The Essays, Humourous, Moral and Literary: Of the Late Benjamin Franklin |
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Page 73
... . In some cases , indeed , certain modes of luxury may be a public evil , in the same manner as it is a private one . If there be a nation , for instance , that exports its beef G and linen , to pay for the importation of claret ESSAYS .
... . In some cases , indeed , certain modes of luxury may be a public evil , in the same manner as it is a private one . If there be a nation , for instance , that exports its beef G and linen , to pay for the importation of claret ESSAYS .
Page 74
Of the Late Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin. and linen , to pay for the importation of claret and porter , while a great part of its people live upon potatoes , and wear no shirts ; wherein does it differ from the sot who lets his ...
Of the Late Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin. and linen , to pay for the importation of claret and porter , while a great part of its people live upon potatoes , and wear no shirts ; wherein does it differ from the sot who lets his ...
Page 120
... importation of foreign luxuries could ruin a people , we should probably have been ruined long age ; for the British nation claimed a right , and plactised it , of importing among us , not only the superfluities of their own production ...
... importation of foreign luxuries could ruin a people , we should probably have been ruined long age ; for the British nation claimed a right , and plactised it , of importing among us , not only the superfluities of their own production ...
Page 121
... importations , and thereby grow richer ; if , indeed , which may admit of dispute , the desire of adorning ourselves with fine clothes , possess- ing fine furniture , with elegant houses , & c . is not , by strongly inciting to labour ...
... importations , and thereby grow richer ; if , indeed , which may admit of dispute , the desire of adorning ourselves with fine clothes , possess- ing fine furniture , with elegant houses , & c . is not , by strongly inciting to labour ...
Page 128
... importation of such goods , it has been gen- erally refused , on this principle , that if the coun- try is ripe for the manufacture , it may be carried on by private persons to advantage ; and if not , it is a folly to think of forcing ...
... importation of such goods , it has been gen- erally refused , on this principle , that if the coun- try is ripe for the manufacture , it may be carried on by private persons to advantage ; and if not , it is a folly to think of forcing ...
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The Essays, Humourous, Moral and Literary; of the Late Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin No preview available - 2013 |
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Popular passages
Page 134 - It therefore astonishes me, sir, to find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does ; and I think it will astonish our enemies, who are waiting with confidence to hear that our councils are confounded, like those of the builders of Babel ; and that our states are on the point of separation, only to meet hereafter for the purpose of cutting one another's throats. Thus I consent, sir, to this Constitution, because I expect no better, and because I am not sure, that it is not the best.
Page 98 - 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 133 - 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 32 - The most trifling actions that affect a man's credit, are to be regarded. The sound of your hammer at five in the morning, or nine at night, heard by a creditor, makes him easy six months longer ; but if he sees you at a billiard table, or hears your voice at a tavern, -when you should be at work, he sends for his money the next day : demands it before he can receive it in a lump.
Page 98 - ... he intended to say, or has any thing to add, he may rise again and deliver it. ,To interrupt another, even in common conversation, is reckoned highly indecent.
Page 10 - I then came home, and went whistling all over the house, much pleased with my whistle, but disturbing all the family. My brothers and sisters and cousins, understanding the bargain I had made, told me I had given four times as much for it as it was worth. This put me in mind what good things I might have bought with the rest of the money; and they laughed at me so much for my folly that I cried with vexation; and the reflection gave me more chagrin than the whistle gave me pleasure.
Page 32 - 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.
Page 126 - Tolerably good workmen in any of those mechanic arts are sure to find employ, and to be well paid for their work, there being no restraints preventing strangers from exercising any art they understand, nor any permission necessary. If they are poor, they begin first as servants or journeymen ; and if they are sober, industrious, and frugal, they soon become masters, establish themselves in business, marry, raise families, and become respectable citizens.
Page 133 - But, though many private persons think almost as highly of their own infallibility as of that of their own sect, few express it so naturally as a certain French lady, who, in a little dispute with her sister, said, I dont know how it happens, sister, but I meet with nobody but myself that is always in the right.
Page 17 - the opinion of learned philosophers of our race, who lived and flourished long before my time, that this vast world, the Moulin Joly, could not itself subsist more than eighteen hours ; and I think there was some foundation for that opinion, since, by the apparent motion of the great luminary that gives life to all nature, and which in my time has evidently declined considerably...