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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.

-Benjamin Franklin

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My Father's Little Library

Benjamin Franklin

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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.

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The Worst Wheel Of The Cart Makes The Most Noise.

Lost Time Is Never Found Again.

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

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

Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk

One Today Is Worth Two Tomorrows.

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

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

An Undutiful Daughter Will Prove An Unmanageable Wife.

Whenever We Attempt To Mend The Scheme Of Providence And To Interfere In The Government Of The World, We Had Need Be Very Circumspect Lest We Do More Harm Than Good.

A Change Of Fortune Hurts A Wise Man No More Than A Change Of The Moon.

You May Delay, But Time Will Not.

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.

He That Raises A Large Family Does, Indeed, While He Lives To Observe Them, Stand A Broader Mark For Sorrow; But Then He Stands A Broader Mark For Pleasure Too.

A Dying Man Can Do Nothing Easy.

If You Have A Secret And Tell Someone Everyone Will Know. You Can Only Keep A Secret If You Don't Tell Anyone.

Nothing Great Comes Without Enthusiasm.

The Punishment Of Murder By Death Is Contrary To Reason, And To The Order And Happiness Of Society, And Contrary To Divine Revelation.

Divine Revelation

Do Not Let Fancy Outrun Your Means.

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

Tomorrow Never Comes

Idle Hands Are The Devil's Playthings.

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

Hope Of Gain Lessens Pain.

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

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

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

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

Private Property...is The Creature Of Society And Is Subject To The Calls Of That Society Even To The Last Farthing.

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.

I Am Lord Of Myself, Accountable To None.

Temperance Puts Wood On The Fire, Meal In The Barrel, Flour In The Tub, Money In The Purse, Credit In The Country, Contentment In The House, Clothes On The Back, And Vigor In The Body.

Acquire Riches By Industry And Frugality.

Never Confuse Motion With Action.

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

All Highly Competent People Continually Search For Ways To Keep Learning, Growing, And Improving. They Do That By Asking Why. After All, The Person Who Knows How Will Always Have A Job, But The Person Who Knows Why Will Always Be The Boss.

People Are Best Convinced By Things They Themselves Discover.

Motivational Business

Sin Is Not Hurtful Because It Is Forbidden, But It Is Forbidden Because It Is Hurtful.

Forbidden Fruit

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

Proclaim Not All Though Knowest, Or All Though Owest.

If Your Head Is Made Of Wax, Don't Walk In The Sun

In The Beginning Of The Contest With Britain, When We Were Sensible Of Danger, We Had Daily Prayers In This Room For Divine Protection," He Stated. "our Prayers, Sir, Were Heard, And They Were Graciously Answered. ... Do We Imagine We No Longer Need His Assistance?

If You Ever Need A Helping Hand, You'll Find One At The End Of Your Arm. Beer Is Living Proof That God Loves Us And Wants To See Us Happy.

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

Praise To The Undeserving Is Severe Satire.

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."

Proclaim Not All Thou Knowest, All Thou Knowest, All Thou Hast, Nor All Thou Cans't.

By The Word Simplicity, Is Not Always Meant Folly Or Ignorance; But Often, Pure And Upright Nature, Free From Artifice, Craft Or Deceitful Ornament.

From A Child I Was Fond Of Reading, And All The Little Money That Came Into My Hands Was Ever Laid Out In Books.

Who Is Strong? He That Can Conquer His Bad Habits.

Hear No Ill Of A Friend, Nor Speak Any Of An Enemy.

Those Renowned Generals [alexander And Caesar] Received More Faithful Service, And Performed Greater Actions By Means Of The Love Their Soldiers Bore Them, Than They Could Possibly Have Done, If Instead Of Being Beloved And Respected They Had Been Hated And Feared By Those They Commanded.

E'er You Remark Another's Sin, Bid Your Own Conscience Look Within.

Life Is Rather A State Of Embryo, A Preparation For Life; A Man Is Not Completely Born Till He Has Passed Through Death.

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

You Cannot Always Run From A Weakness. You Must Sometime Fight It Out Or Perish.

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

He That Can Have Patience Can Have What He Will.

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

Common Sense Is Something That Everyone Needs, Few Have, And None Think They Lack.

Covetousness Is Ever Attended With Solicitude And Anxiety.

