The CDPD Public Domain Collection for CDTV 3/CDPDIII.bin/books/franklin/1758

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        _Poor Richard Improved_
        1758

         COURTEOUS READER,
         I have heard that nothing gives an Author so great Pleasure,
as to find his Works respectfully quoted by other learned Authors.
This Pleasure I have seldom enjoyed; for tho' I have been, if I may
say it without Vanity, an _eminent Author_ of Almanacks annually now
a full Quarter of a Century, my Brother Authors in the same Way, for
what Reason I know not, have ever been very sparing in their
Applauses; and no other Author has taken the least Notice of me, so
that did not my Writings produce me some solid _Pudding_, the great
Deficiency of _Praise_ would have quite discouraged me.

        I concluded at length, that the People were the best Judges of
my Merit; for they buy my Works; and besides, in my Rambles, where I
am not personally known, I have frequently heard one or other of my
Adages repeated, with, _as Poor Richard says_, at the End on't; this
gave me some Satisfaction, as it showed not only that my Instructions
were regarded, but discovered likewise some Respect for my Authority;
and I own, that to encourage the Practice of remembering and
repeating those wise Sentences, I have sometimes _quoted myself_ with
great Gravity.

        Judge then how much I must have been gratified by an Incident I
am going to relate to you.  I stopt my Horse lately where a great
Number of People were collected at a Vendue of Merchant Goods.  The
Hour of Sale not being come, they were conversing on the Badness of
the Times, and one of the Company call'd to a plain clean old Man,
with white Locks, _Pray, Father_ Abraham, _what think you of the
Times?  Won't these heavy Taxes quite ruin the Country?  How shall we
be ever able to pay them?  What would you advise us to? -- _ Father
_Abraham_ stood up, and reply'd, If you'd have my Advice, I'll give
it you in short, for a _Word to the Wise is enough_, and _many Words
won't fill a Bushel_, as _Poor Richard says._ They join'd in desiring
him to speak his Mind, and gathering round him, he proceeded as
follows;

        Friends, says he, and Neighbours, the Taxes are indeed very
heavy, and if those laid on by the Government were the only Ones we
had to pay, we might more easily discharge them; but we have many
others, and much more grievous to some of us.  We are taxed twice as
much by our _Idleness_, three times as much by our _Pride_, and four
times as much by our _Folly_, and from these Taxes the Commissioners
cannot ease or deliver us by allowing an Abatement.  However let us
hearken to good Advice, and something may be done for us; _God helps
them that help themselves_, as _Poor Richard_ says, in his Almanack
of 1733.

        It would be thought a hard Government that should tax its
People one tenth Part of their _Time_, to be employed in its Service.
But _Idleness_ taxes many of us much more, if we reckon all that is
spent in absolute _Sloth_, or doing of nothing, with that which is
spent in idle Employments or Amusements, that amount to nothing.
_Sloth_, by bringing on Diseases, absolutely shortens Life.  _Sloth,
like Rust, consumes faster than Labour wears, while the used Key is
always bright_, as _Poor Richard_ says.  But _dost thou love Life,
then do not squander Time, for that's the Stuff Life is made of_, as
_Poor Richard_ says. -- How much more than is necessary do we spend
in Sleep! forgetting that _The sleeping Fox catches no Poultry_, and
that _there will be sleeping enough in the Grave_, as _Poor Richard_
says.  If Time be of all Things the most precious, _wasting Time_
must be, as _Poor Richard_ says, _the greatest Prodigality_, since,
as he elsewhere tells us, _Lost Time is never found again_; and what
we call _Time-enough, always proves little enough_: Let us then up
and be doing, and doing to the Purpose; so by Diligence shall we do
more with less Perplexity.  _Sloth makes all Things difficult, but
Industry all easy_, as _Poor Richard_ says; and _He that riseth late,
must trot all Day, and shall scarce overtake his Business at Night._
While _Laziness travels so slowly, that Poverty soon over-takes him_,
as we read in _Poor Richard_, who adds, _Drive thy Business, let not
that drive thee_; and _Early to Bed, and early to rise, makes a Man
healthy, wealthy and wise._

