A friend recently reminded me of Ben Franklin and his works. Years ago, I read through a big book of his writings and thought I had published the notes, quotes from his work. I found I had not and so remedy that situation now.
Mr Franklin rewards rereading.
Benjamin Franklin: The Writings
The Library of America, 1987
Franklin’s version of the Lord’s Prayer
1. Heavenly Father,
2. May all revere thee,
3. And become thy dutiful Children and faithful Subjects.
4. May thy Laws be obeyed on Earth as perfectly as they are in Heaven.
5. Provide for us this Day as thou has hitherto daily done.
6. Forgive us our Trespasses, and enable us likewise to forgive those that offend us.
7. Keep us out of Temptation, and deliver us from Evil.
(24) Silence Dogood, quoting John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, Cato’s Letters(?): ‘Without Freedom of Thought, there can be no such Thing as Wisdom; and no such Thing as publick Liberty, without Freedom of Speech; which is the Right of every Man, as far as by it, he does not hurt or control the Right of another: And this is the only Check it ought to suffer, and the only Bounds it ought to know.
’This sacred Privilege is so essential to free Governments, that the Security of Property, and the Freedom of Speech always go together; and in those wretched Countries where a Man cannot call his Tongue his own, he can scarce call any Thing else his own. Whoever would overthrow the Liberty of a Nation, must begin by subduing the Freeness of Speech; a _Thing_ terrible to Publick Traytors.
(63) We are first mov’d by _Pain_, and the whole succeeding Course of our Lives is but one continu’d Series of Action with a View to be freed from it.
(91) Epitaph
The Body of
B. Franklin,
Printer;
Like the Cover of an Old Book,
Its Contents torn out,
And stript of its Lettering and Gilding,
Lies here, Food for Worms.
But the Work shall not be wholly lost:
For it will, as he believ’d, appear once more;
In a new and more perfect Edition,
Corrected and amended
By the Author.
He was born Jan. 6. 1706
Died 17
(written in 1728, at age 22)
(126) But as Silver it self is of no certain permanent Value, being worth more or less according to its Scarcity or Plenty, therefore it seems requisite to fix upon Something else, more proper to be made a _Measure of Value_, and this I take to be _Labour_.
(130) Money as Bullion, or as Land, is valuable by so much Labour as it costs to procure that Bulliion or Land.
Money, as a Currency, has an Additional Value by so much Time and Labour as it save in the Exchange of Commodities.
(183) None but Fools are Knaves, for wise Men cannot help being honest. Cunning therefore is the Wisdom of a Fool; one who has Designs he dare not own.
(206-207) Previous question, to be answer’d at every meeting [Junto].
Have you read over these queries this morning, in order to consider what you might have to offer the Junto [touching] any one of them? viz.
1. Have you met with any thing in the author you last read, remarkable, or suitable to be communicated to the Junto? Particularly in history, morality, poetry, physic, travels, mechanic arts, or other parts of knowledge.
2. What new story have you lately heard agreeable for telling in conversation?
3. Hath any citizen in your knowledge failed in his business lately, and what have you heard of the cause?
4. Have you lately heard of any citizen’s thriving well, and by what means?
5. Have you lately heard how any present rich man, here or elsewhere,8 got his estate?
6. Do you know of any fellow citizen, who has lately done a worthy action, deserving praise and imitation? or who has committed an error proper for us to be warned against and avoid?9
7. What unhappy effects of intemperance have you lately observed or heard? of imprudence? of passion? or of any other vice or folly?
8. What happy effects of temperance? of prudence? of moderation? or of any other virtue?
9. Have you or any of your acquaintance been lately sick or wounded? If so, what remedies were used, and what were their effects?
10. Who do you know that are shortly going voyages or journies, if one should have occasion to send by them?
11. Do you think of any thing at present, in which the Junto may be serviceable to mankind? to their country, to their friends, or to themselves?
12. Hath any deserving stranger arrived in town since last meeting, that you heard of? and what have you heard or observed of his character or merits? and whether think you, it lies in the power of the Junto to oblige him, or encourage him as he deserves?