Great Talkers Should Be Cropt, For They've No Need Of Ears.

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

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

Funny Motivational

Procrastination

Trouble Springs From Idleness, And Grievous Toil From Needless Ease.

Time Eateth All Things, Could Old Poets Say, The Times Are Chang'd, Our Times Drink All Away.

No Nation Has Ever Been Ruined By Trade.

The Doors Of Wisdom Are Never Shut.

By Diligence And Patience, The Mouse Bit In Two The Cable.

Sloth And Silence Are A Fool's Virtues

Educate Your Children To Self-control, To The Habit Of Holding Passion And Prejudice And Evil Tendencies Subject To An Upright And Reasoning Will, And You Have Done Much To Abolish Misery From Their Future And Crimes From Society.

Some Make Conscience Of Wearing A Hat In The Church, Who Make None Of Robbing The Altar.

To Be Proud Of Knowledge Is To Be Blind With Light.

Those Who Prefer Security To Liberty Deserve Neither.

The Way To Be Safe Is Never To Be Secure.

There Is Scarce A King In A Hundred Who Would Not, If He Could, Follow The Example Of Pharoah - Get First All The People's Money, Then All Their Lands, And Then Make Them And Their Children Servants Forever.

A Man In A Passion, Rides A Mad Horse.

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

Wealth Is Not His That Has It, But His That Enjoys It.

Greatest Wealth

If You Want A Neat Wife, Choose Her On A Saturday.

Eat Not To Dullness, Drink Not To Elevation.

Self Improvement

Great Spenders Are Bad Lenders.

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

In These Sentiments, Sir, I Agree To This Constitution, With All Its Faults, If They Are Such; Because I Think A General Government Necessary For Us, And There Is No Form Of Government, But What May Be A Blessing To The People If Well Administered; And Believe Further, That This Is Likely To Be Well Administered For A Course Of Years, And Can Only End In Despotism, As Other Forms Have Done Before It, When The People Shall Become So Corrupted As To Need Despotic Government, Being Incapable Of Any Other.

Give Me 26 Lead Soldiers And I Will Conquer The World.

Conquer The World

Strangers Are Welcome Because There Is Room Enough For Them All, And Therefore The Old Inhabitants Are Not Jealous Of Them; The Laws Protect Them Sufficiently So That They Have No Need Of The Patronage Of Great Men; And Every One Will Enjoy Securely The Profits Of His Industry. But If He Does Not Bring A Fortune With Him, He Must Work And Be Industrious To Live.

'tis His Honesty That Brought Upon Him The Character Of A Heretic.

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

We Have Been Assured, Sir, In The Sacred Writings, That 'except The Lord Build The House, They Labor In Vain That Build It' I Firmly Believe This; By Our Partial Local Interests; Our Projects Will Be Confounded, And We Ourselves Shall Become A Reproach And A By Word Down To Future Ages.

Did Not Strong Connections Draw Me Elsewhere, I Believe Scotland Would Be The Country I Would Choose To End My Days In.

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.

He Who Gives Up Freedom For Safety Deserves Neither.

Men And Melons Are Hard To Know.

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

An Ounce Of Wit That Is Bought, Is Worth A Pound That Is Taught.

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

Wine Makes Daily Living Easier, Less Hurried With Fewer Tensions And More Tolerance.

Much Virtue In Herbs, Little In Men.

An Education Is The Investment With The Greatest Returns.

Pity And Forbearance Should Characterize All Acts Of Justice.

Speak With Contempt Of None, From Slave To King, The Meanest Bee Hath, And Will Use, A Sting.

He's The Best Physician That Knows The Worthlessness Of Most Medicines.

You May Sometimes Be Much In The Wrong, In Owning Your Being In The Right.

Why Does The Blind Man's Wife Paint Herself.

Whatever Is Begun In Anger Ends In Shame.

If You'd Be Beloved, Make Yourself Amiable. A True Friend Is The Best Possession.

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.

Kill No More Pigeons Than You Can Eat.

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

Perhaps I Was Too Saucy And Provoking.

If Pride Leads The Van, Beggary Brings Up The Rear.

Keep Your Eyes Wide Open Before Marriage, Half Shut Afterwards.

