Three from Mr. Franklin

I am for doing good to the poor, but…I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. I observed…that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer. 

—  Benjamin Franklin

When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic. 

—  Benjamin Franklin

Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech. 

— Benjamin Franklin

The human condition - Oxymoronica Style

A life of ease is a difficult pursuit. - William Cowper

Life is easier than you'd think; all that is necessary is to accept the impossible, do without the indispensable, and bear the intolerable. - Kathleen Norris

The most exquisite folly is made of wisdom spun too fine. - Benjamin Franklin

God heals

God heals and the doctor takes the fee. - Benjamin Franklin

Time to get up

I wake up every morning at nine and grab for the morning paper. Then I look at the obituary page. If my name is not on it, I get up. - Benjamin Franklin

Dust & Marble

Write your injuries in dust, your benefits in marble. - Benjamin Franklin

The right stuff

Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of. - Benjamin Franklin

A better man

Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man. - Benjamin Franklin

The gift of love

Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. -  Benjamin Franklin

Always learning

Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn. - Benjamin Franklin

Continual Christmas

A good conscience is a continual Christmas. - Benjamin Franklin

Back Home

A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body.  - Benjamin Franklin 


The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home. - Confucius 

Tick-tock

You may delay, but time will not.  - Benjamin Franklin 

Just grow old

I guess I don’t so much mind being old, as I mind being fat and old. - Ben Franklin


Well I start a diet today. We'll see if this diet is more successful than past diets. While I don't feel all that old, I sadly have a head start on the fat part of Franklin's musing on aging.

Free Speech

Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.
-Benjamin Franklin
       There is a lot to say on this one, but one of the most disturbing trends in the last twenty years is the ever growing right not to be offended.  If you are involved in public discourse, there is no way to avoid disagreement or attacks on your beliefs. Some of those attacks may even become personal.  I'll have to write more on this later, but the ever growing percentage of us who are thin-skinned and seemingly fragile will not make for a happy nation when there is a surplus of lawyers and an abundance of media mongers.

Military quotes #1

Those who turn their swords into ploughshares will be governed by those who don't. -Benjamin Franklin
       This has been a hard one to verify. It is more often than not attributed to Franklin, but it is not certain. The quote I found that is similar by Franklin is "Those who beat their swords into ploughshares will till the soil for those who don't."  Either way it is a quote that will strike a note with anyone familiar with the Bible.  The common passage of scripture is the desire for peace, turning swords into ploughshares when the presence, desire or threat of war is no longer.  As a Christian, I know that day is not going to happen in this world. It will only happen in the Kingdom. Until then, I am a firm believer in peace through power.  No I am  not a warmonger, but the world is full of people who are, and people who will use their power or strength to victimize the weak. The charge of the strong is to protect the weak, to stop the aggressor and to prevent any future threats. Ponder this:  God is the only true and just pacifist because His power is absolute.