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Franklin’s masterstroke lay not merely in providing the usual astronomical data and weather predictions, but in seasoning his pages with pithy aphorisms that became embedded in the American consciousness. “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise” and “God helps those who help themselves” weren’t mere platitudes but reflected Franklin’s systematic philosophy of self-improvement and material advancement.
The almanac served as Franklin’s laboratory for testing ideas about industry, frugality, and virtue that would later crystallize in his autobiography. More significantly, it democratized learning, bringing Enlightenment rationalism to common farmers and tradesmen. Through Poor Richard’s homespun voice, Franklin created a distinctly American literature—practical, optimistic, and entrepreneurial.
The publication’s success established Franklin's fortune and reputation, funding his later scientific and political careers. In retrospect, Poor Richard’s Almanack helped forge the American middle-class ethos, proving that in the New World, wisdom could be both profitable and popular.
“Beware of little expenses, a small leak will sink a great ship.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Diligence is the mother of good luck.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Experience keeps a dear school, yet fools will learn in no other.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that’s the stuff life is made of.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“No gains without pains.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“The muses love the morning.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“He that is rich need not live sparingly, and he that can live sparingly, need not be rich.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Don’t think to hunt two hares with one dog.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Either write things worth reading, or do things worth writing.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Diligence overcomes difficulties, sloth makes them.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Hope of gain lessens pain.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“He that falls in love with himself, will have no rivals.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“God helps them that help themselves.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“If you would be loved, love and be lovable.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Creditors have better memories than debtors.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Distrust and caution are the parents of security.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Great estates may venture more; little boats must keep near shore.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Doing an injury puts you below your enemy; revenging one makes you but even with him; forgiving, it sets you above him.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Don't throw stones at your neighbors, if your own windows are glass.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“A fine genius in his own country, is like gold in the mine.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Late children, early orphans.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Keep thy shop, and thy shop will keep thee.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Do good to thy friend to keep him, to thy enemy to gain him.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“A false friend and a shadow attend only while the sun shines.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“A full belly makes a dull brain.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Love your enemies, for they tell you your faults.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Honor thy father and mother, i.e., live so as to be an honor to them when they are dead.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“If you’d know the value of money, go and borrow some.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“I have never seen the philosopher’s stone that turns lead into gold, but I have known the pursuit of it turn a man’s gold into lead.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“If you’d have a servant that you like, serve yourself.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“All things are easy to industry, all things difficult to sloth.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Employ thy time well, if thou meanest to gain leisure.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“If Jack’s in love, he’s no judge of Jill’s beauty.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Buy what thou hast no need of; and e’er long thou shalt sell thy necessaries.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“He that drinks fast, pays slow.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Drink water; put the money in your pocket, and leave the dry-bellyache in the punch-bowl.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“He that riseth late, must trot all day, and shall scarce overtake his business by night.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Industry pays debts, despair increases them.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Eat few suppers, and you’ll need few medicines.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“He that can have patience can have what he will.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Anger is never without a reason, but seldom with a good one.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Up, sluggard, and waste not life; in the grave will be sleeping enough.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“The bell calls others to church, but itself never minds the sermon.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“An innocent plowman is more worthy than a vicious prince.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Hold your council before dinner; the full belly hates thinking as well as acting.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Be slow in choosing a friend, slower in changing.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Do not do that which you would not have known.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Drunkenness, that worst of evils, makes some men fools, some beasts, some devils.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“A good example is the best sermon.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“If you know how to spend less than you get, you have the philosopher’s stone.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools, that have not wit enough to be honest.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“You will be careful, if you are wise; how you touch men's religion, or credit, or eyes.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“The sting of a reproach is the truth of it.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“No man ever was glorious who was not laborious.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“There was never a good knife made of bad steel.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“We may give advice, but we cannot give conduct.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Sloth (like rust) consumes faster than labor wears. The used key is always bright.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“The eye of a master, will do more work than his hand.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“A long life may not be good enough, but a good life is long enough.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“You may delay, but time will not.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“A good lawyer, a bad neighbor.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Have you something to do tomorrow; do it today.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Love your neighbor; yet don’t pull down your hedge.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“As we must account for every idle word, so we must for every idle silence.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“He that never eats too much, will never be lazy.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“When you’re good to others, you are best to yourself.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“The second vice is lying; the first is running in debt.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“’Tis easy to see, hard to foresee.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Promises may get thee friends, but non-performance will turn them into enemies.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“A light purse is a heavy curse.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“The honest man takes pains, and then enjoys pleasures; the knave takes pleasures, and then suffers pains.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“If you have time don’t wait for time.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“There is no little enemy.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“A plowman on his legs is higher than a gentleman on his knees.