17 Powerful Quotes from Benjamin’s Franklin Essay: The Way to Wealth

Last Updated on February 8, 2024 by The Unbounded Thinker

Benjamin Franklin was a successful inventor, author, scientist, publisher, and statesman. Benjamin’s ambitious, risk-taking, and hardworking nature made him succeed in many fields and enabled him to make major contributions to science.

Besides this, Benjamin’s works played a crucial role in founding America. In 1758, he wrote an essay: The Way to Wealth, in which he shared powerful proverbs that advice on how to succeed in life. I have read the essay several times because I love its harsh realities.

Here are my favorite Benjamin’s quotes from the essay.

1. We are taxed twice by our idleness, three times as much by our pride, and four times by our folly and the government can’t free us from these taxes.’

2. ‘Beware of little expenses, a small leak will sink a great ship.’

3. ‘If we are hard working we will never starve because, at the hardworking man’s house, hunger looks in but dares not enter.’

4. ‘Wise men learn from other people’s mistakes, while fools learn from their own.’

5. ‘Do all your best today because you never know how much you may be hindered tomorrow.’

6. ‘If you love life don’t squander time because life is made of time.’

7. ‘We waste so much time sleeping forgetting that there will be sleeping enough in the grave.’

8. ‘Laziness makes things difficult, hard work makes things easy.’

9. ‘He that lives with hope will die fasting.’

10. ‘Be up before sunrise, don’t let the sun look down and say, inglorious here he lies.’

11. ‘Stick to your work steadily and you will see great effects, for constant droppings, wears away stones, and by diligence and patience the mouse ate into the cable, and little strokes fail great oaks.’

12. Add frugality to hard work if you want to make your hard work more successful.’

13. ‘Buy what you don’t need, and you will sell what you need.’

14. ‘God gives all things to hard work.’

15. ‘Learning is to the studious, and riches to the careful, as well as power to the bold, and heaven to the virtuous.’

16. ‘What use is this pride of appearance, of which so much is risked, and so much is suffered. It cannot promote hate or ease pain.’

17. ‘Think what you do when you run in debt, you give to another power over your liberty. If you cannot pay on time, you will be ashamed to see your creditor, and you will be in fear when you speak to him.’

Which quote from Benjamin’s essay did you love the most??

Check out: 5 Powerful Success Lessons We Can Learn From Benjamin Franklin

Find me on my facebook group: Unbounded Wisdom Community, for more insightful quotes, and discussions.

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