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Our Constitution Is In Actual Operation; Everything Appears To Promise That It Will Last; But In This World Nothing Is Certain But Death And Taxes.

-Benjamin Franklin

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Our Constitution Is In

Benjamin Franklin

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Our Constitution Is In Actual Operation; Everything Appears To Promise That It Will Last; But In This World Nothing Is Certain But Death And Taxes.

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I Believe In One God, Creator Of The Universe In That He Ought To Be Whipped From Pilar To Post And Back Again For His Shameful Actions Toward Humanity.

The Electrical Matter Consists Of Particles Extremely Subtile, Since It Can Permeate Common Matter, Even The Densest Metals, With Such Ease And Freedom As Not To Receive Any Perceptible Resistance.

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

Write To Please Yourself. When You Write To Please Others You End Up Pleasing No One.

Energy And Persistence Conquer All Things.

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?

He That Doth What He Should Not, Shall Feel What He Would Not.

All Mankind Is Divided Into Three Classes: Those That Are Immovable, Those That Are Movable, And Those That Move.

Sloth And Silence Are A Fool's Virtues

Do Not, However, Mistake Me. It Is Not To My Good Friend's Heresy That I Impute His Honesty. On The Contrary, 'tis His Honesty That Brought Upon Him The Character Of A Heretic.

Half-wits Talk Much, But Say Little.

Tis Easy To See, Hard To Foresee.

I Believe That Man Is Not The Most Perfect Being But One, Rather That As There Are Many Degrees Of Beings His Inferiors, So There Are Many Degrees Of Beings Superior To Him.

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

An Education Is The Investment With The Greatest Returns.

But In This World Nothing Is Sure But Death And Taxes. [fr., Mais Dons Ce Monde, Il N'y A Rien D'assure Que Le Mort Et Les Impots.]

You Will Observe With Concern How Long A Useful Truth May Be Known, And Exist, Before It Is Generally Received And Practiced On.

Behold The Rain Which Descends From Heaven Upon Our Vineyards; There It Enters The Roots Of The Vines, To Be Changed Into Wine; A Constant Proof That God Loves Us, And Loves To See Us Happy.

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.

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

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

It's Better To Swim In The Sea Below Than To Swing In The Air And Feed The Crow, Says Jolly Ned Teach Of Bristol.

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

But The Most Dangerous Hypocrite In A Common-wealth, Is One Who Leaves The Gospel For The Sake Of The Law: A Man Compounded Of Law And Gospel, Is Able To Cheat A Whole Country With His Religion, And Then Destroy Them Under Colour Of Law: And Here The Clergy Are In Great Danger Of Being Deceiv'd, And The People Of Being Deceiv'd By The Clergy, Until The Monster Arrives To Such Power And Wealth, That He Is Out Of The Reach Of Both, And Can Oppress The People Without Their Own Blind Assistance.

To Find Out A Girl's Faults, Praise Her To Her Girlfriends.

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

God Will Certainly Reward Virtue And Punish Vice, Either Here Or Hereafter.

Little Rogues Easily Become Great Ones.

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.

Duty Is Not Beneficial Because It Is Commanded, But Is Commanded Because It Is Beneficial.

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.

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

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

The Borrower Is A Slave To The Lender And The Debtor To The Creditor.

Hunger Never Saw Bad Bread.

There Are No Ugly Loves Nor Handsome Prisons.

If The Elbow Had Been Placed Closer To The Hand, The Forearm Would Have Been Too Short To Bring The Glass To The Mouth; And If It Had Been Closer To The Shoulder, The Forearm Would Have Been So Long That It Would Have Carried The Glass Beyond The Mouth.

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

Laws Without Morals Are In Vain.

None Are Deceived But They That Confide.

Proclaim Not All Though Knowest, Or All Though Owest.

The Most Exquisite Folly Is Made Of Wisdom Spun Too Fine.

I Fear The Man Who Drinks Water And So Remembers This Morning What The Rest Of Us Said Last Night

The Rotten Apple Spoils His Companion.

Kill No More Pigeons Than You Can Eat.

The Generous Mind Least Regards Money, And Yet Most Feels The Want Of It.

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

Eat Not To Dullness, Drink Not To Elevation.

Self Improvement

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.

The Way To Secure Peace Is To Be Prepared For War. They That Are On Their Guard, And Appear Ready To Receive Their Adversaries, Are In Much Less Danger Of Being Attacked, Than The Supine, Secure, And Negligent.

All Cats Are Gray In The Dark.

Your Best Investment Is To Pour Your Purse Into Your Head, And No One Can Take It Away From You.

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

Epitaph On A Scolding Wife By Her Husband: Here My Poor Bridget's Corpse Doth Lie, She Is At Rest - And So Am I!

Great Talkers Are Little Doers.

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

Time Is Money'... Waste It Now. Pay For It Later!

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

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

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

Early To Bed And Early To Rise Makes A Man Healthy, Wealthy And Wise.

Evil, As Evil, Can Never Be Chosen; And Though Evil Is Often The Effect Of Our Own Choice, Yet We Never Desire It But Under The Appearance Of An Imaginary Good.

