The Way to Wealth

Benjamin Franklin

    

About the Author

A Founding Father of the United States, Benjamin Franklin, born in 1706, was a statesman, revolutionary, author, inventor, scientist, firefighter and chess master. He performed breakthrough experiments on electricity, proved that lightning was an electrical phenomenon and invented the lightning rod. He also devised the Franklin Stove, a simple, effective device that captures the heat of a fireplace and reflects it back into a room; an odometer for horse-drawn carriages; and bifocal glasses. Franklin researched and named the Gulf Stream ocean current. A masterful chess player, he wrote the second known essay on chess published in the United States. He co-founded one of the earliest volunteer firefighting companies in America and served as governor of the state of Pennsylvania. Franklin became a fervent abolitionist, freeing his slaves and opposing slavery in the United States and elsewhere. A tireless public servant, Franklin risked his fortune and his life opposing England’s rule over the American colonies. He was a leader of the American Revolution and contributed to the writing of the Declaration of Independence. He was the first Postmaster General of the United States and helped establish its postal service. During the Revolutionary War, Franklin lived in Paris as the American ambassador to France. After the war, he attended the Philadelphia Convention, which produced America’s Constitution. Franklin is a signatory of the US Constitution as well as of the Declaration of Independence.

Summary

About Taxes

A crowd gathers, awaiting the opening of the doors to an auction. An older man strolls by, and the crowd prevails upon him to share his views of the world. The old man is Father Abraham, and he has no shortage of opinions. He agrees to talk, but only briefly, since “a word to the wise is enough.”

“But dost thou love life, then do not squander time, for that is the stuff that life is made of.”

Members of the crowd express their worries over the current state of taxes. Father Abraham tells them that the government’s taxes are indeed heavy, but nothing compared to the taxes that citizens levy upon themselves with their behavior.

Idleness taxes each “twice as much,” pride “three times” and folly “four times” as much as any government. No state can lessen or abate those taxes; only the citizen’s death provides freedom from their toll.

About “Industry”

A truly onerous government might demand one-tenth of every citizen’s time as a tax payment. But idleness takes much more time than that. Indolence reduces your life span by making you susceptible to illness. Lethargy functions like rust and eats away at human health. Activity keeps you well, in that “the used key is always bright.”

“He who rises late must trot all day, and shall scarce overtake his business at night.”

Time is your most precious asset. Frittering away time means wasting your most valuable possession: the limited days of your existence. You cannot recover wasted time or recapture it when you need more hours to complete some crucial task. Whatever time on Earth is allotted to you will never be enough. Spend it wisely.

“Industry pays debts, while despair increases them.”

Not wasting time means being “diligent.” Work hard every day to achieve what you want. “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” For the slothful, every task proves arduous. If you sleep late, you have to hurry all day long to have any hope of catching up with your responsibilities before bedtime comes again. If you are lazy, you move at such a slow pace that “Poverty” is certain to catch you.

“Since thou are not sure of a minute, throw not away an hour.”

Stay in control of your business, lest it control you. If you indulge in idle dreams you might lose all you have, never mind any wish of gaining more in the future. “He who lives upon hope will die fasting.” If you can harness the energy of your wishes into “Industry,” you won’t need to dream. Achieving anything requires hard work and suffering, but if you have a “trade,” you possess an “estate.” If your trade is your “calling,” you can ask little more of life, for a calling enables you to work with pride while loving to do what you must to earn a living.

About Procrastination

“Plough deep, while sluggards sleep, and you shall have corn to sell and keep.” Turn your hand to immediate tasks now because you don’t know what obstacles the future might bring. Realize that “one today is worth two tomorrows.” Sitting around and worrying about your problems gives them a chance to grow. Diligent work reduces every difficulty, whether it is spiritual or financial. But tending to your work means doing each task when it should be done and avoiding procrastination. “Never leave ‘til tomorrow what you can do today.” You would feel shame if your boss caught you doing nothing. In this world, regardless of the task, whether it is menial or important, you are always your own boss. You should feel a similar shame when you are idle, even if you work for yourself.

“Keep thy shop and thy shop will keep thee.”

The job before you may seem hard to do and unending, but if you stick to your tasks every day, you will see “great effects.” The more you slack off, the more work will await you when you finally labor as you should. Make “diligence and patience” your bywords. You know that “little strokes fell great oaks,” but when all those little strokes face you, you might wonder if you could take a small break. No; “since you are not sure of a minute, throw away not an hour.” Leisure comes to those who use time efficiently, and you should spend it doing something useful. Only the diligent worker can attain that kind of leisure. A lazy person will yearn for it always. “Many...would live by their wits only, but they break for lack of stock.”

About Trust

Those who spin their cloth without ceasing can wear as many garments as they wish. Being industrious means giving “steady, settled and careful” attention to your work and life, and using discrimination in trusting others. The best situation is to have your own business, because “he that by the plough would thrive himself must either hold or drive.” In your daily labors, you can choose to be the plowman or the mule. And if you are the mule, you will be under someone’s yoke. However if you choose to be the plowman, you must plow every single day.

“Want of care does more damage than want of knowledge.”