There Seems To Be Three Ways For A Nation To Acquire Wealth: The First Is By War...this Is Robbery; The Second By Commerce, Which Is Generally Cheating; The Third By Agriculture, The Only Honest Way.

Half The Truth Is Often A Great Lie.

A Bible And A Newspaper In Every House, A Good School In Every District; All Studied And Appreciated As They Merit; Are The Principal Support Of Virtue, Morality, And Civil Liberty.

Never Praise Your Cider Or Your Horse

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?

Diligence Overcomes Difficulties; Sloth Makes Them.

He That Lives Upon Hope Will Die Fasting.

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

Quantity And Quality

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

To Bear Other People's Afflictions, Everyone Has Courage And Enough To Spare.

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

Order - Let All Your Things Have Their Places; Let Each Part Of Your Business Have Its Time.

Moral Perfection

Often I Sit Up In My Room Reading The Greatest Part Of The Night, When The Book Was Borrowed In The Evening And To Be Returned Early In The Morning, Lest It Should Be Missed Or Wanted.

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.

Laws Without Morals Are In Vain.

He Is No Clown That Drives The Plow, But He That Doth Clownish Things.

The Early Morning Has Gold In Its Mouth.

Rising In The Morning

Success Has Ruined Many A Man.

Man Will Ultimately Be Governed By God Or By Tyrants.

Approve Not Of Him Who Commends All You Say.

Silence Is Not Always A Sign Of Wisdom, But Babbling Is Ever A Mark Of Folly.

What Signifies Philosophy That Does Not Apply To Some Use? May We Not Learn From Hence, That Black Clothes Are Not So Fit To Wear In A Hot Sunny Climate Or Season, As White Ones; Because In Such Cloaths The Body Is More Heated By The Sun When We Walk Abroad, And Are At The Same Time Heated By The Exercise, Which Double Heat Is Apt To Bring On Putrid Dangerous Fevers? The Soldiers And Seamen, Who Must March And Labour In The Sun, Should In The East Or West Indies Have An Uniform Of White?

Hope And Faith May Be More Firmly Built Upon Charity, Than Charity Upon Faith And Hope.

Be At War With Your Vices, At Peace With Your Neighbors, And Let Every New Year Find You A Better Man.

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

The One Who Fails To Prepare Is Preparing To Fail.

Preparing To Fail

The Handshake Of The Host Affects The Taste Of The Roast

Man Is A Tool-making Animal

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

Temporary Insanity

Those Things That Hurt, Instruct.

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.

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

Money Is Of A Prolific Generating Nature. Money Can Beget Money, And Its Offspring Can Beget More.

He That Is Rich Need Not Live Sparingly, And He That Can Live Sparingly Need Not Be Rich.

Those Who Laugh Often Never Grow Old.

If A Man Would Reap Praise, You Must Sow The Seeds, Gentle Words And Useful Deeds.

Common Sense Without Education, Is Better Than Education Without Common Sense.

We Must Not In The Course Of Public Life Expect Immediate Approbation And Immediate Grateful Acknowledgment Of Our Services. But Let Us Persevere Through Abuse And Even Injury. The Internal Satisfaction Of A Good Conscience Is Always Present, And Time Will Do Us Justice In The Minds Of The People, Even Those At Present The Most Prejudiced Against Us.

A Fine Genius In His Own Country Is Like Gold In The Mine.

He That Spends A Groat A Day Idly, Spends Idly Above 6 L. A Year, Which Is The Price Of Using 100 L.

The Sleeping Fox Catches No Poultry.

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

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

Reading Was The Only Amusement I Allowed Myself

To Be Thrown Upon One's Own Resources Is To Be Cast Into The Very Lap Of Fortune; For Our Faculties Then Undergo A Development And Display An Energy Of Which They Were Previosly Unsusceptible.

In The Affairs Of This World, Men Are Saved Not By Faith, But By The Want Of It.

In Order To Be Happy You Need A Good Dog, A Good Woman, And Ready Money.

Remember This Saying, 'that The Good Paymaster Is Lord Of Another Man's Purse.' He That Is Known To Pay Punctually And Exactly To The Time He Promises, May At Any Time, And On Any Occasion, Raise All The Money His Friends Can Spare.

