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When You Get Into A Tight Place And Everything Goes Against You, Till It Seems As Though You Could Not Hold On A Minute Longer, Never Give Up Then, For That Is Just The Place And Time That The Tide Will Turn. When You're Down To Nothing, God Is Up To Something. The Faithful See The Invisible, Believe The Incredible And Then Receive The Impossible. Where Liberty Dwells There Is My Country.

-Benjamin Franklin

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When You Get Into

Benjamin Franklin

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When You Get Into A Tight Place And Everything Goes Against You, Till It Seems As Though You Could Not Hold On A Minute Longer, Never Give Up Then, For That Is Just The Place And Time That The Tide Will Turn. When You're Down To Nothing, God Is Up To Something. The Faithful See The Invisible, Believe The Incredible And Then Receive The Impossible. Where Liberty Dwells There Is My Country.

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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.

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

A Lady Asked Dr. Franklin Well Doctor What Have We Got A Republic Or A Monarchy - "a Republic," Replied The Doctor, "if You Can Keep It."

An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away.

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.

A Highwayman Is As Much A Robber When He Plunders In A Gang As When Single; And A Nation That Makes An Unjust War Is Only A Great Gang.

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.

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.

What Is Without Us Has No Connection With Happiness, Only So Far As The Preservation Of Our Lives And Health Depends Upon It. . . . Happiness Springs Immediately From The Mind.

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

Anyone Willing To Give Up Liberty In Exchange For Security Deserves Neither.

I Am A Mortal Enemy To Arbitrary Government And Unlimited Power. I Am Naturally Very Jealous For The Rights And Liberties Of My Country, And The Least Encroachment Of Those Invaluable Privileges Is Apt To Make My Blood Boil.

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

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.

If You Wou'd Be Reveng'd Of Your Enemy, Govern Your Self

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

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.

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.

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

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

You Made Delay, But Time Will Not, And Lost Time Is Never Found Again.

Procrastination

Some Are Weatherwise, Some Are Otherwise.

When You Are Done Changing, You're Done.

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.

The Way To See By Faith Is To Shut The Eye Of Reason.

In Truth I Found Myself Incorrigible With Respect To Order; And Now I Am Grown Old, And My Memory Bad, I Feel Very Sensibly The Want Of It.

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

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.

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?

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

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.

Here Is My Creed. I Believe In One God, Creator Of The Universe. That He Governs It By His Providence. That He Ought To Be Worshiped. That The Most Acceptable Service We Render Him Is Doing Good To His Other Children. That The Soul Of Man Is Immortal, And Will Be Treated With Justice In Another Life Respecting Its Conduct In This.

Take Time For All Things.

Haste Makes Waste

Not To Oversee Workmen Is To Leave Them Your Purse Open.

A Temperate Diet Frees From Diseases; Such Are Seldom Ill, But If They Are Surprised With Sickness, They Bear It Better, And Recover Sooner; For Most Distempers Have Their Original From Repletion.

The Best Tranquilizer Is A Clear Conscience.

Clear Conscience

If You Have Time Don't Wait For Time.

When The Well Is Dry, People Know The Worth Of Water. [so Appreciate What You Have While You Have It]

God Helps Those Who Help Themselves.

He That Hath A Trade, Hath An Estate.

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

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

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

The Poor Man Must Walk To Get Meat For His Stomach, The Rich Man To Get A Stomach To His Meat.

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

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.

A Good Example Is The Best Sermon.

As We Benefit From The Inventions Of Others, We Should Be Glad To Share Our Own ... Freely And Gladly.

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.

Blessed Is He That Expects Nothing, For He Shall Never Be Disappointed. Expect Nothing - Get Nothing! But Expect Something - Get Something!!

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

Who Is Rich? He That Is Content. Who Is That? Nobody.

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.

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

If You Ride A Horse, Sit Close And Tight, If You Ride A Man, Sit Easy And Light.

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

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.

When You Are Good To Others, You Are Best To Yourself.

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

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

To Lengthen Thy Life, Lessen Thy Meals.

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

Great Talkers, Little Doers.

The Foundation Of All Happiness In Thinking Rightly.

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

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

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

Take Counsel In Wine, But Resolve Afterwards In Water.