        So what signifies _wishing_ and _hoping_ for better Times.  We
may make these Times better if we bestir ourselves.  _Industry need
not wish_, as _Poor Richard_ says, and _He that lives upon Hope will
die fasting.  There are no Gains, without Pains_; then _Help Hands,
for I have no Lands_, or if I have, they are smartly taxed.  And, as
_Poor Richard_ likewise observes, _He that hath a Trade hath an
Estate_, and _He that hath a Calling hath an Office of Profit and
Honour_; but then the _Trade_ must be worked at, and the _Calling_
well followed, or neither the _Estate_, nor the _Office_, will enable
us to pay our Taxes. -- If we are industrious we shall never starve;
for, as _Poor Richard_ says, _At the working Man's House_ Hunger
_looks in, but dares not enter._ Nor will the Bailiff or the
Constable enter, for _Industry pays Debts, while Despair encreaseth
them_, says _Poor Richard. -- _ What though you have found no
Treasure, nor has any rich Relation left you a Legacy, _Diligence is
the Mother of Good-luck,_ as _Poor Richard_ says, and _God gives all
Things to Industry._ Then _plough deep, while Sluggards sleep, and
you shall have Corn to sell and to keep,_ says _Poor Dick._ Work
while it is called To-day, for you know not how much you may be
hindered To-morrow, which makes _Poor Richard_ say, _One To-day is
worth two To-morrows_; and farther, _Have you somewhat to do
To-morrow, do it To-day._ If you were a Servant, would you not be
ashamed that a good Master should catch you idle?  Are you then your
own Master, _be ashamed to catch yourself idle_, as _Poor Dick_ says.
When there is so much to be done for yourself, your Family, your
Country, and your gracious King, be up by Peep of Day; _Let not the
Sun look down and say, Inglorious here he lies._ Handle your Tools
without Mittens; remember that _the Cat in Gloves catches no Mice_,
as _Poor Richard_ says.  'Tis true there is much to be done, and
perhaps you are weak handed, but stick to it steadily, and you will
see great Effects, for _constant Dropping wears away Stones_, and by
_Diligence and Patience the Mouse ate in two the Cable_; and _little
Strokes fell great Oaks_, as _Poor Richard_ says in his Almanack, the
Year I cannot just now remember.

        Methinks I hear some of you say, _Must a Man afford himself no
Leisure? -- _ I will tell thee, my Friend, what _Poor Richard_ says,
_Employ thy Time well if thou meanest to gain Leisure_; and, _since
thou art not sure of a Minute, throw not away an Hour._ Leisure, is
Time for doing something useful; this Leisure the diligent Man will
obtain, but the lazy Man never; so that, as _Poor Richard_ says, a
_Life of Leisure and a Life of Laziness are two Things._ Do you
imagine that Sloth will afford you more Comfort than Labour?  No, for
as _Poor Richard_ says, _Trouble springs from Idleness, and grievous
Toil from needless Ease.  Many without Labour, would live by their_
WITS _only, but they break for want of Stock._ Whereas Industry gives
Comfort, and Plenty, and Respect: _Fly Pleasures, and they'll follow
you.  The diligent Spinner has a large Shift_; and _now I have a
Sheep and a Cow, every Body bids me Good morrow_; all which is well
said by _Poor Richard._


        But with our Industry, we must likewise be _steady_, _settled_
and _careful_, and oversee our own Affairs _with our own Eyes_, and
not trust too much to others; for, as _Poor Richard_ says,

                 _I never saw an oft removed Tree,
                 Nor yet an oft removed Family,
                 That throve so well as those that settled be._

        And again, _Three Removes is as bad as a Fire_; and again,
_Keep thy Shop, and thy Shop will keep thee_; and again, _If you
would have your Business done, go; If not, send._ And again,

        _He that by the Plough would thrive,
        Himself must either hold or drive._

        And again, _The Eye of a Master will do more Work than both his
Hands_; and again, _Want of Care does us more Damage than Want of
Knowledge_; and again, _Not to oversee Workmen, is to leave them your
Purse open._ Trusting too much to others Care is the Ruin of many;
for, as the _Almanack_ says, _In the Affairs of this World, Men are
saved, not by Faith, but by the Want of it_; but a Man's own Care is
profitable; for, saith _Poor Dick_, _Learning is to the Studious_,
and _Riches to the Careful_, as well as _Power to the Bold_, and
_Heaven to the Virtuous._ And farther, _If you would have a faithful
Servant, and one that you like, serve yourself._ And again, he
adviseth to Circumspection and Care, even in the smallest Matters,
because sometimes _a little Neglect may breed great Mischief_;
adding, _For want of a Nail the Shoe was lost; for want of a Shoe the
Horse was lost; and for want of a Horse the Rider was lost_, being
overtaken and slain by the Enemy, all for want of Care about a
Horse-shoe Nail.

