Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklinwas one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A renowned polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, freemason, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat. As a scientist, he was a major figure in the American Enlightenment and the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity. As an inventor, he is known for the lightning rod, bifocals, and the Franklin stove, among other inventions. He facilitated many civic organizations, including...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionScientist
Date of Birth17 January 1706
CityBoston, MA
CountryUnited States of America
Those that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
You cannot pluck roses without fear of thorns, Nor enjoy a fair wife without danger of horns
When knaves fall out, honest men get their goods; when priests dispute, we come at the truth
Wish a miser long life, and you wish him no good.
Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools talk because they have to say something.
Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Those who pay for what they buy upon Credit, pay their Share of this Advance.
To the discontented man no chair is easy
Yet, in buying Goods, 'tis best to pay ready Money, because,
Experience is a dear teacher, but fools will learn at no other.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for every thing one has a mind to do.
From a child I was fond of reading, and all the little money that came into my hands was ever laid out in books. Pleased with the 'Pilgrim's Progress,' my first collection was of John Bunyan's works in separate little volumes.
I have never entered into any controversy in defense of my philosophical opinions; I leave them to take their chance in the world. If they are right, truth and experience will support them; if wrong, they ought to be refuted and rejected. Disputes are apt to sour one's temper and disturb one's quiet.
Where there is a free government, and the people make their own laws by their representatives, I see no injustice in their obliging one another to take their own paper money.