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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.

-Benjamin Franklin

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We Must Not In

Benjamin Franklin

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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.

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Taxes Are Indeed Very Heavy - We Are Taxed Twice As Much By Our Idleness. Three Times As Much By Our Pride. And Four Times As Much By Our Folly.

Don't Throw Stones At Your Neighbors, If Your Own Windows Are Glass.

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

Be In General Virtuous, And You Will Be Happy. At Least, You Will By Such Conduct, Stand The Best Chance For Such Consequences.

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.

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

Fools Make Feasts And Wise Men Eat Them.

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

To Cease To Think Creatively Is To Cease To Live

A Nation Of Well-informed Men Who Have Been Taught To Know And Prize The Rights Which God Has Given Them Cannot Be Enslaved. It Is In The Region Of Ignorance That Tyranny Begins.” Benjamin Franklin

A Traveller Should Have A Hog's Nose, A Deer's Legs, And An Ass's Back.

He That's Secure Is Not Safe.

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.

Sarcasm Is The Lowest Form Of Humor But The Highest Form Of Flattery.

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.

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.

The Poor Have Little; Beggars, None; The Rich, Too Much; Enough, Not One.

Philosophy As Well As Foppery Often Changes Fashion.

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

What Is Best For People Is What They Do For Themselves.

The Cat In Gloves Catches No Mice.

There Is No Little Enemy

Handle Your Tools Without Mittens.

When Confronted With Two Courses Of Action I Jot Down On A Piece Of Paper All The Arguments In Favor Of Each One, Then On The Opposite Side I Write The Arguments Against Each One. Then By Weighing The Arguments Pro And Con And Cancelling Them Out, One Against The Other, I Take The Course Indicated By What Remains.

Where There's Marriage Without Love, There Will Be Love Without Marriage.

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

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.

We Are Not So Sensible Of The Greatest Health As Of The Least Sickness.

Who Pleasure Gives, Shall Joy Receive

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

Lawyers, Preachers, And Tomtits Eggs, There Are More Of Them Hatch'd Than Come To Perfection.

Watch The Pennies And The Dollars Will Take Care Of Themselves.

Eat Not To Dullness, Drink Not To Elevation.

Self Improvement

Bargaining Has Neither Friends Nor Relations.

For The Best Return On Your Money, Pour Your Purse Into Your Head.

Look Before, Or You'll Find Yourself Behind.

Finding Yourself

Where Security Exists, Liberty And Opportunity Do Not.

Man Is A Tool-making Animal

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

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

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

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

Games Lubricate The Body And The Mind.

Dally Not With Other Folk's Spouses Or Money.

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.

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

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

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

Diligence Overcomes Difficulties; Sloth Makes Them.

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

Evils Come Not, Then Our Fears Are Vain; And If They Do Fear But Augments The Pain.

You Can Do Anything You Set Your Mind To

Men Take More Pains To Mask Than Mend.

If We Look Back Into History For The Character Of The Present Sects In Christianity, We Shall Find Few That Have Not In Their Turns Been Persecutors, And Complainers Of Persecution. The Primitive Christians Thought Persecution Extremely Wrong In The Pagans, But Practised It On One Another.

Righteousness, Or Justice, Is, Undoubtedly Of All The Virtues, The Surest Foundation On Which To Create And Establish A New State. But There Are Two Nobler Virtues, Industry And Frugality, Which Tend More To Increase The Wealth, Power And Grandeur Of The Community, Than All The Others Without Them.

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

Here Comes The Orator With His Flood Of Words And His Drop Of Reason.

Ill Customs And Bad Advice Are Seldom Forgotten.

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.'

Everybody's Human-everybody Makes Mistakes. If You Laugh It Off And Keep Going And Try To Give It Your Best The Next Time Around, People Respect That.

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.

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

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

Those Who Would Give Up Liberty For Safety Deserve Neither.

Applause Waits On Success.

Congratulations

The Rapid Progress Of The Sciences Makes Me Sorry, At Times, That I Was Born So Soon. Imagine The Power That Man Will Have Over Matter, A Few Hundred Years From Now. We May Learn How To Remove Gravity From Large Masses, And Float Them Over Great Distances. Agriculture Will Double Its Produce With Less Labor. All Diseases Will Surely Be Cured... Even Old Age. If Only The Moral Sciences Could Be Improved As Well. Perhaps Men Would Cease To Be Wolves To One Another... And Human Beings Could Learn To Be Human.