        So much for Industry, my Friends, and Attention to one's own
Business; but to these we must add _Frugality_, if we would make our
_Industry_ more certainly successful.  A Man may, if he knows not how
to save as he gets, _keep his Nose all his Life to the Grindstone_,
and die not worth a _Groat_ at last.  _A fat Kitchen makes a lean
Will_, as _Poor Richard_ says; and,

        _Many Estates are spent in the Getting,
        Since Women for Tea forsook Spinning and Knitting,
        And Men for Punch forsook Hewing and Splitting.

        If you would be wealthy,_ says he, in another Almanack, _think
of Saving as well as of Getting: The_ Indies _have not made_ Spain
_rich, because her_ Outgoes _are greater than her_ Incomes.  Away
then with your expensive Follies, and you will not have so
much Cause to complain of hard Times, heavy Taxes, and chargeable
Families; for, as _Poor Dick_ says,

        _Women and Wine, Game and Deceit,
        Make the Wealth small, and the Wants great._

        And farther, _What maintains one Vice, would bring up two
Children._ You may think perhaps, That a _little_ Tea, or a _little_
Punch now and then, Diet a _little_ more costly, Clothes a _little_
finer, and a _little_ Entertainment now and then, can be no _great_
Matter; but remember what _Poor Richard_ says, _Many_ a Little _makes
a Mickle_; and farther, _Beware of_ little _Expences_; _a small Leak
will sink a great Ship_; and again, _Who Dainties love, shall Beggars
prove_; and moreover, _Fools make Feasts, and wise Men eat them._

        Here you are all got together at this Vendue of _Fineries_ and
_Knicknacks._ You call them _Goods_, but if you do not take Care,
they will prove _Evils_ to some of you.  You expect they will be sold
_cheap_, and perhaps they may for less than they cost; but if you
have no Occasion for them, they must be _dear_ to you.  Remember what
_Poor Richard_ says, _Buy what thou hast no Need of, and ere long
thou shalt sell thy Necessaries._ And again, _At a great Pennyworth
pause a while_: He means, that perhaps the Cheapness is _apparent_
only, and not _real_; or the Bargain, by straitning thee in thy
Business, may do thee more Harm than Good.  For in another Place he
says, _Many have been ruined by buying good Pennyworths._ Again,
_Poor Richard_ says, _'Tis foolish to lay out Money in a Purchase of
Repentance_; and yet this Folly is practised every Day at Vendues,
for want of minding the Almanack.  _Wise Men_, as _Poor Dick_ says,
_learn by others Harms, Fools scarcely by their own_; but, _Felix
quem faciunt aliena Pericula cautum._ Many a one, for the Sake of
Finery on the Back, have gone with a hungry Belly, and half starved
their Families; _Silks and Sattins, Scarlet and Velvets,_ as _Poor
Richard_ says, _put out the Kitchen Fire._ These are not the
_Necessaries_ of Life; they can scarcely be called the
_Conveniencies_, and yet only because they look pretty, how many
_want_ to _have_ them.  The _artificial_ Wants of Mankind thus become
more numerous than the _natural_; and, as _Poor Dick_ says, _For one_
poor _Person, there are an hundred_ indigent.  By these, and other
Extravagancies, the Genteel are reduced to Poverty, and forced to
borrow of those whom they formerly despised, but who through
_Industry_ and _Frugality_ have maintained their Standing; in which
Case it appears plainly, that a _Ploughman on his Legs is higher than
a Gentleman on his Knees_, as _Poor Richard_ says.  Perhaps they have
had a small Estate left them, which they knew not the Getting of;
they think _'tis Day, and will never be Night_; that a little to be
spent out of _so much_, is not worth minding; _(a Child and a Fool,_
as _Poor Richard_ says, _imagine_ Twenty Shillings _and Twenty Years
can never be spent)_ but, _always taking out of the Meal-tub, and
never putting in, soon comes to the Bottom_; then, as _Poor Dick_
says, _When the Well's dry, they know the Worth of Water._ But this
they might have known before, if they had taken his Advice; _If you
would know the Value of Money, go and try to borrow some_; for, _he
that goes a borrowing goes a sorrowing_; and indeed so does he that
lends to such People, when he goes _to get it in again._ -- _Poor
Dick_ farther advises, and says,

