Background Image

...

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.

-Benjamin Franklin

...

Please Wait....
Translating....

While The Path To

Benjamin Franklin

...

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.

Views: 47614

Topic

More From Benjamin Franklin

I Early Found That When I Worked For Myself Alone, Myself Alone Worked For Me; But When I Worked For Others Also, Others Worked Also For Me.

By Improving Yourself, The World Is Made Better. Be Not Afraid Of Growing Too Slowly. Be Afraid Only Of Standing Still.

Death Takes No Bribes.

A Nod From A Lord Is A Breakfast For A Fool.

Speak And Speed: The Close Mouth Catches No Flies.

What Can Laws Do Without Morals?

A Countryman Between Two Lawyers Is Like A Fish Between Two Cats.

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

The Securest Place Is A Prison Cell, But There Is No Liberty

The Doorstep To The Temple Of Wisdom Is A Knowledge Of Our Own Ignorance.

Genius Is Nothing But A Greater Aptitude For Patience.

'tis True There Is Much To Be Done, . . . But Stick To It Steadily, And You Will See Great Effects, For Constant Dropping Wears Away Stones . . . And Little Strokes Fell Great Oaks, As Poor Richard Says. . . .

Marry Above Thy Match And You Will Get A Master.

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

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

Women And Wine, Game And Deceit, Make The Wealth Small, And The Want Great

He That Pursues Two Hares At Once, Does Not Catch One And Lets The Other Go.

An Enormous Proportion Of Property Vested In A Few Individuals Is Dangerous To The Rights, And Destructive Of The Common Happiness Of Mankind, And, Therefore, Every Free State Hath A Right By Its Laws To Discourage The Possession Of Such Property.

Women Are Books, And Men The Readers Be.

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.

Who Has Deceived Thee As Oft As Thyself.

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

Without Justice, Courage Is Weak.

Keep Flax From Fire, And Youth From Gaming.

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.

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

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

On The Whole, Though I Never Arrived At The Perfection I Had Been So Ambitious Of Obtaining, But Fell Far Short Of It, Yet I Was, By The Endeavor, A Better And A Happier Man Than I Otherwise Should Have Been Had I Not Attempted It.

The Best Way To Help The Poor Is To Make Them Uncomfortable In Their Own Poverty.

Would Thou Confound Thy Enemy, Be Good Thyself.

In Going On With These Experiments, How Many Pretty Systems Do We Build, Which We Soon Find Ourselves Oblig'd To Destroy! If There Is No Other Use Discover'd Of Electricity, This, However, Is Something Considerable, That It May Help To Make A Vain Man Humble.

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.

Distrust And Caution Are The Parents Of Security.

Virtue Alone Is Sufficient To Make A Man Great, Glorious, And Happy.

You Must Always Be Prepared. Make Sure To Look At Things From All Angles. If You Are Not Prepared You Will Fail.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Procrastination

After Three Days Men Grow Weary, Of A Wench, A Guest, And Weather Rainy.

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.

If You Can't Pay For A Thing, Don't Buy It. If You Can't Get Paid For It, Don't Sell It.

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

Libertarian Party

Eat To Please Thyself, But Dress To Please Others.

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.

I Have Conceived A Higher Opinion Of The Natural Capacities Of The Black Race Than I Had Ever Before Entertained. Their Apprehension Seems As Quick, Their Memory As Strong, And Their Docility In Every Respect Equal To That Of White Children.

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

This Gave Me Occasion To Observe, That When Men Are Employ'd They Are Best Contented. For On The Days They Work'd They Were Good-natur'd And Chearful; And With The Consciousness Of Having Done A Good Days Work They Spent The Evenings Jollily; But On The Idle Days They Were Mutinous And Quarrelsome, Finding Fault With Their Pork, The Bread, And In Continual Ill-humour. (autobiography, 1771)

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

If We Give Up Freedom For Security, We Are In Danger Of Losing Both.

An Investment In Knowledge Pays The Best Interest. When It Comes To Investing, Nothing Will Pay Off More Than Educating Yourself. Do The Necessary Research, Study And Analysis Before Making Any Investment Decisions.

The Moral And Religious System Which Jesus Christ Transmitted To Us Is The Best The World Has Ever Seen, Or Can See.

Saying And Doing, Have Quarrel'd And Parted.

Saying And Doing

In Other Men We Faults Can Spy,/ And Blame The Mote That Dims Their Eye;/ Each Little Speck And Blemish Find;/ To Our Own Stronger Errors Blind.

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

When Knaves Betray Each Other, One Can Scarce Be Blamed Or The Other Pitied.

Little Leaks Sink The Ship.

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

Freedom Is Not A Gift Bestowed Upon Us By Other Men, But A Right That Belongs To Us By The Laws Of God And Nature.

If All Printers Were Determined Not To Print Anything Till They Were Sure It Would Offend Nobody, There Would Be Very Little Printed.

Be Studious In Your Profession, And You Will Be Learned. Be Industrious And Frugal, And You Will Be Rich. Be Sober And Temperate, And You Will Be Healthy. Be In General Virtuous, And You Will Be Happy.

There Is No Such Thing As A Good War Or A Bad Peace.

Each Year One Vicious Habit Discarded, In Time Might Make The Worst Of Us Good.

Think Of These Things, Whence You Came, Where You Are Going, And To Whom You Must Account.

Hunger Is The Best Pickle.

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

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.

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

He That's Secure Is Not Safe.

Oh The Wonderful Knowledge To Be Found In The Stars. Even The Smallest Things Are Written There ... If You Had But Skill To Read.

He's Gone, And Forgot Nothing But To Say Farewell To His Creditors

To Whom You Betray Your Secret You Sell Your Liberty.

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.

Take Care Of The Halfpence And Pence, And The Shillings And Pounds Will Take Care Of Themselves.

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

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

A Word To The Wise Is Enough, And Many Words Won't Fill A Bushel.

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.

Prayers And Provender Hinder No Journey.

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

Tomorrow Never Comes

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.

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

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.

To The Generous Mind The Heaviest Debt Is That Of Gratitude, When It Is Not In Our Power To Repay It.

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

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

If You Watch Your Pennies, The Pounds Will Take Care Of Themselves.

One Day Is Worth A Thousand Tomorrows.

If Men Are So Wicked As We Now See Them With Religion What Would They Be If Without It?

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.

Diligence Is The Mother Of Good Luck.

Want Of Care Does Us More Damage Than Want Of Knowledge

Patience In Market, Is Worth Pounds In A Year.

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

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.

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.

Fish And Visitors Stink In Three Days.

If You Want To Be Rich, Think Of The Savings And Get Them.

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

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.

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

There Is No Little Enemy

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

When Wine Enters, Out Goes The Truth.

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.

Be In General Virtuous, And You Will Be Happy.

Do You Love Truth For Truth's Sake, And Will You Endeavor Impartially To Find And Receive It Yourself, And Communicate It To Others?

Let The Child's First Lesson Be Obedience, And The Second Will Be What Thou Wilt.

Virtues, Of ... Justice: Wrong None By Doing Injuries Or Omitting The Benefits That Are Your Duty.

Half The Truth Is Often A Great Lie.

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

Who Is Wise? He That Learns From Everyone. Who Is Powerful? He That Governs His Passions. Who Is Rich? He That Is Content. Who Is That? Nobody.

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

Many A Long Dispute Among Divines May Be Thus Abridged: It Is So; It Is Not So. It Is So; It Is Not So.

Approve Not Of Him Who Commends All You Say.

Two Dry Sticks Will Burn A Green One.

Little Boats Should Keep Near Shore

Necessity Knows No Law; I Know Some Attorneys Of The Same.

Those Who Would Give Up Liberty For Safety Deserve Neither.

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.

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

Moral Perfection

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.

Who Is Wise? He That Learns From Everyone.

Justice Will Not Be Served Until Those Who Are Unaffected Are As Outraged As Those Who Are.

If You, Do What You Should Not, You Must Bear What You Would Not.

Getting It Done Is My Reward.

Time Management

It Is A Bad Temper Of Mind That Takes Delight In Opposition.

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

Chess Is So Interesting In Itself, As Not To Need The View Of Gain To Induce Engaging In It; And Thence It Is Never Played For Money

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.

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

There Was Never A Good War, Or A Bad Peace.

Instead Of Cursing The Darkness, Light A Candle.

She That Paints Her Face, Thinks Of Her Tail.

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

1) Temperance... Drink Not To Elevation. (2) Silence... Avoid Trifling Conversations. (3) Order: Let All Your Things Have Their Places... (4) Resolution... Perform Without Fail What You Resolve. (5) Frugality... I.e. Waste Nothing. (6) Industry: Lose No Time; Be Always Employ'd... (7) Sincerity: Use No Hurtful Deceit; Think Innocently... (8) Justice: Wrong None By Doing Injuries... (9) Moderation: Avoid Extremes; Forbear Resenting... (10) Cleanliness: Tolerate No Uncleanliness In Body... (11) Tranquility: Be Not Disturbed At Trifles... (12) Chastity (13) Humility : Imitate Jesus.

Write Your Injuries In Dust, Your Benefits In Marble.

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

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

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

All Wars Are Follies, Very Expensive And Very Mischievous Ones.

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.

If The New Universal History Were Also Read, It Would Give A Connected Idea Of Human Affairs, So Far As It Goes, Which Should Be Followed By The Best Modern Histories, Particularly Of Our Mother Country; Then Of These Colonies; Which Should Be Accompanied With Observations On Their Rise, Increase, Use To Great Britain, Encouragements And Discouragements, The Means To Make Them Flourish, And Secure Their Liberties.

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

I Am Lord Of Myself, Accountable To None.

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.

He Who Will Not Be Counseled Cannot Be Helped.

Freedom Of Speech Is The Great Bulwark Of Liberty; They Prosper And Die Together: And It Is The Terror Of Traitors And Oppressors, And A Barrier Against Them. It Produces Excellent Writers, And Encourages Men Of Fine Genius.

Freedom Of Speech

Outside Independence Hall When The Constitutional Convention Of 1787 Ended

If You Want To Make A Friend, Let Someone Do You A Favor.

Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk

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.

Sloth And Silence Are A Fool's Virtues

Nature Performs The Cure, The Physician Takes The Fee.

Doing An Injury Puts You Below Your Enemy; Revenging One Make You But Even With Him; Forgiving It Sets You Above Him.

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

Reckless Haste Makes Poor Speed.

Men And Melons Are Hard To Know.

Our Necessities Never Equal Our Wants.

Idleness Is The Dead Sea That Swallows All Virtues. Be Active In Business, That Temptation May Miss Her Aim; The Bird That Sits Is Easily Shot.

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

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

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

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

Human Happiness Comes Not From Infrequent Pieces Of Good Fortune, But From The Small Improvements To Daily Life.

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

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

We Have No Poor Houses In The Colonies, And If We Had, We Would Have No One To Put In Them, As In The Colonies There Is Not A Single Unemployed Man, No Poor And No Vagabonds.

Acquire Riches By Industry And Frugality.

When You Are Done Changing, You're Done.

We May Give Advice, But We Cannot Give Conduct.

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

Here's To Our Beloved George Washington, The Joshua Of America, Who Commanded The Sun And The Moon To Stand Still - And They Obeyed.

Since I Cannot Govern My Own Tongue, Though Within My Own Teeth, How Can I Hope To Govern The Tongue Of Others?

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

What Maintains One Vice Would Bring Up Two Children.

It Is Very Hard To Dislike Someone You Have Helped

Dislike Someone

Great Good Nature Without Prudence Is A Great Misfortune.

Men Take More Pains To Mask Than Mend.

I Believe There Is One Supreme Most Perfect Being.

At A Great Pennyworth Pause A While.

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.

I Consent Sir, To This Constitution Because I Expect No Better, And Because I Am Not Sure, That It Is Not The Best.

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

Let Thy Discontents Be Thy Secrets; If The World Knows Them 'twill Despise Thee And Increase Them.

Nor Eye In A Letter, Nor Hand In A Purse, Nor Ear In The Secret Of Another.

He Who Gives Up Freedom For Safety Deserves Neither.

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

I Imagine It Great Vanity In Me To Suppose That The Supremely Perfect Does In The Least Regard Such An Inconsiderable Nothing As Man. More Especially, Since It Is Impossible For Me To Have Any Positive, Clear Idea Of That Which Is Infinite And Incomprehensible, 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.

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

You Will Discover 3 Trustworthy Mates, An Aged Wife, An Aged Canine, And Ready Dollars.

Happiness Consists More In Small Conveniences Or Pleasures That Occur Every Day, Than In Great Pieces Of Good Fortune That Happen But Seldom To A Man In The Course Of His Life.

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

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.

Trending Author

Matthew McConaughey

Category