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I Think Also, That General Virtue Is More Probably To Be Expected And Obtained From The Education Of Youth, Than From Exhortations Of Adult Persons; Bad Habits And Vices Of The Mind Being, Like Diseases Of The Body, More Easily Prevented Than Cured. I Think Moreover, That Talents For The Education Of Youth Are The Gift Of God; And That He On Whom They Are Bestowed, Whenever A Way Is Opened For Use Of Them, Is As Strongly Called As If He Heard A Voice From Heaven.

-Benjamin Franklin

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I Think Also, That

Benjamin Franklin

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I Think Also, That General Virtue Is More Probably To Be Expected And Obtained From The Education Of Youth, Than From Exhortations Of Adult Persons; Bad Habits And Vices Of The Mind Being, Like Diseases Of The Body, More Easily Prevented Than Cured. I Think Moreover, That Talents For The Education Of Youth Are The Gift Of God; And That He On Whom They Are Bestowed, Whenever A Way Is Opened For Use Of Them, Is As Strongly Called As If He Heard A Voice From Heaven.

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The Only Time Not Wasted Is Wasted Time.

Fart For Freedom, Fart For Liberty—and Fart Proudly.

I Have Thought That Wild Flowers Might Be The Alphabet Of Angels, — Whereby They Write On Hills And Fields Mysterious Truths, Which It Is Not Given Our Fallen Nature To Understand.

When You're Finished Changing, You're Finished.

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

The World Is Full Of Fools And Faint Hearts; And Yet Everyone Has Courage Enough To Bear The Misfortunes, And Wisdom Enough To Manage The Affairs, Of His Neighbor.

You Don't Get Somebody To Like You By Doing Them A Favor. That Only Tends To Build Resentment Over The Fact That They Are Needy And You Are Not. No, You Ask Them To Do You A Favor.

Tomorrow, Every Fault Is To Be Amended; But That Tomorrow Never Comes.

Tomorrow Never Comes

Rebellion Against Tyrants Is Obedience To God.

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

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

Inspirational Life

An Honest Man Will Receive Neither Money Nor Praise That Is Not His Due.

I Have Found Christian Dogma Unintelligible. Early In Life, I Absenteed Myself From Christian Assemblies.

Most Men Die From The Neck Up At Age Twenty-five Because They Stop Dreaming.

Inspirational Life

You Have Two Choices, Write About Something Of Significance Or Do Something Someone Wants To Write About.

The Greatest Monarch On The Proudest Throne Is Obliged To Sit Upon His Own Arse.

What Is The Recipe For Successful Achievement? Choose A Career You Love. Give It The Best There Is In You. Seize Your Opportunities. And Be A Member Of The Team.

The King's Cheese Is Half Wasted In Parings: But No Matter, 'tis Made Of The People's Milk.

Trouble Springs From Idleness.

When Nature Gave Us Tears, She Gave Us Leave To Weep.

I Think That A Young State, Like A Young Virgin, Should Modestly Stay At Home, And Wait The Application Of Suitors For An Alliance With Her; And Not Run About Offering Her Amity To All The World; And Hazarding Their Refusal. Our Virgin Is A Jolly One; And Tho At Present Not Very Rich, Will In Time Be A Great Fortune, And Where She Has A Favorable Predisposition, It Seems To Me Well Worth Cultivating.

Enjoy The Present Hour, Be Mindful Of The Past; And Neither Fear Nor Wish The Approaches Of The Last. Learn Of The Skillful: He That Teaches Himself, Hath A Fool For His Master.

You May Give Give A Man Office, But You Cannot Give Him Discretion

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.

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

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?

The Cat In Gloves Catches No Mice.

No Gains Without Pains.

Be Not Disturbed At Trifles, Or At Accidents Common Or Unavoidable.

God Grant, That Not Only The Love Of Liberty, But A Thorough Knowledge Of The Rights Of Man, May Pervade All The Nations Of The Earth, So That A Philosopher May Set His Foot Anywhere On Its Surface, And Say, 'this Is My Country.'

Reading Was The Only Amusement I Allowed Myself

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

He That Hath A Trade, Hath An Estate.

He That Would Travel Much, Should Eat Little.

Those Who Would Trade In Their Freedom For Their Protection Deserve Neither.

Those Who Sacrifice Essential Liberty For Temporary Safety Are Not Deserving Of Either Liberty Or Safety.

