Let’s Be Frank— Ben Franklin Part Two

Last updated on: September 13, 2018 at 1:19 am by Ben Witherington

Let’s Be Frank— Ben Franklin Part Two 2018-07-19T08:52:33-04:00 Ben Witherington

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Ben Franklin maximized the potential of maxims. He added lots of adages. He was proverbially good at proverbs. He coined the aforementioned aphorisms. And Poor Richard’s Almanack was full of them. Now the thing one needs to know about proverbs or adages or maxims or aphorisms is that under the right circumstances they are often true, true enough to be reasonable generalizations. But they are certainly not always true. It is not always true that ‘if you train up a child in the way that he should go, he shall not depart from it in his old age’. Often true, yes. Not always. Ben Franklin, having established himself as chief printer for the colonies began publishing Poor Richard Almanac at the end of 1732. The Poor Richard in question was Richard Saunders, a fictional character that came out of Franklin’s fertile imagination. In essence Franklin pristinized homespun wisdom, or what was later called— common sense. Franklin was the forefather of the spectacle of an apparently simple person coming up with wickedly funny and often insightful quips (think Mark Twain, Garrison Kellor, even Forest Gump). Like the latter day Farmer’s Almanac, Poor Richard included information about the coming weather, phases of the moon, tides, seasons as well as the famous maxims.

Some of his aphorisms are still common coin— ‘early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man…..’ well you know the rest. In fact, as Isaacson points out, many of these maxims Franklin nicked from older collections, and repurposed and revised them. For example ‘fresh fish and visitors stink in three days’ is an adaptation of an old English saying “Fresh fish and new-come guests smell, but that they are 3 days old’. He took the famous ‘many strokes fell great oaks’ and made it a moralism— ‘little strokes fell great oaks’. Here’s some of Franklin’s greatest hits along these lines—-

(p. 99)— “He’s a fool that makes his doctor his heir…Eat to live, and not live to eat…He that lies down with dogs will rise up with fleas…Where there is marriage without love, there will be love without marriage…Necessity never made a good bargain….A good example is the best sermon…None preaches better than the ant and she says nothing…A penny saved is twopence clear…When the well is dry we know the worth of water…The sleeping fox catches no poultry…The used key is always bright…He that lives on hope dies fasting…Diligence is the mother of good luck…Search others for their virtues, thyself for thy vices…Haste makes waste, make haste slowly…He who multiplies riches, multiples cares…He’s a fool who cannot conceal his wisdom…No gains without pains…Vice knows she is ugly, so puts on her mask…The most exquisite folly is made of wisdom spun too fine…Love your enemies for they will tell you your faults…The sting of a reproach is the truth of it…Genius without education is like silver in the mine…There was never a good knife made of bad steel…Half the truth is often a great lie…God helps them who help themselves…Let all men know thee, but no man know thee thoroughly”. Franklin offered these up with some irony, a good sense of humor, but also a seriousness. He did indeed believe in hard work and frugality, but the later accusation that he was obsessed with becoming wealthy, is false. In fact, he was a very generous person, who started many charitable endeavors, and mostly lived simply. Yet, he should not be confused with the Quakers, whom he often had hard dealings with in Philadelphia. For one thing, Franklin was no pacifist. More pragmatist than pacifist, he went with what worked.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

September 12, 2018

Let's be Frank--- Ben Franklin Part One

Next Post

September 14, 2018 Let's be Frank--- Ben Franklin Part Three

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz