Benjamin Franklin as a Man of Letters

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Houghton, Mifflin, 1887 - Biography & Autobiography - 293 pages

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Page 120 - ... for want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; and for want of a horse the rider was lost"; being overtaken and slain by the enemy all for want of a little care about a horseshoe nail!
Page 120 - And again, Three Removes is as bad as a Fire; and again, Keep thy Shop, and thy Shop will keep thee; and again, If you would have your Business done, go; if not, send. And again, He that by the Plough would thrive, Himself must either hold or drive.
Page 123 - ... credit; and that perhaps has induced some of us to attend it, because we cannot spare the ready money, and hope now to be fine without it. But, ah, think what you do when you run in debt; you give to another power over your liberty. If you cannot pay at the time, you will be ashamed to see your creditor; you will be in fear when you speak to him, you will make poor pitiful sneaking excuses, and by degrees come to lose your veracity, and sink into base downright lying; for, as Poor Richard says,...
Page 88 - And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
Page 115 - I have been, if I may say it without vanity an eminent author of almanacks annually now a full quarter of a century, my brother authors in the same way, for what reason I know not, have ever been very sparing in their applauses, and no other author has taken the least notice of me, so that did...
Page 119 - The cat in gloves catches no mice, as Poor Richard says. It is true there is much to be done, and perhaps you are weak-handed; but stick to it steadily, and you will see great effects; for, Constant dropping wears away stones; and, By diligence and patience the mouse ate in two the cable; and Little strokes fell great oaks, as Poor Richard says in his almanac, the year I cannot just now remember.
Page 119 - I hear some of you say, Must a man afford himself no leisure ? I will tell thee, my friend, what Poor Richard says : Employ thy time well, if thou meanest to gain leisure ; and since thou art not sure of a minute, throw not away an hour.
Page 119 - But with our Industry, we must likewise be steady, settled and careful, and oversee our own Affairs with our own Eyes, and not trust too much to others; for, as Poor Richard says I never saw an oft-removed Tree, Nor yet an oft-removed Family, That throve so well as those that settled be.
Page 117 - Ones we had to pay, we might more easily discharge them; but we have many others, and much more grievous to some of us. We are taxed twice as much by our Idleness, three times as much by our Pride, and four times as much by our Folly; and from these Taxes the Commissioners cannot ease or deliver us by allowing an Abatement. However let us hearken to good Advice, and something may be done for us; God helps them that help themselves, as Poor Richard says, in his Almanack of 1733.
Page 122 - A ploughman on his legs is higher than a gentleman on his knees, as Poor Richard says. Perhaps they have had a small estate left them, which they knew not the getting of; they think, 'Tis day, and will never be night; that a little to be spent out of so much is not worth minding...

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