Tend to that which is yours, for “want of care does more damage than want of knowledge.” Keep your eye on your workers. Leaving them to do as they please is like leaving your wallet open so they might take whatever they want. Trusting others too much is a sure path to ruin. If you take care of your own affairs, then you know you have a supervisor you can trust. “If you would have a faithful servant, serve yourself.” But if you supervise affairs for yourself, make sure you don't neglect any aspect. “For the want of a nail the shoe was lost; for the want of the shoe the horse was lost; and for want of a horse the rider was lost.” What might seem like a tiny moment of carelessness or disregard can have profound, far-reaching negative effects.

About “Frugality”

Even if you are industrious and watch your affairs carefully, all will be for naught if you are not frugal. Spending what you earn on fleeting pleasures is deceptively easy, but “a fat kitchen maketh a lean will.” If you want wealth, you must earn money and save it. Saving is far more difficult than acquiring. You should dispense with “expensive follies,” because “Women and wine, game and deceit / Make the wealth small and the want great.” Little expenses add up. If you engage in many small indulgences, you will drain your pockets. “Fools make feasts, and wise men eat them.”

“Always taking out of the meal tub and never putting in, soon comes to the bottom.”

At the door of the auction house, Father Abraham reminds the members of the crowd that they have gathered to buy things they do not need. “You call them goods, but if you do not take care, they will prove evils to some of you.” If you repeatedly buy things you do not need, before long you will have to sell that which you need. Vanity is a great source of foolish spending. Many people go about looking quite fine and fashionable, but with their stomachs crying out for food. “Silks and satins, scarlets and velvets, put out the kitchen fire.” Fine clothes and wares are not necessities; they’re not even “conveniences.” By such indulgences the genteel sink to being beggared, and then must borrow from those they would not ordinarily bother to greet on the street. If you are industrious and frugal, then you need never borrow, since borrowing is the ruin of honor. “A ploughman on his legs is higher than a gentleman on his knees.”

About Pride and Debt

To learn the true value of money, “go and try to borrow some.” Someone who tries to find a loan will meet only anguish. Pride can push you past any reasonable sense of expenditure. If you acquire one lovely item, you will want 10 more. Squelching the first urge to buy is far easier than fulfilling all the desires that your first purchase will trigger. Keep to your station. Dressing above your status makes your peers envy you and your betters think you foolish. What good is being proud of fancy clothes when they bring suffering to your family? Pride won’t make you healthy, “ease your pain” or make you a better person.

“When the well is dry, they know the worth of water.”

Going into debt means giving away your freedom, dignity and power. “The second vice is lying, the first vice is running into debt.” You might like the idea of buying now and paying over a six-month span, but during those six months and likely beyond, your creditor has the true control of your life and affairs. If you must pay late, you will be too embarrassed to see the person you owe, and will sneak about, making excuses and sacrificing your honor for pennies. If you are free, you shouldn’t be fearful or mortified to encounter any other individual. But being in debt robs you of your character and your moral fiber. “It is hard for an empty bag to stand upright.”

“Fond pride of dress is sure a very curse Ere fancy you consult, consult your purse.”

What if the government issued a law saying you could not “dress like a gentleman or gentlewoman,” or eat a fine meal? You would argue strenuously that you should be able to wear what you please and dine as you like. Yet when you put yourself in debt, you subject yourself to an identical “tyranny.” All authority over your life resides with your creditor, who can put you in prison for debt or sell you as a servant to earn back what you owe.

“A small leak will sink a great ship.”

You may think you have a bargain when you sign your debtor’s contract, and, with all the time the terms of your debt provide, you’ll have no problems paying. But when you owe money, time seems to move faster than usual, and money accrues more slowly. Remember, too, “Creditors have better memories than debtors.” Creditors pay close attention to the calendar and are ever mindful of the date. You may hope your creditors will forget the day your note comes due, but they never will.

The term of your debt will inevitably feel and then prove to be much shorter than you would like it to be. “Those have a short Lent who owe money to be paid at Easter.”

“For age and want save while you may, No morning sun lasts a whole day.”

Acquiring funds will always be difficult, but expense is perpetual – the only certainty you will face aside from death. “It is easier to build two chimneys than to keep one in fuel.” You are far better off going to bed hungry than waking up owing anything to anyone. “Get what you can, and what you get, hold.”

About Knowledge and Good Advice

“Reason and wisdom” should form the basis of the “doctrine” you follow. Even if you practice being thrifty, practical and conscientious, you still need “the blessing of heaven.” Ask for this blessing with humility, and do not neglect those who clearly lack that blessing. Act with modesty, be charitable and aid the less fortunate.

“In the affairs of this world, men are saved not by faith, but by their want of it.”

Experience “keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other.” You can offer wise counsel, but “they that cannot be counseled cannot be helped.” Just because someone hears your advice does not mean that he or she is going to change. At this point, Father Abraham ceases talking and goes on his way. The people gathered had listened to him with great attention and nodded their approval at much of what he had to say.

“If you will not hear Reason, she will surely rap your knuckles.”

The minute the old man leaves their company, however, everyone who has so enjoyed his speech immediately does the opposite of everything he had advised. The doors to the auction open, the crowd rushes in and everyone begins to bid and spend. Some spend money they possess, and others spend money that belongs to them only for a day or a month or six months, depending on the terms they could negotiate.

Richard Saunders, the author of Poor Richard’s Almanack, considers buying cloth for a new coat, after some reflection, he decides thriftily to keep wearing his old one. He leaves the auction, telling those who would read his thoughts, “I am, as ever, thine to serve thee.”