Monday, October 1, 2012

Ben Franklin and some "Franklinisms" worth quoting

Wow I have missed being able to get onto my blog to write!  I had computer issues - - too much info saved - - and had to get that resolved....but now I'm back!  

Ben Franklin (1/17/1706 - 4/17/1790) had a lot of amazing sayings.  

My Grandma Rice quoted these often:
"A stitch in time saves nine."
"A penny saved is a penny earned."
"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

My dad quoted these:
"Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise."
"Believe none of what you hear, and only half of what you see."  
"Never leave till tomorrow that which you can do today."
"You can do anything you set your mind to."

"For the want of a nail the shoe was lost,
For the want of a shoe the horse was lost,
For the want of a horse the rider was lost,
For the want of a rider the battle was lost,
For the want of a battle the kingdom was lost,
And all for the want of a horseshoe-nail."

But there were many others - - among them, these:
"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn."
"By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail."
"There never was a good war or a bad peace."
"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing."
"Three may keep a secret if two of them are dead."
"They who give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
"Those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one."
"Never ruin an apology with an excuse."
"We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid."
"Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are."
"How many observe Christ's birthday!  How few His precepts!"
"Well done is better than well said."
"Lost time is never found again."
"Instead of cursing the darkness, light a candle."
"The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness.  You have to catch it yourself."
"It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority."
"Life's biggest tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late."
"Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards."
"I am for doing good to the poor, but...I think the best way of doing good to the poor is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it.  I observed...that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer.  And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves and became richer."
"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."
"Whoever would would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech."
"While we may not be able to control all that happens to us, we can control what happens inside us."
"When the people find that they can vote themselves money that will herald the end of the republic."
"Security without liberty is called prison."
"It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it."
"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye  of reason."
"Fish and visitors smell in three days."
"Those things that hurt, instruct."
"No one cares what you know until they know that you care!"
"A good example is the best sermon."

And on, and on, and on....what a wise and wonderful legacy of wisdom he left for us to peruse.  

Thanks, Ben.  

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