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“For want of a nail the shoe is lost; for want of a shoe, the horse is lost; for want of a horse the rider is lost.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“It’s common for men to give pretended reasons instead of one real one.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“He’s a fool that makes his doctor his heir.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Words may show a man’s wit, but actions his meaning.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“An egg today is better than a hen tomorrow.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“There is neither honor nor gain got in dealing with a villian.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Virtue and happiness are mother and daughter.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Wish not so much to live long as to live well.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Approve not of him that commends all you say.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Bad gains are truly losses.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Laziness travels so slowly, that poverty soon overtakes him.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Ill customs and bad advice are seldom forgotten.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“The bird that sits, is easily shot.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Time is an herb that cures all diseases.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“’Tis easier to prevent bad habits than to break them.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Sleep without supping, and you'll rise without owing for it.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Fools multiply folly.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Marry above thy match, and thou'lt get a master.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Money and good manners make the gentleman.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Time enough always proves little enough.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“None preaches better than the ant, and she says nothing.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“If you’d lose a troublesome visitor, lend him money.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“You may be too cunning for one, but not for all.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Vice knows she’s ugly, so puts on her mask.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Observe all men; thyself most.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Haste makes waste.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“An empty bag cannot stand upright.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“When the wine enters, out goes the truth.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“The busy man has few idle visitors; to the boiling pot the flies come not.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Lost time is never found again.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Tim was so learned, that he could name a horse in nine languages. So ignorant, that he bought a cow to ride on.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“To whom thy secret thou dost tell, to him thy freedom thou dost sell.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“All would live long, but none would be old.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“He that builds before he counts the cost, acts foolishly; and he that counts before he builds, finds he did not count wisely.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“The proud hate pride—in others.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Would you live with ease, do what you ought, and not what you please.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Without justice courage is weak.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Where there’s no law, there’s no bread.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“An hundred thieves cannot strip one naked man, especially if his skin’s off.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Half the truth is often a great lie.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Drive thy business, or it will drive thee.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Where there’s marriage without love, there will be love without marriage.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Thou canst not joke an enemy into a friend; but thou may'st a friend into an enemy.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Drink does not drown care, but waters it, and makes it grow faster.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“The wise man draws more advantage from his enemies, than the fool from his friends.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Laws too gentle are seldom obeyed; too severe, seldom executed.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“At the working man’s house hunger looks in but dares not enter.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“When you speak to a man, look on his eyes; when he speaks to thee, look on his mouth.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“One good husband is worth two good wives; for the scarcer things are the more they’re valued.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“If you would keep your secret from an enemy, tell it not to a friend.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“As pride increases, fortune declines.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Take this remark from Richard, poor and lame, whatever is begun in anger, ends in shame.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Patience in a market, is worth pounds in a year.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Necessity never made a good bargain.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Fish and visitors stink in three days.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Well done is twice done.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it, is.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Tart words make no friends; a spoonful of honey will catch more flies than a gallon of vinegar.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Beauty and folly are old companions.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“One today is worth two tomorrows.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Rather go to bed supperless, than run in debt for a breakfast.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“A lie stands on one leg, truth on two.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“He that lies down with dogs, shall rise up with fleas.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“The creditors are a superstitious sect, great observers of set days and times.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Take counsel in wine, but resolve afterwards in water.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“The golden age never was the present age.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“’Tis a shame that your family is an honor to you! You ought to be an honor to your family.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Don’t misinform your doctor nor your lawyer.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Today is yesterday’s pupil.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“A life of leisure, and a life of laziness, are two things.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor liberty to purchase power.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Lend money to an enemy, and thou’lt gain him, to a friend and thou’lt lose him.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Let every new year find you a better man.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“The noblest question in the world is, what good may I do in it?”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Genius without education is like silver in the mine.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Nothing so popular as goodness.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“To be intimate with a foolish friend, is like going to bed with a razor.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“’Tis easier to build two chimneys, than maintain one in fuel.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“It is better to take many injuries, than to give one.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Be always ashamed to catch thyself idle.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Pardoning the bad, is injuring the good.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Well done is better than well said.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“The worst wheel of the cart makes the most noise.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Love, cough, and a smoke, can’t well be hid.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“’'Tis easier to suppress the first desire, than to satisfy all that follow it.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source• Title: Poor Richard’s Almanack
• Author: Benjamin Franklin
• Type: Book
• Publisher: Benjamin Franklin
• Publication time: 1732-1758
• Publication place: Pennsylvania, United States
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