13. Do you know of any deserving young beginner lately set up, whom it lies in the power of the Junto any way to encourage?
14. Have you lately observed any defect in the laws of your country, [of] which it would be proper to move the legislature for an amendment? Or do you know of any beneficial law that is wanting?
15. Have you lately observed any encroachment on the just liberties of the people?
16. Hath any body attacked your reputation lately? and what can the Junto do towards securing it?
17. Is there any man whose friendship you want, and which the Junto or any of them, can procure for you?
18. Have you lately heard any member’s character attacked, and how have you defended it?
19. Hath any man injured you, from whom it is in the power of the Junto to procure redress?
20. In what manner can the Junto, or any of them, assist you in any of your honourable designs?
21. Have you any weighty affair in hand, in which you think the advice of the Junto may be of service?
22. What benefits have you lately received from any man not present?
23. Is there any difficulty in matters of opinion, of justice, and injustice, which you would gladly have discussed at this time?
24. Do you see any thing amiss in the present customs or proceedings of the Junto, which might be amended?Any person to be qualified, to stand up, and lay his hand on his breast, and be asked these questions; viz.
1. Have you any particular disrespect to any present members? Answer. I have not.2. Do you sincerely declare that you love mankind in general; of what profession or religion soever? Answ. I do.
3. Do you think any person ought to be harmed in his body, name or goods, for mere speculative opinions, or his external way of worship? Ans. No.
4. Do you love truth for truth’s sake, and will you endeavour impartially to find and receive it yourself and communicate it to others? Answ. Yes.
(255) That Man only, who is ready to change his Mind upon proper Conviction, is in the Way to come at the Knowledge of Truth. He who is neither _ashamed_ of his own Ignorance, nor _unwilling_ to receive Help from any Quarter towards the better Information of his mind, or _afraid_ to discard an old and _favoured_ Opinion, upon better Evidence; he, I say, will find Truth kindly open before him, and freely offer it self to him: He will be surprized with the noble Pleasure of a new Discovery, and his Knowledge will be always progressive as long as he lives, But a Man _tenacious_ of his _first Thoughts_ is necessarily concluded in Error, if ever he happens to mistake: For when People once arrive to an Opinion of Infallibility, they can never grow wiser than they already are.
(269) nimptopsical - a humorous 18th-century adjective meaning drunk, listed in Benjamin Franklin’s 1737 "Drinker's Dictionary"
(469) I have heard it remarked that the Poor in Protestant Countries on the Continent of Europe, are generally more industrious than those of Popish Countries, may not the more numerous foundations in the latter for the relief of the poor have some effect towards rendering them less provided. To relieve the misfortunes of our fellow creatures is concurring with the Deity, ’tis Godlike, but if we provide encouragements for Laziness, and supports for Folly, may it not be found fighting against the order of God and Nature, which perhaps has appointed Want and Misery as the proper Punishments for, and Cautions against as well as necessary consequences of Idleness and Extravagancy.
(480) As yet, the Quantity of Human Knowledge bears no Proportion to the Quantity of Human Ignorance.
(572) In considering of these questions, perhaps it may be of use to recollect; that the colonies were planted in times when the powers of parliament were not supposed so extensive, as they are become since the Revolution: - That they were planted in lands and countries where the parliament had not then the least jurisdiction: - That, excepting the yet infant colonies of Georgia and Nova Scotia, _none of them_ were settled at the expense of _any money_ granted by parliament: - That the people went from hence by permission from the crown, purchased or conquered the territory, at the expense of their own private treasure and blood: - That these territories thus became _new_ dominions _of the crown_, settled under royal charters, that formed their several governments and constitutions, on which the parliament was _never consulted_; or had the _least participation_. - The people there have had, from the beginning, like Ireland, their separate parliaments, called modestly assemblies: by these chiefly our Kings have governed them. How far, and in what particulars, they are _subordinate_ and _subject_ to the British parliament; or whether they may not, if the King pleases, be governed as _domains of the crown_, without that parliament, are points newly agitated, never yet, but probably soon will be, thoroughly considered and settled. Different opinions are now entertained concerning them; and till such settlement is made by due authority, it is not criminal to think differently. Therefore, I wish the American opinion may, in the mean time, be treated with less acrimony.