The Wise Man Draws More Advantage From His Enemies Than The Fool From His Friends

Experience Keeps A Dear School, But Fools Will Learn In No Other, And Scarce In That; For It Is True We May Give Advice, But We Cannot Give Conduct.

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.

Becoming Better

For Every Minute Spent In Organizing, An Hour Is Earned.

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

Governments Having Failed The People, The People Are Entirely Justified In Assuming For Themselves An Essential Role In Government. Where A Government Takes Proper Measures To Protect The People Under Its Care, Such A Proceeding Might Have Been Thought Both Unnecessary And Unjustifiable: But Here It Is Quite The Reverse.

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

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

Constant Complaint Is The Poorest Sort Of Pay For All The Comforts We Enjoy.

The Devil Wipes His Breech With Poor Folks' Pride.

A Penny Saved Is A Penny Earned.

Display Is As False As It Is Costly.

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

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

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

A Little Neglect May Breed Great Mischief. ... For Want Of A Nail, The Shoe Was Lost; For Want Of A Shoe, The Horse Was Lost; For Want Of A Horse, The Battle Was Lost; For Want Of The Battle, The War Was Lost.

Rather Go To Bed With Out Dinner Than To Rise In Debt.

Glass, China, And Reputation, Are Easily Cracked, And Never Well Mended.

Remember, That Money Is Of The Prolific, Generating Nature.

When Circumstances Don't Fit Our Ideas They Become Our Difficulties

Distrust And Caution Are The Parents Of Security.

Justice Is As Strictly Due Between Neighbor Nations As Between Neighbor Citizens.

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

If You Wish Information And Improvement From The Knowledge Of Others, And Yet At The Same Time Express Yourself As Firmly Fix'd In Your Present Opinions, Modest, Sensible Men, Who Do Not Love Disputation, Will Probably Leave You Undisturbed In The Possession Of Your Error.

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.

The Importation Of Foreigners Into A Country That Has As Many Inhabitants As The Present Employments And Provisions For Subsistence Will Bear, Will Be In The End No Increase Of People, Unless The New Comers Have More Industry And Frugality Than The Natives, And Then They Will Provide More Subsistence, And Increase In The Country; But They Will Gradually Eat The Natives Out. Nor Is It Necessary To Bring In Foreigners To Fill Up Any Occasional Vacancy In A Country For Such Vacancy Will Soon Be Filled By Natural Generation.

There Are Two Ways Of Being Happy: We Must Either Diminish Our Wants Or Augment Our Means - Either May Do - The Result Is The Same And It Is For Each Man To Decide For Himself And To Do That Which Happens To Be Easier.

Marry Your Son When You Will, But You Daughter When You Can.

That It Is Better 100 Guilty Persons Should Escape Than That One Innocent Person Should Suffer, Is A Maxim That Has Been Long And Generally Approved.

Innocent Person

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

It Was Said Of Him That He Did Not Say Much, But That When He Did Everyone Stopped To Listen.

Rebellion To Tyrants Is Obedience To God.

Plough Deep While Sluggards Sleep.

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

Employ Thy Time Well, If Thou Meanest To Gain Leisure.

Those Who Beat Their Swords Into Plowshares Usually End Up Plowing For Those Who Kept Their Swords.

Right To Bear Arms

It Is The First Responsibility Of Every Citizen To Question Authority.

Take One Thing With Another, And The World Is A Pretty Good Sort Of A World, And It Is Our Duty To Make The Best Of It, And Be Thankful.

Are You Angry That Others Disappoint You? Remember You Cannot Depend Upon Yourself.

The Discontented Man Finds No Easy Chair.

We Should Make The Poor Uncomfortable And Kick Them Out Of Poverty.

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

The Heart Of A Fool Is In His Mouth, But The Mouth Of A Wise Man Is In His Heart.

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

In This World Nothing Can Be Said To Be Certain, Except Death And Taxes.

The Way To Wealth Depends On Just Two Words, Industry And Frugality.

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

Libertarian Party

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

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

Whoever Shall Introduce Into Public Affairs The Principles Of Primitive Christianity Will Change The Face Of The World.

Motivation Is When Your Dreams Put On Work Clothes

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

When You Speak To A Man, Look On His Eyes; When He Speaks To You, Look On His Mouth.