If Anyone Should Doubt Whether The Electrical Matter Passes Through The Substance Of Bodies, Or Only Over Along Their Surfaces, A Shock From An Electrified Large Glass Jar, Taken Through His Own Body, Will Probably Convince Him.

Instead Of Cursing The Darkness, Light A Candle.

Despair Ruins Some, Presumption Many.

Three Things Are Men Most Likely To Be Cheated In, A Horse, A Wig, And A Wife.

Remember, That Money Is Of The Prolific, Generating Nature. Money Can Beget Money, And Its Offspring Can Beget More, And So On. Five Shillings Turned Is Six, Turned Again It Is Seven And Threepence, And So On, Till It Becomes A Hundred Pounds. The More There Is Of It, The More It Produces Every Turning, So That The Profits Rise Quicker And Quicker. He That Kills A Breeding Sow, Destroys All Her Offspring To The Thousandth Generation. He That Murders A Crown, Destroys All That It Might Have Produced, Even Scores Of Pounds.

God Bless The King, And Grant Him Long To Reign.

There Never Was A Truly Great Man That Was Not At The Same Time Truly Virtuous.

The Only Time Not Wasted Is Wasted Time.

Time Is The Stuff Life Is Made Of.

People Who Are Wrapped Up In Themselves Make Small Packages.

When Befriended, Remember It; When You Befriend, Forget It.

Waste Neither Time Nor Money, But Make The Best Use Of Both.

He That Hath A Calling, Hath An Office Of Profit And Honor.

A Single Man Has Not Nearly The Value He Would Have In A State Of Union. He Is An Incomplete Animal. He Resembles The Odd Half Of A Pair Of Scissors.

Words May Show A Man's Wit But Actions His Meaning.

You Will Find The Key To Success Under The Alarm Clock.

The Devil Wipes His Breech With Poor Folks' Pride.

If Time Be Of All Things The Most Precious, Wasting Time Must Be, As Poor Richard Says, “the Greatest Prodigality'; Since, As He Elsewhere Tells Us, 'lost Time Is Never Found Again'; And 'what We Call Time Enough Always Proves Little Enough'. Let Us Then Up And Be Doing, And Doing To The Purpose; So By Diligence Shall We Do More With Less Perplexity.

Why Should I Give My Readers Bad Lines Of My Own When Good Ones Of Other People's Are So Plenty?

A Man Separated From His Reflective Belt Is No Man At All.

A Little Sturdiness When Superiors Are Much In The Wrong Sometimes Occasions Consideration. And There Is Truth In The Old Saying That If You Make Yourself A Sheep, The Wolves Will Eat You.

Traveling Is One Way Of Lengthening Life, At Least In Appearance.

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

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

The U. S. Constitution Doesn't Guarantee Happiness, Only The Pursuit Of It. You Have To Catch Up With It Yourself.

A Policy Of Life Insurance Is The Cheapest And Safest Mode Of Making A Certain Provision For One's Family.

And Whether You're An Honest Man, Or Whether You're A Thief, Depends On Whose Solicitor Has Given Me My Brief.

It Is A Strange Anomaly That Men Could Be Careful To Insure Their Houses, Their Ships, Their Merchandise, And Yet Neglect To Insure Their Lives - Surely The Most Important Of All To Their Families, And More Subject To Loss.

All Human Situations Have Their Inconveniences. We Feel Those Of The Present But Neither See Nor Feel Those Of The Future; And Hence We Often Make Troublesome Changes Without Amendment, And Frequently For The Worse.

I Have Always Thought That One Man Of Tolerable Abilities May Work Great Changes, And Accomplish Great Affairs Among Mankind, If He First Forms A Good Plan, And, Cutting Off All Amusements Or Other Employments That Would Divert His Attention, Make The Execution Of That Same Plan His Sole Study And Business.

Wine Is Constant Proof That God Loves Us And Likes To See Us Happy.

Cold & Cunning Come From The North: But Cunning Sans Wisdom Is Nothing Worth.

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

Let Thy Vices Die Before Thee.

Increase In Me That Wisdom Which Discovers My Truest Interest, Strengthen My Resolution To Perform That Which Wisdom Dictates.

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

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

The Cunning Man Steals A Horse, The Wise Man Lets Him Alone.

Remember, Sir, That [england] Began The Slave Trade!

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

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