January 6, 1766
NB: Franklin argues pitting the King against Parliament in order to advance the cause of the Colonies. Wedge politics before the Revolution.
(621) boutefeus - incendiaries
(634) drawcansir - a fictional character in George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham's farce The Rehearsal. He kills every one of the combatants, "sparing neither friend nor foe."
(645) Finally, there seem to be but three Ways for a Nation to acquire Wealth. The first is by _war_ as the Romans did in plundering their conquered Neighbours. This is _Robbery_. The second by _Commerce_ which is generally _Cheating_. The third by _Agriculture_ the only _honest Way_; wherein Man receive a real Increase of the Seed thrown into the Ground, in a kind of continual Miracle wrought by the Hand of God in his Favour, as a Reward for his innocent Life, and virtuous Industry.
(661) flaglitious - (of a person or their actions) criminal; villainous
(692) … for though many can forgive Injuries, _none ever forgave Contempt._
(714) superlucration - usually uncountable, (obsolete) Excessive or extraordinary gain
(721) prepense - planned, intended in advance, or premeditated
(749) If Men are so wicked now as we see them _with Religion_ what would they be if _without it?_
(756) … I imagine Hope and Faith may be more firmly built on Charity, than Charity upon Faith and Hope.
(798) I do not wonder at the Behaviour you mention of Dr Smith towards me, for I have long since known him thoroughly. I made that Man my Enemy by doing him too much Kindness. Tis the honestest Way of acquiring an Enemy. And since ’tis convenient to have at least one Enemy, who by his Readiness to revile one on all Occasions may make one careful of one’s Conduct, I shall keep him an Enemy for that purpose; and shall observe your good Mother’s Advice, never again to receive him as a Friend.
(815) … are all idle Tales, fit only for Knaves to propagate and Fools to believe.
(826) Travelling is one Way of lengthening Life, at least in Appearance. It is but a Fortnight since we left London; but the Variety of Scenes we have gone through makes it seem equal to Six Months living in one Place.
(830) The editor of that paper one Jones seems a Grenvillian, or is very cautious as you will see, by his corrections and omissions. He has drawn the teeth and pared the nails of my paper, so that it can neither scratch nor bite. It seems only to paw and mumble.
(938) A Tale
There was once an Officer, a worthy man, named Montrésor, who was very ill. His parish Priest, thinking he would die, advised him to make his Peace with God, so that he would be recieved into Paradise. “I don’t feel much Uneasiness on that Score,” said Montrésor; “for last Night I had a Vision which set me entirely at rest.” “What vision did you have?” asked the good Priest. “I was,” he said, “at the Gate of Paradise with a Crowd of People who wanted to enter. And St. Peter asked each of them what Religion he belonged to. One answered, ‘I am a Roman Catholic.’ ‘Very well,’ said St. Peter; ‘come in, & take your Place over there among the Catholics.’ Another said he belonged to the Anglican Church. ‘Very well,’ said St. Peter; ‘come in, & take your Place over there among the Anglicans.’ Another said he was a Quaker. ‘Very well,’ said St. Peter; ‘come in, & take a Place among the Quakers.’ Finally he asked me what my Religion was. ‘Alas!’ I replied, ‘unfortunately poor Jacques Montrésor belongs to none at all.’ ’That’s a pity,’ said the Saint. ‘I don’t know where to put you but come in anyway; just find a Place for yourself wherever you can.’"
(1008) To Sarah Bache, his daughter (6/3/1779): These [clay medallions], with the pictures, busts, and prints (of which copies upon copies are spread everywhere,) have made your father’s face as well known as that of the moon, so that he durst not do any thing that would oblige him to run away, as his phis would discover him wherever he should venture to show it.