Those Who Are Willing To Forfeit Liberty For Security Will Have Neither.

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

The Tongue Offends And The Ears Get The Cuffing

But The Eyes Of Other People Are The Eyes That Ruin Us. If All But Myself Were Blind, I Should Want Neither Fine Clothes, Fine Houses Nor Fine Furniture.

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

Paintings And Fightings Are Best Seen At A Distance.

Keep Flax From Fire, And Youth From Gaming.

The Refusal Of King George To Allow The Colonies To Operate An Honest Money System, Which Freed The Ordinary Man From Clutches Of The Money Manipulators Was Probably The Prime Cause Of The Revolution.

Little Strokes Fell Great Oaks.

It Would Be Thought A Hard Government That Should Tax Its People One Tenth Part.

Libertarian Party

Most People Dislike Vanity In Others, Whatever Share They Have Of It Themselves.

I Think With You, That Nothing Is Of More Importance For The Public Weal, Than To Form And Train Up Youth In Wisdom And Virtue. Wise And Good Men Are In My Opinion, The Strength Of The State; More So Than Riches Or Arms.

Those Who Would Give Up Liberty For Safety Deserve Neither.

Sloth Makes All Things Difficult, But Industry All Things Easy.

Savages We Call Them, Because Their Manners Differ From Ours, Which We Think The Perfection Of Civility; They Think The Same Of Theirs.

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

It Is Ill-manners To Silence A Fool And Cruelty To Let Him Go On

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

Every Pot Must Sit On Its Own Bottom.

The Church, The State, And The Poor, Are 3 Daughters Which We Should Maintain, But Not Portion Off.

While The Path To Wealth Is Clearly Marked, Few Are Willing To Adapt Themselves To The Modest Discipline That The Journey Requires. Instead, Most Choose The Shinier Track Of Debt-driven Consumption, Which They Find Further Along Is Covered In Vines And Thorns.

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.

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

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

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.

People Who Are Wrapped Up In Themselves Make Small Packages.

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

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

The Only Certain Things In Life Are Death And Taxes!

Many Dishes Many Diseases, Many Medicines Few Cures.

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.

He That Riseth Late, Must Trot All Day, And Shall Scarce Overtake His Business At Night.

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

Suspicion May Be No Fault, But Showing It May Be A Great One.

On Being Asked What Condition Of Man He Considered The Most Pitiable: A Lonesome Man On A Rainy Day Who Does Not Know How To Read.

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

A Lie Stands On One Leg, Truth On Two.

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

But They Have Two Other Rights; Those Of Sitting When They Please, And As Long As They Please, In Which Methinks They Have The Advantage Of Your Parliament; For They Cannot Be Dissolved By The Breath Of A Minister, Or Sent Packing As You Were The Other Day, When It Was Your Earnest Desire To Have Remained Longer Together.

He That Speaks Ill Of The Mare Will Buy Her.

If Time Be Of All Things The Most Precious, Wasting Time Must Be The Greatest Prodigality.

Do Not Anticipate Trouble, Or Worry About What May Never Happen. Keep In The Sunlight.

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."

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

My Dear Friend, Do Not Imagine That I Am Vain Enough To Ascribe Our Success [revolution] To Any Superiority . . . If It Had Not Been For The Justice Of Our Cause, And The Consequent Interposition Of Providence, In Which We Had Faith, We Must Have Been Ruined. If I Had Ever Before Been An Atheist, I Should Now Have Been Convinced Of The Being And Government Of A Deity!

The Only Things Of Certainty Are Death And Taxes.

Better Is Little With The Fear Of The Lord, Than Great Treasure, And Trouble Therewith.

That As We Enjoy Great Advantages From The Inventions Of Others, We Should Be Glad Of An Opportunity To Serve Others By Any Invention Of Ours, And This We Should Do Freely And Generously.

Those Things That Hurt, Instruct.

The Golden Age Was Never The Present Age.

Bad Gains Are True Losses.

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.

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

Use Now And Then A Little Exercise A Quarter Of An Hour Before Meals, As To Swing A Weight, Or Swing Your Arms About With A Small Weight In Each Hand; To Leap, Or The Like, For That Stirs The Muscles Of The Breast.

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

Let Each New Year Find You A Better Person.

Women Are Books, And Men The Readers Be, Who Sometimes In Those Books Erratas See; Yet Oft The Reader's Raptured With Each Line, Fair Print And Paper, Fraught With Sense Divine; Tho' Some, Neglectful, Seldom Care To Read, And Faithful Wives No More Than Bibles Heed. Are Women Books? Says Hodge, Then Would Mine Were An Almanack, To Change Her Every Year.

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.

If You Fail To Plan, You Are Planning To Fail!

Never Confuse Motion With Action.

Take Counsel In Wine, But Resolve Afterwards In Water.

All The Heavenly Bodies, The Stars And Planets, Are Regulated With The Utmost Wisdom! And Can We Suppose Less Care To Be Taken In The Order Of The Moral Than In The Natural System?