        _Fond_ Pride of Dress, _is sure a very Curse;
        E'er_ Fancy _you consult, consult your Purse._

        And again, _Pride is as loud a Beggar as Want, and a great deal
more saucy._ When you have bought one fine Thing you must buy ten
more, that your Appearance may be all of a Piece; but _Poor Dick_
says, _'Tis easier to_ suppress _the first Desire, than to_ satisfy
_all that follow it._ And 'tis as truly Folly for the Poor to ape the
Rich, as for the Frog to swell, in order to equal the Ox.

        _Great Estates may venture more,
        But little Boats should keep near Shore._

        'Tis however a Folly soon punished; for _Pride that dines on
Vanity sups on Contempt_, as _Poor Richard_ says.  And in another
Place, _Pride breakfasted with Plenty, dined with Poverty, and supped
with Infamy._ And after all, of what Use is this _Pride of
Appearance_, for which so much is risked, so much is suffered?  It
cannot promote Health, or ease Pain; it makes no Increase of Merit in
the Person, it creates Envy, it hastens Misfortune.

        _What is a Butterfly?  At best
        He's but a Caterpillar drest.
        The gaudy Fop's his Picture just,_

        as _Poor Richard_ says.

        But what Madness must it be to _run in Debt_ for these
Superfluities!  We are offered, by the Terms of this Vendue, _Six
Months Credit_; and that perhaps has induced some of us to attend it,
because we cannot spare the ready Money, and hope now to be fine
without it.  But, ah, think what you do when you run in Debt; _You
give to another Power over your Liberty._ If you cannot pay at the
Time, you will be ashamed to see your Creditor; you will be in Fear
when you speak to him; you will make poor pitiful sneaking Excuses,
and by Degrees come to lose your Veracity, and sink into base
downright lying; for, as _Poor Richard_ says, _The second Vice is
Lying, the first is running in Debt._ And again, to the same Purpose,
_Lying rides upon Debt's Back._ Whereas a freeborn _Englishman_ ought
not to be ashamed or afraid to see or speak to any Man living.  But
Poverty often deprives a Man of all Spirit and Virtue: _'Tis hard for
an empty Bag to stand upright_, as _Poor Richard_ truly says.  What
would you think of that Prince, or that Government, who should issue
an Edict forbidding you to dress like a Gentleman or a Gentlewoman,
on Pain of Imprisonment or Servitude?  Would you not say, that you
are free, have a Right to dress as you please, and that such an Edict
would be a Breach of your Privileges, and such a Government
tyrannical?  And yet you are about to put yourself under that Tyranny
when you run in Debt for such Dress!  Your Creditor has Authority at
his Pleasure to deprive you of your Liberty, by confining you in Goal
for Life, or to sell you for a Servant, if you should not be able to
pay him!  When you have got your Bargain, you may, perhaps, think
little of Payment; but _Creditors, Poor Richard_ tells us, _have
better Memories than Debtors_; and in another Place says, _Creditors
are a superstitious Sect, great Observers of set Days and Times._ The
Day comes round before you are aware, and the Demand is made before
you are prepared to satisfy it.  Or if you bear your Debt in Mind,
the Term which at first seemed so long, will, as it lessens, appear
extreamly short.  _Time_ will seem to have added Wings to his Heels
as well as Shoulders.  _Those have a short Lent,_ saith _Poor
Richard, _who owe Money to be paid at Easter._ Then since, as he
says, _The Borrower is a Slave to the Lender, and the Debtor to the
Creditor_, disdain the Chain, preserve your Freedom; and maintain
your Independency: Be _industrious_ and _free_; be _frugal_ and
_free._ At present, perhaps, you may think yourself in thriving
Circumstances, and that you can bear a little Extravagance without
Injury; but,

        _For Age and Want, save while you may;
        No Morning Sun lasts a whole Day,_

        as _Poor Richard_ says. -- Gain may be temporary and uncertain,
but ever while you live, Expence is constant and certain; and _'tis
easier to build two Chimnies than to keep one in Fuel_, as _Poor
Richard_ says.  So _rather go to Bed supperless than rise in Debt.