(1009) You seem not to know, my dear daughter, that, of all the dear things in this world, idleness is the dearest, except mischief.
(1034) If any Phenicians arriv’d in America, I should rather think it was not by the Accident of a Storm, but in the Course of their long and adventurous Voyages; and that they coasted from Denmark and Norway, over to Greenland, and down Southward by Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, &c., to New England, as the Danes themselves certainly did some ages before Columbus.
(1082) All the Property that is necessary to a Man, for the Conservation of the Individual and the Propagation of the Species, is his natural Right, which none can justly deprive him of. But all Property superfluous to such purposes is the Property of the Public, who, by their Laws, have created it, and who may therefore by other Laws dispose of it, whenever the Welfare of the Publick shall demand such Disposition.
NB: Franklin on Socialism
(1123) Britain, acting on the selfish and perhaps mistaken Principle of receiving nothing from abroad that could be produced at home, would take no Articles of our Produce that interfered with any of her own; and what did not interfere, she loaded with heavy Duties. We had no Mines of Gold or Silver. We were therefore oblig’d to run the World over, in search of something that would be receiv’d in England.
NB: Thus the Triangle Trade, tariffs, and monopoly on goods to the Revolution
(1147) … no kind of Accusation is so readily made, or easily believ’d, by Knaves as the Accusation of Knavery...
NB: Projection
To conclude, I beg I may not be understood to infer, that our General Convention was divinely inspired, when it form’d the new federal Constitution, merely because that Constitution has been unreasonly and vehemently opposed….
(1169) Remember me affectionately to good Dr. Price and to the honest heretic Dr. Priestly. I do not call him _ honest_ by way of distinction for I think all the heretics I have known have been virtuous men. They have the virtue of fortitude or they would not venture to won their heresy; and they cannot afford to be deficient in any of the other virtues, as that woudl give advantage to their many enemies; and they have not like orthodox sinners, such a number of friends to excuse or justiry them. Do not, however mitake me, It is not to my good friend;s heresy that I imppute his honesty. ON the contrary, ;tis his honesty that has brough upon him the character of heretic. I am ever, my dear friend, yours sincerely,
(1179-1180) [March 9, 1790, to Ezra Stiles] You desire to know something of my religion. It is the first time I have been questioned upon it. But I cannot take your curiosity amiss, and shall endeavor in a few words to gratify it. 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. That the most acceptable service we render to 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. These I take to be the fundamental points in all sound religion, and I regard them as you do in whatever sect I meet with them.
As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think his system of morals and his religion, as he left them to us, the best the world ever saw or is like to see; but I apprehend it has received various corrupting changes, and I have, with most of the present Dissenters in England, some doubts as to his Divinity; though it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an opportunity of knowing the truth with less trouble. I see no harm, however, in its being believed, if that belief has the good consequence, as probably it has, of making his doctrines more respected and more observed; especially as I do not perceive that the Supreme takes it amiss, by distinguishing the unbelievers in his government of the world with any peculiar marks of his displeasure.
I shall only add, respecting myself, that, having experienced the goodness of that Being in conducting me prosperously through a long life, I have no doubt of its continuance in the next, though without the smallest conceit of meriting such goodness….
(1180) I have ever let others enjoy their religious Sentiments, without reflecting on them for those that appeared to me unsopportable and even absurd. All Sects here, and we have a great Variety, have experienced my good will in assisting them with Suscriptions for building their new Places of Worship, and, as I have never opposed any of their Doctrines, I hope to go out of the World in Peace with them all.
Poor Richard
(1186) Hunger never saw bad bread.
(1188) Men and Melons are hard to know.
… There is no little enemy.
(1190) Without justice, courage is weak.
(1192) Would you persuade, speak of Interest, not of Reason.
(1193) He that is rich need not live sparingly, and he that can live sparingly need not be rich.
If you wou’d be reveng’d of your enemy, govern your self.
… He does not possess Wealth, it possesses him.
(1197) Necessity never made a good bargain.
Three may keep a Secret, if two of them are dead.
