Declaration Of Independence Changes It Instead Into An Assertion Of Rationality. The Scientific Mind Of Franklin Drew On The Scientific Determinism Of Isaac Newton And The Analytic Empiricism Of David Hume And Gottfried Leibniz. In What Became Known As "hume's Fork" The Latters' Theory Distinguished Between Synthetic Truths That Describe Matters Of Fact, And Analytic Truths That Are Self-evident By Virtue Of Reason And Definition.

God Helps Them That Help Themselves.

Pride Is As Loud A Beggar As Want, And A Great Deal More Saucy

Keep Flax From Fire, And Youth From Gaming.

Every Accent, Every Emphasis, Every Modulation Of Voice, Was So Perfectly Well Turned And Well Placed, That, Without Being Interested In The Subject, One Could Not Help Being Pleased With The Discourse; A Pleasure Of Much The Same Kind With That Received From An Excellent Piece Of Music. This Is An Advantage Itinerant Preachers Have Over Those Who Are Stationary, As The Latter Can Not Well Improve Their Delivery Of A Sermon By So Many Rehearsals.

I Have Met The Enemy, And It Is The Eyes Of Other People.

Having Been Poor Is No Shame, But Being Ashamed Of It, Is.

A Wolf Eats Sheep But Now And Then, Ten Thousands Are Devour'd By Men.

He That Pays For Work Before It's Done, Has But A Pennyworth For Two Pence.

A Light Purse Is A Heavy Curse.

Pardoning The Bad, Is Injuring The Good.

As Pride Increases, Fortune Declines.

If We Give Up Freedom For Security, We Are In Danger Of Losing Both.

None But The Well-bred Man Knows How To Confess A Fault, Or Acknowledge Himself In An Error.

A Lighthouse Is More Useful Than A Church.

You Can Not Pluck Roses Without Fear Of Thorns, Nor Enjoy A Fair Wife Without Danger Of Horns.

Be Civil To All; Serviceable To Many; Familiar With Few; Friend To One; Enemy To None.

I Have Never Seen The Philosopher's Stone That Turns Lead Into Gold, But I Have Known The Pursuit Of It Turn A Man's Gold Into Lead.

The Good Particular Men May Do Separately, In Relieving The Sick, Is Small, Compared With What They May Do Collectively.

Better Slip With Foot Than Tongue.

Masonic Labor Is Purely A Labor Of Love. He Who Seeks To Draw Masonic Wages In Gold And Silver Will Be Disappointed. The Wages Of A Mason Are In The Dealings With One Another; Sympathy Begets Sympathy, Kindness Begets Kindness, Helpfulness Begets Helpfulness, And These Are The Wages Of A Mason.

If You Have Time Don't Wait For Time.

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

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

Religion I Found To Be Without Any Tendency To Inspire, Promote, Or Confirm Morality, Serves Principally To Divide Us And Make Us Unfriendly To One Another.

In America, They Do Not Inquire Of A Stranger, "what Is He?" But, "what Can He Do?"

The Eye Of The Master Will Do More Work Than Both His Hands.

Do You Love Life? Then Don't Waste Time, Because Time Is Life!

Time Management

Let Thy Discontents Be Thy Secrets

Spare When Young, And Spend When Old.

He's A Fool That Makes His Doctor His Heir.

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

We Hear Of The Conversion Of Water Into Wine At The Marriage In Cana As Of A Miracle. But This Conversion Is, Through The Goodness Of God, Made Every Day Before Our Eyes. Behold The Rain Which Descends From Heaven Upon Our Vineyards, And Which Incorporates Itself With The Grapes, To Be Changed Into Wine; A Constant Proof That God Loves Us, And Loves To See Us Happy.

There Never Was A Good War, Or A Bad Peace.

I Believe There Is One Supreme Most Perfect Being.

Being Ignorant Is Not So Much A Shame, As Being Unwilling To Learn.

Early To Bed And Early To Rise, Makes A Man Healthy, Wealthy And Wise." He Planned His Routine Around Waking Up At 5 A.m. And Asking Himself "what Good Shall I Do This Day?

An Old Young Man, Will Be A Young Old Man.

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

I Scarce Ever Heard Or Saw The Introductory Words, "without Vanity I May Say," Etc., But Some Vain Thing Immediately Followed.

Ill Customs And Bad Advice Are Seldom Forgotten.

They Who Have Nothing To Trouble Them, Will Be Troubled At Nothing.

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