        _Get what you can, and what you get hold;
        Tis the Stone that will turn all your Lead into Gold,_

        as _Poor Richard_ says.  And when you have got the
Philosopher's Stone, sure you will no longer complain of bad Times,
or the Difficulty of paying Taxes.

        This Doctrine, my Friends, is _Reason_ and _Wisdom_; but after
all, do not depend too much upon your own _Industry_, and
_Frugality_, and _Prudence_, though excellent Things, for they may
all be blasted without the Blessing of Heaven; and therefore ask that
Blessing humbly, and be not uncharitable to those that at present
seem to want it, but comfort and help them.  Remember _Job_ suffered,
and was afterwards prosperous.

        And now to conclude, _Experience keeps a dear School, but Fools
will learn in no other, and scarce in that_; for it is true, _we may
give Advice, but we cannot give Conduct_, as _Poor Richard_ says:
However, remember this, _They that won't be counselled, can't be
helped_, as _Poor Richard_ says: And farther, That _if you will not
hear Reason, she'll surely rap your Knuckles._"

        Thus the old Gentleman ended his Harangue.  The People heard
it, and approved the Doctrine, and immediately practised the
contrary, just as if it had been a common Sermon; for the Vendue
opened, and they began to buy extravagantly, notwithstanding all his
Cautions, and their own Fear of Taxes. -- I found the good Man had
thoroughly studied my Almanacks, and digested all I had dropt on
those Topicks during the Course of Five-and-twenty Years.  The
frequent Mention he made of me must have tired any one else, but my
Vanity was wonderfully delighted with it, though I was conscious that
not a tenth Part of the Wisdom was my own which he ascribed to me,
but rather the _Gleanings_ I had made of the Sense of all Ages and
Nations.  However, I resolved to be the better for the Echo of it;
and though I had at first determined to buy Stuff for a new Coat, I
went away resolved to wear my old One a little longer.  _Reader_, if
thou wilt do the same, thy Profit will be as great as mine.
                                 _I am, as ever,
                                         Thine to serve thee,_
         _July_ 7, 1757.                         RICHARD SAUNDERS.
                                 ______

        One _Nestor_ is worth two _Ajaxes._

        When you're an Anvil, hold you still;
        When you're a Hammer, strike your Fill.

        When Knaves betray each other, one can scarce be blamed, or the
other pitied.

        He that carries a small Crime easily, will carry it on when it
comes to be an Ox.

        Happy _Tom Crump_, ne'er sees his own Hump.

        Fools need Advice most, but wise Men only are the better for
it.

        Silence is not always a Sign of Wisdom, but Babbling is ever a
Mark of Folly.

        Great Modesty often hides great Merit.

        You may delay, but _Time_ will not.

        _Virtue_ may not always make a Face handsome, but _Vice_ will
certainly make it ugly.

        Prodigality of _Time_, produces Poverty of Mind as well as of
Estate.

        Content is the Philosopher's Stone, that turns all it touches
into Gold.

        He that's content, hath enough; He that complains, has too
much.

        _Pride_ gets into the Coach, and _Shame_ mounts behind.

        The first Mistake in publick Business, is the going into it.


        Half the Truth is often a great Lie.

        The Way to see by _Faith_, is to shut the Eye of _Reason_: The
Morning Daylight appears plainer when you put out your Candle.

        A full Belly makes a dull Brain: The Muses starve in a Cook's
Shop.

        _Spare and have_ is better than _spend and crave_.

        _Good-Will_, like the Wind, floweth where it listeth.

        The Honey is sweet, but the Bee has a Sting.

        In a corrupt Age, the putting the World in order would breed
Confusion; then e'en mind your own Business.

        To serve the Publick faithfully, and at the same time please it
entirely, is impracticable.

        Proud Modern Learning despises the antient: _School-men_ are
now laught at by _School-boys._

        Men often _mistake_ themselves, seldom _forget_ themselves.

        The idle Man is the Devil's Hireling; whose Livery is Rags,
whose Diet and Wages are Famine and Diseases.

        Rob not God, nor the Poor, lest thou ruin thyself; the Eagle
snatcht a Coal from the Altar, but it fired her Nest.

        With bounteous Cheer,
        Conclude the Year.