Poverty wants some things, Luxury many things, Avarice all things.
(1198) An old young man, will be a young old man.
(1202) There’s none deceived but he that trusts.
(1204) The greatest monarch on the proudest throne, is obligated;d to sit upon his own arse.
He that can take rest is greater than he that can take cities.
(1205) There are no ugly Loves, nor handsome Prisons.
Don’t misinform your Doctor nor your Lawyer.
(1208) Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards.
(1209) Wish not so much to live long as to live well.
(1220) Quarrels never could last long,
If on one side only lay the wrong.
(1223) Death takes no bribes.
… One good Husband is worth two good Wives; for the scarcer things are the more they're valued.
(1224) To err is human, to repent divine, to persist devilish.
… _Hope_ and a Red-rag, are Baits for Men and Mackrel.
(1235) It is common for Men to give 6 pretended Reasons instead of one real one.
… There are no fools so troublesome as those that have wit.
(1238) It’s the easiest Thing in the World for a Man to deceive himself.
(1249) Most Fools think they are only ignorant.
(1254) All would live long, but none would be old.
(1255) A Man in a Passion rides a mad Horse.
(1269) The Wise and Brave dares own that he was wrong.
(1274) … the first Day of _January_ being now by Act of Parliament declared the first Day of the Year 1752
(1275) Old Boys have their Playthigns as well as young Ones; the Difference is only in the Price
(1285) Love your Enemies, for they tell you your Faults.
(1290) The way to be safe, is never to be secure.
(1296) He that lives upon Hope will die fasting.
(1302) Thus the Old Gentleman ended his Harangue [which quoted many of Poor Richard’s maxims and extolled them before a crowd]. The People heard it, and approved the Doctrine, and immediately practised the contrary, just as if it had been a common Sermon...
(1303) You may delay, but _Time_ will not.
He that’s content, hath enough; He that complains, has too much.
(1304) Half the Truth is often a great Lie.
…. Spare and have is better than spend and crave.
End of Poor Richard’s
The Autobiography
(1316) But one does not dress for private Company as for a publick Ball.
(1329) I was very hungry, and my whole Stock of Cash consisted of a Dutch Dollar and about a Shilling in Copper. The latter I gave the People of the Boat for my Passage, who at first refus’d it on Acct of my Rowing; but I insisted on their taking it, a Man being sometimes more generous when he was but a little Money than when he has plenty, perhaps thro’ Fear of being thought to have but little.
(1345) He wish’d to please everybody; and having little to give, he gave Expectations.
NB: On the Governor who promised him help in setting up his print shop but never followed through
(1354) nuncupative - (of a will or testament) declared orally as opposed to in writing, especially by a mortally woundedsoldier or sailor.
(1380-1381) The Objections & Reluctances I met with in Soliciting the Subscriptions made me soon feel the Impropriety of presenting one's self as the Proposer of any useful Project, that might be supposed to raise one's Reputation in the smallest degree above that of one's Neighbors, when one has need of their Assistance to accomplish that Project. I therefore put myself as much as I could out of sight, and stated it as a Scheme of a Number of Friends, who had requested me to go about and propose it to such as they thought Lovers of Reading. In this way my Affair went on more smoothly, and I ever after practised it on such Occasions, and, from my frequent Successes, can heartily recommend it. The present little Sacrifice of your Vanity will afterwards be amply repaid. If it remains awhile uncertain to whom the Merit belongs, some one more vain than yourself will be encouraged to claim it, and then even Envy will be disposed to do you Justice, by plucking those assum'd Feathers, & restoring them to their right Owner.
NB: Strikes me as something similar, though much milder, to Tom Sawyer’s fence painting idea.