Beauty And Folly Are Old Companions.

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.

A Wise Man Will Desire No More Than What He May Get Justly, Use Soberly, Distribute Cheerfully, And Leave Contently.

People Who Are Wrapped Up In Themselves Make Small Packages.

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

You May Delay, But Time Will Not.

Hunger Is The Best Pickle.

Would Thou Confound Thy Enemy, Be Good Thyself.

An Undutiful Daughter Will Prove An Unmanageable Wife.

Why Does The Blind Man's Wife Paint Herself.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

You Can Do Anything You Set Your Mind To

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

Gentlemen, I Have Lived A Long Time And Am Convinced That God Governs In The Affairs Of Men. If A Sparrow Cannot Fall To The Ground Without His Notice, Is It Probable That An Empire Can Rise Without His Aid? I Move That Prayer Imploring The Assistance Of Heaven Be Held Every Morning Before We Proceed To Business.

Let Every One Ascertain His Special Business And Calling, And Then Stick To It If He Wants To Be Successful.

Disdain The Chain, Preserve Your Freedom; And Maintain Your Independency: Be Industrious And Free; Be Frugal And Free.

Laws Without Morals Are In Vain.

When Men And Woman Die, As Poets Sung, His Heart's The Last Part Moves, Her Last, The Tongue.

Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk

Without Continual Growth And Progress, Such Words As Improvement, Achievement, And Success Have No Meaning.

Congratulations

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.

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.

The Riches Of A Country Are To Be Valued By The Quantity Of Labor Its Inhabitants Are Able To Purchase, And Not By The Quantity Of Silver And Gold They Possess; Which Will Purchase More Or Less Labor, And Therefore Is More Or Less Valuable, As Is Said Before, According To Its Scarcity Or Plenty.

The Only Certain Things In Life Are Death And Taxes!

Quacks Are The Greatest Liars In The World Except Their Patients.

There Are More Old Drunkards Than Old Doctors.

He Who Gives Up Freedom For Safety Deserves Neither.

We Are More Heavily Taxed By Our Idleness, Pride And Folly Than We Are Taxed By Government.

In The Dark, All Cats Are Grey.

A Friend In Need Is A Friend Indeed!

Friendship Memories

Virtue May Not Always Make A Face Handsome, But Vice Will Certainly Make It Ugly.

Twas Noah Who First Planted The Vine And Mended His Morals By Drinking Its Wine.

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

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.

I Didn't Fail The Test, I Just Found 100 Ways To Do It Wrong.

The Ancients Tell Us What Is Best; But We Must Learn Of The Moderns What Is Fittest.

It Is The Duty Of Mankind On All Suitable Occasions To Acknowledge Their Dependence On The Divine Being... Almighty God Would Mercifully Interpose And Still The Rage Of War Among The Nations... He Would Take This Province Under His Protection, Confound The Designs And Defeat The Attempts Of Its Enemies, And Unite Our Hearts And Strengthen Our Hands In Every Undertaking That May Be For The Public Good, And For Our Defense And Security In This Time Of Danger.

Those Things That Hurt, Instruct.

I Believe ... That The Soul Of Man Is Immortal And Will Be Treated With Justice In Another Life, Respecting Its Conduct In This.

Don't Overload Gratitude; If You Do, She'll Kick.

It Is Easier To Build Two Chimneys Than To Keep One In Fuel.

The Discontented Man Finds No Easy Chair.

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

The Devil Wipes His Breech With Poor Folks' Pride.

The Tongue Offends And The Ears Get The Cuffing

There Never Was A Good Knife Made Of Bad Steel.

Guests, Like Fish, Begin To Smell After Three Days.

Marriage Is The Most Natural State Of Man, And Therefore The State In Which One Is Most Likely To Find Solid Happiness.

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

Do Not Fear Mistakes.

The Purpose Of Money Was To Purchase One's Freedom To Pursue That Which Is Useful And Interesting.

When In Doubt, Don't.

Overcoming Doubt

We Are Not Certain, We Are Never Certain. If We Were We Could Reach Some Conclusions, And We Could, At Last, Make Others Take Us Seriously. In This World Nothing Can Be Said To Be Certain, Except Death And Taxes.

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

Moral Perfection

I Am On This Account Not Displeased That The Figure Is Not Known As A Bald Eagle, But Looks More Like A Turkey. For The Truth The Turkey Is In Comparison A Much More Respectable Bird, And Withal A True Original Native Of America... He Is Besides, Though A Little Vain & Silly, A Bird Of Courage, And Would Not Hesitate To Attack A Grenadier Of The British Guards Who Should Presume To Invade His Farm Yard With A Red Coat On.

Praise Little, Dispraise Less.

Fools Make Feasts And Wise Men Eat Them.

The People Heard It, And Approved The Doctrine, And Immediately Practiced The Contrary.

We Are A Kind Of Posterity In Respect To Them.

If Any Form Of Government Is Capable Of Making A Nation Happy, Ours I Think Bids Fair Now For Producing That Effect. But After All Much Depends Upon The People Who Are Governed.

Diligence Overcomes Difficulties; Sloth Makes Them.

Knowledge Of The Investment Is Most Profitable

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

Believe None Of What You Hear And Half Of What You See.

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

The Person Who Deserves Most Pity Is A Lonesome One On A Rainy Day Who Doesn't Know How To Read.

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.

Better Slip With Foot Than Tongue.

If You Have Something To Do Tomorrow, Do It Today.

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

If You Desire Many Things, Many Things Will Seem Few.

Keep Thy Shop, And Thy Shop Will Keep Thee.

Where There Is Hunger, Law Is Not Regarded; And Where Law Is Not Regarded, There Will Be Hunger.

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.

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

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

Conquer The World

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

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.

And Where Is The Prince Who Can Afford To So Cover His Country With Troops For Its Defense, As That Ten Thousand Men Descending From The Clouds, Might Not In Many Places Do An Infinite Deal Of Mischief, Before A Force Could Be Brought Together To Repel Them?

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

The Madness Of Mobs Or The Insolence Of Soldiers, Or Both, When Too Near To Each Other, Occasion Some Mischief.

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

Wealth And Content Are Not Always Bed-fellows.

Hunger Never Saw Bad Bread.

The United States Constitutional Convention, Except For Three Or Four Persons, Thought Prayers Unnecessary.

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

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

If You Want A Thing Done - Go. If Not - Send.

Fish And Visitors Stink In Three Days.

A Lie Stands On One Leg, Truth On Two.

Whoever Would Overthrow The Liberty Of A Nation Must Begin By Subduing The Freeness Of Speech.

A Fat Kitchin, A Lean Will.

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

The English Love An Insult. It's Their Only Test Of A Man's Sincerity.

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

By Failing To Prepare, You Are Preparing To Fail.

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.

There Are Two Ways To Increase Your Wealth. Increase Your Means Or Decrease Your Wants. The Best Is To Do Both At The Same Time.

He Gives Twice That Gives Soon, I.e., He Will Soon Be Called To Give Again.

Quarrels Never Could Last Long, If On One Side Only Lay The Wrong.

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

Eat To Please Thyself, But Dress To Please Others.

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

That Man Alone Loves Himself Rightly Who Procures The Greatest Possible Good To Himself Through The Whole Of His Existence And So Pursues Pleasure As Not To Give For It More Than It Is Worth.

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

I Am Lord Of Myself, Accountable To None.

A Full Belly Brings Forth Every Evil.

Nothing Brings More Pain Than Too Much Pleasure; Nothing More Bondage Than Too Much Liberty.

Perhaps I Was Too Saucy And Provoking.

Love Your Neighbour; Yet Don't Pull Down Your Hedge.

Lying Rides Upon Debt's Back.

Cunning Proceeds From Want Of Capacity.

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

Taxes On Consumption, Like Those On Capital Or Income, To Be Just, Must Be Uniform.

Patience In Market, Is Worth Pounds In A Year.

Necessity Is Our Quickest Excuse.

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

As Often As We Do Good, We Sacrifice.

The Proud Hate Pride In Others.

The Worst Wheel Of The Cart Makes The Most Noise.

I Guess I Don't So Much Mind Being Old, As I Mind Being Fat And Old.

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.

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

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

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

Historians Relate Not So Much What Is Done As What They Would Have Believed.

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.

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