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AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY |
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by Benjamin Franklin
The eyes of Christendom are upon us, and our honor as a people is becoming a matter of the utmost consequence to be taken care of. If we give up our rights in this contest, a century to come will not restore us to the opinion of the world; we shall be stamped with the character of...poltroons and fools...Present inconveniences are, therefore, to be borne with fortitude, and better times expected. We make daily great improvement in natural [philosophy], but there is one I wish to see in moral philosophy; the discovery of a plan, that would induce and oblige nations to settle their disputes without first cuttings one another's throats. When will human reason be sufficiently improved to see the advantage of this! When will we be convinced that even successful wars at length become misfortunes to those who unjustly commenced them and who triumphed blindly in their success, not seeing all its consequences. I think with you, that nothing is of more importance for the public weal, than to form and train up youth in wisdom and virtue. Wise and good men are, in my opinion, the strength of a state far more so than riches or arms, which, under the management of ignorance and wickedness, often draw on destruction, instead of providing for the safety of a people. Though the culture bestowed on many should be successful only with a few, yet the influence of those few and the service in their power may be very great...General virtue is more probably to be expected and obtained from the education of youth, than from the exhortation of adult persons; bad habits, and vices of the mind being, like diseases of the body, more easily prevented than cured... Commerce among nations, as well as between private persons, should be fair and equitable, by equivalent exchanges and mutual supplies. Taking unfair advantages of a neighbor's necessities tho' attended with temporary success, always breeds bad blood. The rapid progress true science now makes occasions my regretting sometimes that I was born so soon. It is impossible to imagine the height to which may be carried, in a thousand years, the power of man over matter. We may perhaps learn to deprive large masses of their gravity, and give them absolute levity, for the sake of easy transport. Agriculture may diminish its labor and double its produce; all diseases may by sure means be prevented or cured, not excepting even that of old age, and our lives lengthened even beyond the antediluvian standard. Righteousness, or justice, is, undoubtedly of all the virtues, the surest foundation on which to create and establish a new state. But there are two nobler virtues, industry and frugality, which tend more to increase the wealth, power and grandeur of the community, than all the others without them. Lost time is never found again; and what we call time enough, always proves little enough. Diligence overcomes difficulties, sloth makes them. The busy man has few idle visitors; to the boiling pot, the flies come not. Laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes him. Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship. Industry pays debts, despair increases them. Mad kings and mad bulls are not to be held by treaties and packthread. But dost thou love life, then do not squander Time, for that's the stuff Life is made of. Glass, china, and reputation, are easily cracked, and never well mended. Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.
Excerpted from "Poor Richard's" Editorials |
Poor
Richards Almanack,
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Enrich Your Life With a Philosophy Book... Enrich Your Life With a Philosophy Magazine...
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