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
The United States Constitutional Convention, except for three or four persons, thought prayers unnecessary.
A fine genius in his own country is like gold in the mine.
Slavery is ...an atrocious debasement of human nature.
I have conceived a higher opinion of the natural capacities of the black race than I had ever before entertained. Their apprehension seems as quick, their memory as strong, and their docility in every respect equal to that of white children.
Slavery is such an atrocious debasement of human nature, that its very extirpation, if not performed with solicitous care, may sometimes open a source of serious evils.
Let the experiment be made.
In going on with these Experiments, how many pretty systems do we build, which we soon find ourselves oblig'd to destroy! If there is no other Use discover'd of Electricity, this, however, is something considerable, that it may help to make a vain Man humble.
Kill no more pigeons than you can eat.
If it were not for the Belly, the Back might wear Gold.
A full Belly makes a dull Brain: The Muses starve in a Cook's Shop.
A full Belly is the Mother of all Evil.
A full Belly brings forth every Evil.
He was so learned that he could name a horse in nine languages; so ignorant that he bought a cow to ride on.
People are best convinced by things they themselves discover.