Nothing Is So Tiresome To One's Self, As Well As So Odious To Others, As Disguise And Affectation.

Dally Not With Other Folk's Spouses Or Money.

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.

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.

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?

I Should Have No Objection To Go Over The Same Life From Its Beginning To The End: Requesting Only The Advantage Authors Have, Of Correcting In A Second Edition The Faults Of The First.

To Expect People To Be Good, To Be Just, To Be Temperate, Etc., Without Showing Them How They Should Become So, Seems Like The Ineffectual Charity Mentioned By The Apostle, Which Consisted In Saying To The Hungry, The Cold And The Naked, Be Ye Fed, Be Ye Warmed, Be Ye Clothed, Without Showing Them How They Should Get Food, Fire Or Clothing.

It Is Better To Take Many Injuries Than To Give One.

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.

Outside Independence Hall When The Constitutional Convention Of 1787 Ended

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

Idle Hands Are The Devil's Playthings.

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

Now I've A Sheep And A Cow, Every Body Bids Me Good Morrow.

I Have Been Apt To Think That There Has Never Been, Nor Ever Will Be, Any Such Thing As A Good War, Or A Bad Peace.

Industry Need Not Wish.

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

An Investment In Knowledge Pays The Best Interest.

The Only Time Not Wasted Is Wasted Time.

Never Contradict Anybody.

Diligence Overcomes Difficulties; Sloth Makes Them.

Grace Thou Thy House And Let Not That Grace Thee.

Our Necessities Never Equal Our Wants.

Out Of Adversity Comes Opportunity.

If Your Riches Are Yours, Why Don't You Take Them With You To The Other World?

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

[e]very Man Who Comes Among Us, And Takes Up A Piece Of Land, Becomes A Citizen, And By Our Constitution Has A Voice In Elections, And A Share In The Government Of The Country.

The Two Most Beautiful Sights I Have Witnessed In My Life Are A Full Blown Ship At Sail And The Round-bellied Pregnant Female.

A Friend In Need Is A Friend Indeed!

Friendship Memories

I Think Vital Religion Has Always Suffered When Orthodoxy Is More Regarded Than Virtue. The Scriptures Assure Me That At The Last Day We Shall Not Be Examined On What We Thought But What We Did.

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.

Speak Ill Of No Man, But Speak All The Good You Know Of Everybody.

It Is The Working Man Who Is The Happy Man. It Is The Idle Man Who Is The Miserable Man.

It Takes Many Good Deeds To Build A Good Reputation, And Only One Bad One To Lose It.

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

In Order For Three People To Keep A Secret, Two Must Be Dead.

Eat What You Like, But Dress For Other People.

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.

Philosophy As Well As Foppery Often Changes Fashion.

There Cannot Be Good Living Where There Is Not Good Drinking.

Little Boats Should Keep Near Shore

The Doors Of Wisdom Are Never Shut.

You Have On Hand Those Things That You Need If You Have But The Wit And Wisdom To Use Them.

Many Complain Of Their Memory, Few Of Their Judgment.

To Lengthen Thy Life, Lessen Thy Meals.

Let The Experiment Be Made.

Those Who Would Give Up Essential Liberty, To Purchase A Little Temporary Safety, Deserve Neither Liberty Nor Safety.

History Will Also Afford Frequent Opportunities Of Showing The Necessity Of A Public Religion, From Its Usefulness To The Public; The Advantage Of A Religious Character Among Private Persons; The Mischiefs Of Superstition, And The Excellency Of The Christian Religion Above All Others, Ancient Or Modern.

A Full Belly Brings Forth Every Evil.

In My Youth, I Traveled Much, And I Observed In Different Countries, That The More Public Provisions Were Made For The Poor, The Less They Provided For Themselves, And Of Course Became Poorer. And, On The Contrary, The Less Was Done For Them, The More They Did For Themselves, And Became Richer.

Lighthouses Are More Helpful Than Churches.

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

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.

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

Squeamish Stomachs Cannot Eat Without Pickles.

If Better Is Possible, Good Is Not Enough

Great Talkers, Little Doers.

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

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

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.

Most People Dislike Vanity In Others, Whatever Share They Have Of It Themselves; But I Give It Fair Quarter, Wherever I Meet With It, Being Persuaded That It Is Often Productive Of Good To The Possessor, And To Others Who Are Within His Sphere Of Action: And Therefore, In Many Cases, It Would Not Be Altogether Absurd If A Man Were To Thank God For His Vanity Among The Other Comforts Of Life.

In Success Be Moderate.

Any Fool Can Criticize, Condemn And Complain - And Most Fools Do.

Funny Inspirational

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

Use No Hurtful Deceit; Think Innocently And Justly And, If You Speak, Speak Accordingly.

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

Some Books We Read, Tho' Few There Are That Hit The Happy Point Where Wisdom Joins With Wit.

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

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.'

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.

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

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

All Things Are Cheap To The Saving, Dear To The Wasteful

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.

Some Are Weatherwise, Some Are Otherwise.

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

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