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

I Look Upon Death To Be As Necessary To Our Constitution As Sleep. We Shall Rise Refreshed In The Morning.

What Can Laws Do Without Morals?

Opportunity Is The Great Bawd.

Squeamish Stomachs Cannot Eat Without Pickles.

People Who Are Wrapped Up In Themselves Make Small Packages.

Those Who In Quarrels Interpose, Must Often Wipe A Bloody Nose.

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

Lost Time Is Never Found Again.

Out Of Adversity Comes Opportunity.

If You Would Not Be Forgotten, Do Things Worth Remembering.

This Modesty In A Sect Is Perhaps A Singular Instance In The History Of Mankind, Every Other Sect Supposing Itself In Possession Of All Truth, And That Those Who Differ Are So Far In The Wrong ; Like A Man Traveling In Foggy Weather, Those At Some Distance Before Him On The Road He Sees Wrapped Up In The Fog, As Well As Those Behind Him, And Also The People In The Fields On Each Side, But Near Him All Appears Clear, Tho' In Truth He Is As Much In The Fog As Any Of Them.

A Lie Stands On One Leg, Truth On Two.

Avarice And Happiness Never Saw Each Other, How Then Should They Become Acquainted?

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

War Is When The Government Tells You Who The Bad Guy Is. Revolution Is When You Decide That For Yourself.

They That Can Give Up Essential Liberty To Purchase A Little Temporary Safety, Deserve Neither Liberty Nor Safety.

Security And Freedom

He That Won't Be Counseled Can't Be Helped. He That Would Have A Short Lent, Let Him Borrow Money To Be Repaid At Easter.

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. An Equal Dispensation Of Protection, Rights, Privileges, And Advantages, Is What Every Part Is Entitled To, And Ought To Enjoy.

Do Good To Thy Friend To Keep Him, To Thy Enemy To Gain Him.

He That's Content Hath Enough.

When A Religion Is Good, I Conceive It Will Support Itself; And When It Does Not Support Itself, And God Does Not Take Care To Support It So That Its Professors Are Obliged To Call For Help Of The Civil Power, 'tis A Sign, I Apprehend, Of Its Being A Bad One.

They Who Can Give Up Essential Liberty To Obtain A Little Temporary Safety Deserve Neither Liberty Nor Safety.

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

If You Do Not Exclude Them, In Less Than 200 Years Our Descendants Will Be Working In The Fields To Furnish Them Substance, While They Will Be In The Counting Houses Rubbing Their Hands. I Warn You, Gentlemen, If You Do Not Exclude Jews For All Time, Your Children Will Curse You In Your Graves.

Thirteen Virtues Necessary For True Success: Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquility, Chastity, And Humility.

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Rising In The Morning

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This [the U.s. Constitution] Is Likely To Be Administered For A Course Of Years And Then End In Despotism... When The People Shall Become So Corrupted As To Need Despotic Government, Being Incapable Of Any Other.

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

What More Valuable Than Gold? Diamonds. Than Diamonds? Virtue.

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

Mankind Are Dastardly When They Meet With Opposition.

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Philosophy As Well As Foppery Often Changes Fashion.

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Were The Offer Made True, I Would Engage To Run Again, From Beginning To End, The Same Career Of Life. All I Would Ask Should Be The Privilege Of An Author, To Correct, In A Second Edition, Certain Errors Of The First.

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

A Ploughman On His Legs Is Higher Than A Gentleman On His Knees.

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

Why Does The Blind Man's Wife Paint Herself.

If You Have Time Don't Wait For Time.

A Republic, If You Can Keep It.

Love Well, Whip Well.

If You Would Be Wealthy, Think Of Saving As Well As Getting.

He That Cannot Obey, Cannot Command.

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

If You Do Tomorrow What You Did Today , You Will Get Tomorrow What You Got Today

Marry Above Thy Match And You Will Get A Master.

Why Ruin A Young Girl's Life When You Can Make An Older Women So Very Happy !

The Best Of All Medicines Is Resting And Fasting

In A Discreet Man's Mouth, A Public Thing Is Private.

He [the Rev. Mr. Whitefield] Used, Indeed, Sometimes To Pray For My Conversion, But Never Had The Satisfaction Of Believing That His Prayers Were Heard.

One Mend-fault Is Worth Two Find-faults, But One Find-fault Is Better Than Two Make-faults.

Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk

Lighthouses Are More Helpful Than Churches.

At The Working Man’s House, Hunger Looks In But Dares Not Enter.

A Good Conscience Is A Continual Christmas.

The Best Investment Is In The Tools Of One's Own Trade.

Many Complain Of Their Memory, Few Of Their Judgment.

Instead Of Cursing The Darkness, Light A Candle.

Electrical Matter Differs From Common Matter In This, That The Parts Of The Latter Mutually Attract, Those Of The Former Mutually Repel Each Other.

Honesty Is The Best Policy.

If We Are Industrious, We Shall Never Starve; For, At The Workingman's House Hunger Looks In, But Dares Not Enter. Nor Will The Bailiff Or The Constable Enter, For Industry Pays Debts, While Despair Increaseth Them.

Those Who Laugh Often Never Grow Old.

Poverty, Poetry, And New Titles Of Honor, Make Men Ridiculous

Joy Doesn't Exist In The World, It Exists In Us.

Take The Money In Your Wallet And Invest It In Your Mind. And In Return, Your Mind Will Fill Up Your Wallet!

He That Speaks Much, Is Much Mistaken.

If You Wou'd Have Guests Merry With Your Cheer, Be So Your Self, Or So At Least Appear.

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

Moral Perfection

Innocence Is Its Own Defense.

Experience Keeps A Dear School, But Fools Will Learn In No Other.

The Greatest Inventions Are Those Inquiries Which Tend To Increase The Power Of Man Over Matter.

Perhaps I'm Too Saucy Or Provoking?

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

Vice Knows [its] Ugly, So [it] Puts On [a] Mask.

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

There Was Great Difference In Persons; And Discretion Did Not Always Accompany Years, Nor Was Youth Always Without It.

[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.

Be Temperate In Wine, In Eating, Girls, & Sloth; Or The Gout Will Seize You And Plague You Both.

Why Should Pennsylvania, Founded By The English, Become A Colony Of Aliens, Who Will Shortly Be So Numerous As To Germanize Us Instead Of Our Anglifying Them, And Will Never Adopt Our Language Or Customs, Any More Than They Can Acquire Our Complexion.

Here You Would Know, And Enjoy, What Prosperity Will Way Of Washington. For A Thousand Leagues Have Nearly The Same Effect With A Thousand Years.

She Laughs At Everything You Say. Why? Because She Has Fine Teeth.

I Firmly Believe This ... That Without His Concurring Aid We Shall Succeed In This Political Building No Better, Than The Builders Of Babel: We Shall Be Divided By Our Little Partial Local Interests; Our Projects Will Be Confounded, And We Ourselves Shall Become A Reproach And Bye Word Down To Future Ages. And What Is Worse, Mankind May Hereafter From This Unfortunate Instance, Despair Of Establishing Governments By Human Wisdom And Leave It To Chance, War And Conquest.

Nothing Is More Fatal To Health Than An Over Care Of It.

Nothing Great Comes Without Enthusiasm.

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

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

Happiness Depends More On The Inward Disposition Of Mind Than On Outward Circumstances.

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

If You Would Know The Value Of Money, Go And Try To Borrow Some.

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

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.

An Autobiography Usually Reveals Nothing Bad About Its Writer Except His Memory.

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.

Among The Numerous Luxuries Of The Table...coffee May Be Considered As One Of The Most Valuable. It Excites Cheerfulness Without Intoxication; And The Pleasing Flow Of Spirits Which It Occasions...is Never Followed By Sadness, Languor Or Debility.

No Employment Can Be Managed Without Arithmetic, No Mechanical Invention Without Geometry.

Success Is The Residue Of Planning.

Eat To Please Thyself, But Dress To Please Others.

Perhaps I Was Too Saucy And Provoking.

The Doors Of Wisdom Are Never Shut.

Drive Your Business. Let Not Your Business Drive You.

Resolve To Perform What You Ought; Perform Without Fail What You Resolve.

Most Men Die At 25, We Just Don't Bury Them Until They Are 70.

Let Me Resolve To Be Virtuous, That I May Be Happy, That I May Please Him, Who Is Delighted To See Me Happy. Amen.

There Is No Kind Of Dishonesty Into Which Otherwise Good People More Easily And Frequently Fall Than That Of Defrauding The Government.

Liberality Is Not Giving Much, But Giving Wisely.

Two Dry Sticks Will Burn A Green One.

