The Works of Dr. Benjamin Franklin: Consisting of Essays, Humorous, Moral and Literary, with His Life, Written by Himself |
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Page 4
... father , Thomas , was born in 1598 , lived at Eaton till he was too old to continue his trade , when he retired to Banbury , in Oxfordshire , where his son John , who was a dyer , resided , and with whom my father was apprenticed . He ...
... father , Thomas , was born in 1598 , lived at Eaton till he was too old to continue his trade , when he retired to Banbury , in Oxfordshire , where his son John , who was a dyer , resided , and with whom my father was apprenticed . He ...
Page 5
... father and him ; and I was his godson . He arrived to a great age . He left behind him two quarto volumes of poems in manuscript , consisting of little fugitive pieces addressed to his friends . He had invented a short - hand , which he ...
... father and him ; and I was his godson . He arrived to a great age . He left behind him two quarto volumes of poems in manuscript , consisting of little fugitive pieces addressed to his friends . He had invented a short - hand , which he ...
Page 6
... father was prevail- ed on to accompany them . My father had also , by the same wife , four chil- dren born in America , and ten others by a second wife , making in all seventeen . I remember to have seen thirteen seated together at his ...
... father was prevail- ed on to accompany them . My father had also , by the same wife , four chil- dren born in America , and ten others by a second wife , making in all seventeen . I remember to have seen thirteen seated together at his ...
Page 7
... father destined me for the church , and already regarded me as the chaplain of my family . The promptitude with which from my infancy I had learned to read , for I do not remember to have been ever without this acquire- ment , and the ...
... father destined me for the church , and already regarded me as the chaplain of my family . The promptitude with which from my infancy I had learned to read , for I do not remember to have been ever without this acquire- ment , and the ...
Page 8
... father , burdened with a numerous family , found that he was incapable , without subjecting him- self to difficulties , of providing for the expenses of a collegiate education ; and considering , besides , as I heard him say to his ...
... father , burdened with a numerous family , found that he was incapable , without subjecting him- self to difficulties , of providing for the expenses of a collegiate education ; and considering , besides , as I heard him say to his ...
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able acquaintance advantage agreeable America appeared articles of confederation Assembly Boston Britain brother called citizens colonies consequence continued debt desire electricity employed endeavoured engaged England English Europe experiments father favour fluid Franklin French friends gave give Governor hands hundred inconvenience industry inhabitants Keimer kind labour land learned letters liberty live Madeira wine manner master means ment merchants mind nation necessary neral never obliged observed obtained occasion opinion paper Pennsylvania perhaps persons Philadelphia philosophers pleasure poor Richard says pounds pounds sterling power of points present printer procure produce proposed province of Pennsylvania quaker quantity racter received respect shew shillings slavery soon stamp act subsistence thing Thomas Penn thought tion took town trade uncle Benjamin vessel wish young
Popular passages
Page 235 - How much more than is necessary do we spend in sleep, forgetting that the sleeping fox catches no poultry, and that there will be sleeping enough in the grave, as Poor Richard says.
Page 238 - So much for industry, my friends, and attention to one's own business; but to these we must add frugality, if we would make our industry more certainly successful. A man may, if he knows not how to save as he gets, keep his nose all his life to the grindstone, and die not worth a groat at last. A fat kitchen makes a lean will, as Poor Richard says; and — • Many estates are spent in the getting, Since women for tea ' forsook spinning and knitting, And men for punch forsook hewing and splitting.
Page 276 - I doubt, too, whether any other convention we can obtain may be able to make a better constitution ; for when you assemble a number of men, to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish views.
Page 237 - Methinks 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 276 - Constitution. For, when you assemble a number of men to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish views. From such an assembly can a perfect production be expected ? It therefore astonishes me, sir, to find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does...
Page 240 - And again, 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 Poor Dick says, 'Tis easier to suppress the first desire than to satisfy all that follow it.
Page 127 - THE BODY .of BENJAMIN 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 : • Yet the work itself shall not be lost, For it will (as he believed) appear once more, In a new And more beautiful edition Corrected and Amended by The Author.
Page 217 - We are, however, not the less obliged by your kind offer, though we decline accepting it ; and to show our grateful sense of it, if the gentlemen of Virginia will send us a dozen of their sons, we will take great care of their education, instruct them in all we know, and make men of them.
Page 216 - We have had some experience of it ; several of our young people were formerly brought up at the colleges of the northern provinces ; they were instructed in all your sciences ; but when they came back to us, they were bad runners ; ignorant of every means of living in the woods ; unable to bear either cold or hunger ; knew neither how to build a cabin, take a deer, or kill an enemy ; spoke our language imperfectly ; were therefore neither fit for hunters, warriors, or counsellors : they were totally...
Page 158 - Remember this. saying, 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. This is sometimes of great use.