Many Complain Of Their Memory, Few Of Their Judgment.

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

When Men Are Employed They Are Best Contented.

The Apostle Paul Very Seriously Advised Timothy To Put Some Wine In His Water For Health's Sake, But Not One Of The Apostles Nor Any Of The Holy Fathers Have Ever Recommended Putting Water In Wine

God Helps Those Who Help Themselves.

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

Search Others For Their Virtues, Thyself For Thy Vices.

It Is The Duty Of Mankind On All Suitable Occasions To Acknowledge Their Dependence On The Divine Being.

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

Make Yourself Sheep And The Wolves Will Eat You.

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

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.

To Be Proud Of Virtue, Is To Poison Yourself With The Antidote.

Those Have A Short Lent Who Owe Money To Be Paid At Easter.

Resurrection Of Jesus Christ

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

God Helps Them That Help Themselves.

Lose No Time; Be Always Employed In Something Useful.

Moral Perfection

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

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

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.

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

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.

Saying And Doing, Have Quarrel'd And Parted.

Saying And Doing

Tricks And Treachery Are The Practice Of Fools, That Don't Have Brains Enough To Be Honest.

... There Is Much Truth In The Italian Saying, 'make Yourselves Sheep, And The Wolves Will Eat You.'

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

By My Rambling Digressions I Perceive Myself To Be Growing Old.

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

Industry Need Not Wish, And He That Lives Upon Hopes Will Die Fasting. There Are No Gains Without Pains. He That Hath A Trade Hath An Estate, And He That Hath A Calling Hath An Office Of Profit And Honor; But Then The Trade Must Be Worked At And The Calling Followed, Or Neither The Estate Nor The Office Will Enable Us To Pay Our Taxes. 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 Idleness And Neglect Increase Them.

After Getting The First Hundred Pounds, It Is More Easy To Get The Second.

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 Man Is Not Completely Born Until He Is Dead. Why Then Should We Grieve That A New Child Is Born Among The Immortals, A New Member Added To Their Happy Society?

You And I Were Long Friends: You Are Now My Enemy, And I Am Yours.

Some Are Weatherwise, Some Are Otherwise.

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

Arguing Is A Game That Two Can Play At. But It Is A Strange Game In That Neither Opponent Ever Wins.

A Lie Stands On One Leg, Truth On Two.

Paintings And Fightings Are Best Seen At A Distance.

When The Well Is Dry, We Know The Worth Of Water.

Idleness And Pride Tax With A Heavier Hand Than Kings And Parliaments. If We Can Get Rid Of The Former, We May Easily Bear The Latter.

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

He That Can Have Patience Can Have What He Will.

Whatever You Become Be Good At It

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

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

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

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.

Men Differ Daily About Things Which Are Subject To Sense, Is It Likely Then They Should Agree About Things Invisible.

Little Leaks Sink The Ship.

Praise To The Undeserving Is Severe Satire.

There Are No Ugly Loves Nor Handsome Prisons.

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

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

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.

Take Heed Of The Vinegar Of Sweet Wine, And The Anger Of Good-nature.

No Nation Was Ever Ruined By Trade.

I Would Advise You To Read With A Pen In Your Hand And Enter In A Little Book Short Hints Of What You Feel That Is Common Or That May Be Useful; For This Will Be The Best Method Of Imprinting Such Portcullis In Your Memory.

Where There's No Law, There's No Bread.

Teach Your Child To Hold His Tongue; He'll Learn Fast Enough To Speak.

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

Praise Little, Dispraise Less.

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

He That Resolves To Mend Hereafter, Resolves Not To Mend Now.

If Any Man Flatters Me, I'll Flatter Him Again; Tho' He Were My Best Friend.

Great Spenders Are Bad Lenders.

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.

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

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

Get What You Can, And What You Get Hold; 'tis The Stone That Will Turn All Your Lead Into Gold.

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.

Keep Conscience Clear, Then Never Fear.

If Jack's In Love, He's No Judge Of Jill's Beauty.

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?

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.

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

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

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.

To Lengthen Thy Life, Lessen Thy Meals.

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

Mankind Are Very Odd Creatures: One Half Censure What They Practice, The Other Half Practice What They Censure; The Rest Always Say And Do As They Ought.

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.

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