On Second Thought, It's A Good Thing Love Is Blind Otherwise It Would See Too Much.

I Am For Doing Good To The Poor, But I Differ In Opinion About The Means. I Think The Best Way Of Doing Good To The Poor Is Not Making Them Easy In Poverty, But Leading Or Driving Them Out Of It.

I Have Sometimes Almost Wished It Had Been My Destiny To Be Born Two Or Three Centuries Hence.

I Cannot Conceive Otherwise Than That He, The Infinite Father, Expects Or Requires No Worship Or Praise From Us, But That He Is Even Infinitely Above It.

A Great Empire, Like A Great Cake, Is Most Easily Diminished At The Edges.

He That By The Plough Would Thrive, Himself Must Either Hold Or Drive.

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

Don't Think So Much Of Your Own Cunning, As To Forget Other Men's; A Cunning Man Is Overmatched By A Cunning Man And A Half.

I Never Knew A Man Who Was Good At Making Excuses Who Was Good At Anything Else.

Indeed, When Religious People Quarrel About Religion, Or Hungry People Quarrel About Victuals, It Looks As If They Had Not Much Of Either Among Them.

There Are Three Things Extremely Hard: Steel, A Diamond, And To Know One's Self.

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

Private Property ... Is A Creature Of Society, And Is Subject To The Calls Of That Society, Whenever Its Necessities Shall Require It, Even To Its Last Farthing, Its Contributors Therefore To The Public Exigencies Are Not To Be Considered A Benefit On The Public, Entitling The Contributors To The Distinctions Of Honor And Power, But As The Return Of An Obligation Previously Received, Or As Payment For A Just Debt.

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

We Are Spirits. That Bodies Should Be Lent Us While They Afford Us Pleasure, Assist Us In Acquiring Knowledge Or In Doing Good To Our Fellow-creatures, Is A Kind Of Benevolent Act Of God. When They Become Unfit For These Purposes And Afford Us Pain Instead Of Pleasure, Instead Of An Aid Become An Encumbrance And Answer None Of These Intentions For Which They Were Given, It Is Equally Kind And Benevolent That A Way Is Provided By Which We Get Rid Of Them. Death Is That Way.

Mankind Naturally And Generally Love To Be Flatter'd.

Despair Ruins Some, Presumption Many.

If You Would Not Be Laughed At, Be The First To Laugh At Yourself.

Annual Giving Is The Custom Of Making A Gift-a-year To An Institution In Which One Has Faith.

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

Quantity And Quality

Lost Time Can Never Be Found Again

We Are All Born Ignorant, But One Must Work Hard To Remain Stupid.

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

Time Management

Those Disputing, Contradicting, And Confuting People Are Generally Unfortunate In Their Affairs. They Get Victory, Sometimes, But They Never Get Good Will, Which Would Be Of More Use To Them.

The Used Key Is Always Bright.

The Man That Walks Wit Crowd, Will Get No Farther Than The Crowd. The Man That Walks Alone, Will Reach Places Unknown.

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.

Who Pleasure Gives, Shall Joy Receive

There Is None Deceived But He That Trusts.

What You Would Seem To Be, Be Really.

A Flatterer Never Seems Absurd: The Flatter'd Always Takes His Word.

To Inquisitive Minds Like Yours And Mine The Reflection That The Quantity Of Human Knowledge Bears No Proportion To The Quantity Of Human Ignorance Must Be In One View Rather Pleasing, Viz., That Though We Are To Live Forever We May Be Continually Amused And Delighted With Learning Something New.

Before Noah, Men Having Only Water To Drink, Could Not Find The Truth. Accordingly...they Became Abominably Wicked, And They Were Justly Exterminated By The Water They Loved To Drink. This Good Man, Noah, Having Seen That All His Contemporaries Had Perished By This Unpleasant Drink, Took A Dislike To It; And God, To Relieve His Dryness, Created The Vine And Revealed To Him The Art Of Making Le Vin. By The Aid Of This Liquid He Unveiled More And More Truth.

O Lazy Bones! Dost Thou Think God Would Have Given Thee Arms And Legs, If He Had Not Design'd Thou Should'st Use Them?

If Thou Hast Wit And Learning, Add To It Wisdom And Modesty.

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

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A Cheerful Face Is Nearly As Good For An Invalid As Healthy Weather.

He Does Not Possess Wealth; It Possesses Him.

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

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