(1382) I had been religiously educated as a Presbyterian; and tho' some of the Dogmas of that Persuasion, such as the Eternal Decrees of God, Election, Reprobation, &c. appeared to me unintelligible, others doubtful, and I early absented myself from the public assemblies of the sect, Sunday being my Studying-Day, I never was without some religious Principles. I never doubted, for instance, the Existence of the Deity; that he made the World, and govern'd it by his Providence; that the most acceptable Service of God was the doing Good to Man; that our Souls are immortal; and that all Crime will be punished, and Virtue rewarded, either here or hereafter. These I esteem'd the Essentials of every Religion; and, being to be found in all the Religions we had in our Country, I respected them all, tho' with different degrees of Respect, as I found them more or less mix'd with other Articles, which, without any Tendency to inspire, promote, or confirm Morality, serv'd principally to divide us, and make us unfriendly to one another. - This Respect to all, with an Opinion that the worst had some good Effects, induc'd me to avoid all Discourse that might tend to lessen the good Opinion another might have of his own Religion; and as our Province increas'd in people, and new Places of worship were continually wanted, and generally erected by voluntary Contribution, my Mite for such purpose, whatever might be the Sect, was never refused.
(1384-1385) In the various enumerations of the moral virtues I had met with in my reading, I found the catalogue more or less numerous, as different writers included more or fewer ideas under the same name. Temperance, for example, was by some confined to eating and drinking, while by others it was extended to mean the moderating every other pleasure, appetite, inclination, or passion, bodily or mental, even to our avarice and ambition. I propos'd to myself, for the sake of clearness, to use rather more names, with fewer ideas annex'd to each, than a few names with more ideas; and I included under thirteen names of virtues all that at that time occurr'd to me as necessary or desirable, and annexed to each a short precept, which fully express'd the extent I gave to its meaning.
These names of virtues, with their precepts, were:
1. TEMPERANCE.
Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
2. SILENCE.
Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
3. ORDER.
Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
4. RESOLUTION.
Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
5. FRUGALITY.
Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
6. INDUSTRY.
Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
7. SINCERITY.
Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
8. JUSTICE.
Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
9. MODERATION.
Avoid extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
10. CLEANLINESS.
Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.
11. TRANQUILLITY.
Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable. 12. CHASTITY.
Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.
13. HUMILITY.
Imitate Jesus and Socrates.
(1390) For something that pretended to be Reason was every now and then suggesting to me, that such extream Nicety as I exacted of my self might be a kind of Foppery in Morals, which if it were known would make me ridiculous; that 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.
(1393) I even forbid myself agreable to the old Laws of our Junto, the Use of every Word or Expression in the Language that imported a fix’d Opinion; such as _certianly, undoubtedly, &c._ and I adopted instead of them, _I conceive, I apprehend, of I imagine_ a thing to be so or so, or it so appears to me at present.
(1396) … the Substances of an intended Creed, containing as I thught the Essentials of every known Religion, and being free of every thing that might shock the Professors of any Religion. It is express'd in these Words. viz.
“That there is one God who made all things.
“That he governs the World by his Povidence. -
“That he ought to be worshipped by Adoration, Prayer & Thanksgiving.
“But that the most acceptable Service of God is doing Good to Man.
“That the Soul is immortal.
“And that God will certainly reward Virtue and punish Vice either here of hereafter."
(1404) He that has once done you a Kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged.
(1405) On the whole I proposed as a more effectual Watch, the hiring of proper Men to serve constantly in that Business; and as a more equitalbe Way of supporting the Charge, the levying a Tax that should be proportion’d to Property.
(1417-1418) That we enjoy great Advantages from the Inventions of others, we shold be glad of an Opportunity to serve others by any Iinvention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously.
(1429) Human Felicity is produc’d not so much be great Pieces of good Fortune that seldom happen, as by little Advantages that occur every Day.
(1442) This whole Transaction [Braddock’s defeat and death] gave us Americans the first Suspicion that our exalted Ideas of the Prowess of British Rebulars had not been well founded. -
In their first March too, from their Landing till they got beyond the Settlements, they had plundered and strip the Inhabitants, totally rining some poor Familes, besides insulting, abusing & confining the People if they remonstrated. -This was enoughto put us out of Conceit of such Defenders if we had really wanted any.
(1446) But Common Sense aided by present Danger, will sometimes be too strong for whimsicall Opinions.
