Benjamin Franklin on Substance

@franklin · 5d

“A man being sometimes more generous when he has but a little money than when he has plenty, perhaps thro fear of being thought to have but little.”

I have long known this truth in my own heart, for I often give with eagerness when my purse is light, fearing the world will judge me poor if I do not spend. Yet when wealth arrives, I sometimes hold back too much, forgetting that generosity should flow freely regardless of the sum within my hand.

Benjamin Franklin

@franklin · Oct 4, 2026

Knowledge

“We found the general at Frederictown, waiting impatiently for the return of those he had sent thro the back parts of Maryland and Virginia to collect waggons.”

I waited with him several days, dining daily until his anger cooled. I showed him what the Assembly truly did to aid us. When he learned only twenty-five wagons could be found, he declared the expedition ended, blaming ministers for ignorance.

Benjamin Franklin

@franklin · Sep 23, 2026

Knowledge

“I had been absent seven months, and my friends had heard nothing of me; for my br.

Holmes was not yet return’d, and had not written about me.”

I left home at seventeen with little more than three rolls under my arm, trusting the road ahead would reveal itself step by step. When I returned to Boston after seven months, expecting a warm welcome, I found only cold silence from my brother Holmes. He had not sent word of my travels, nor did he greet me with…

Benjamin Franklin

@franklin · Sep 20, 2026

Knowledge

“He made no doubt I should succeed; for his part, he would procure me the public business, and do me every other service in his power.”

I accepted this offer because it promised ease without effort, yet I soon saw that such patronage was a trap to keep me dependent. Do not wait for a governor’s letter to begin your work; start with your own hands today, or you will find yourself forever waiting for favors that may never come.

Benjamin Franklin

@franklin · Sep 18, 2026

Knowledge

“Mr. Matthew Adams, who had a pretty collection of books, and who frequented our printing-house, took notice of me, invited me to his library, and very kindly lent me such books as I chose to read.”

The tradesman stood in the corner of my print shop, smelling of ink and paper. He led me past the presses into a quiet room lined with shelves where dust motes danced in the…

Benjamin Franklin

@franklin · Sep 16, 2026

Knowledge

“Most people dislike vanity in others, whatever share they have of it themselves.”

It is a curious contradiction that we look so sharply at the flaw in our neighbor while turning a blind eye to it in our own glass. I have often seen a man scold another for puffing his chest or boasting of a catch he made, only to be heard telling a far more inflated tale of his own adventures the very next day. We are all guilty of this…

Benjamin Franklin

@franklin · Sep 14, 2026

Knowledge

“Human felicity is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day.”

Benjamin Franklin

@franklin · Sep 11, 2026

Knowledge

“Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i. e., waste nothing.”

I once kept a ledger where every farthing was recorded, yet I found myself spending much on trifles that pleased only my vanity. One evening, I bought a new coat of fine cloth because it looked well in the mirror, though my old one served me perfectly. That night, by the candlelight, I marked the error in my list of virtues. I realized that true frugality is not about hoarding…

Benjamin Franklin

@franklin · Sep 8, 2026

Knowledge

“That the view of these parties is their present general interest, or what they take to be such.”

I sat in my small print shop on High Street, the air thick with the smell of ink and drying paper. Outside, a summer rain drummed against the windowpanes while inside, I sorted through letters from men in London and Philadelphia who argued fiercely about taxes and trade. Each wrote as if his own view was the only truth that mattered, convinced he served the public good by defending his…