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Poor Richard: Tha Almanacks for the Years 1733-1758
This wonderful, and historic Poor The Almanacks for the Years 1733 -1758 is a gem. Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanacks, are a classic of American letters and were, in their day, an immensely popular and influential publication. In colonial America they were read by one out of every hundred people; in France alone they went through fifty-six editions. Many of the sayings and homilies in Poor Richard have become a permenent part of American folk wisdom.
318 pages, Hardcover
First published December 28, 1732
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6083 people want to read
About the author
Benjamin Franklin
2,531 books1,902 followersBenjamin Franklin was a writer, a philosopher, a scientist, a politician, a patriot, a Founding Father, an inventor, and publisher. He helped with the founding of the United States of America and changed the world with his discoveries about electricity. His writings such as Poor Richards' Almanac have provided wisdom for 17 years to the colonies.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 233 reviews
November 24, 2025
Poor Richard and his “Almanack” are with us always. We all know that Benjamin Franklin published at Philadelphia an almanac that appeared every year from 1732 to 1758 – or, to put it another way, from Franklin’s 26th through his 52nd year. We are all aware that Franklin filled his almanac, a best-seller of its time, with pithy aphorisms of advice regarding how to live a prudent, industrious, and successful life. And this Peter Pauper Press edition of Poor Richard’s Almanack, widely available at sites like the museum shop of the Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, provides a quick, fun, accessible way to enjoy the “old sayings” for which Franklin is known and loved.
Using the alias of Richard Saunders or “Poor Richard,” Franklin included in his almanac all the characteristic features that almanac readers of his time would have expected. The cover of his 1739 edition of Poor Richard’s Almanack, for example, tells the reader that the almanac will include “the Lunations, Eclipses, Judgment of the Weather, Spring Tides, Planets’ Motions and Mutual Aspects, Sun and Moon’s Rising and Setting, Length of Days, Time of High Water, Fasts, Courts, and Observable Days.” In a nod to his hometown, Franklin adds that his almanac is “Fitted to the Latitude of Forty Degrees [Philadelphia’s latitude], and a Meridian of Five Hours West from London,” though he helpfully notes, for the benefit of colonial readers up and down the east coast of North America, that his almanac “may, without sensible Error, serve all the adjacent Places, even from Newfoundland to South-Carolina.”
But readers do not turn to Poor Richard’s Almanack today for information about East Coast eclipses, or recipes for a prototype of the cheesesteak, or Delaware River high tides from 300 years ago; they look to it for the “Poor Richard” proverbs. And indeed, it is great fun reading 77 pages' worth of Benjamin Franklin's maxims for industry, thrift, humility, and optimistic good cheer -- proverbs that can be said to have done much to form our collective sense of the American character.
I like this edition of Poor Richard's Almanack, with its old-style typeface (much like what one sees in many of the documents for sale at shops in Colonial Williamsburg), its woodcut illustrations, the durable light-brown paper of the pages; it all does much to give one a nostalgic sense of stepping back into history, walking the streets of 18th-century Philadelphia in Franklin's entertaining company.
The familiar proverbs are all here, and they emphasize well the impact that Franklin had on American and world culture through his almanac. “No gains without pains” (p. 28) has its modern echoes in every gym or health club where the words “No Pain, No Gain” are prominently displayed on one or more of the walls. “God helps them that help themselves” (p. 54) embodies well Franklin’s philosophy of prudent, industrious self-reliance, and would certainly make any list of Poor Richard’s greatest hits. And a characteristically Franklinian warning that ruin always awaits the careless can be found in Poor Richard’s warning that “For want of a Nail, the Shoe is lost; for want of a Shoe, the Horse is lost; for want of a Horse, the Rider is lost” (p. 55).
Where a maxim or poem is accompanied by a red-tinted woodcut, the effect is particularly endearing. One such woodcut shows a pair of young lovers under a tree. A home in the distance, with smoke rising from a chimney, emphasizes the lovers’ isolation. Three birds fly in the sky overhead; a dog sits loyally close by. And Cupid hovers in the sky overhead, with an arrow from his bow pointed directly at the lovers. The accompanying poem reads:
My love and I for kisses play’d,
She would keep stakes, I was content,
But when I won, she would be paid,
This made me ask her what she meant:
Quoth she, since you are in this wrangling vein
Here take your kisses, give me mine again. (p. 25)
The way this little poetic vignette captures the joy of young love made me think of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, a play that the inveterate reader Franklin no doubt knew well – and specifically of the dialogue when these two young people, struck with love at first sight, savour their first kiss:
[Romeo] Then move not while my prayer’s effect I take.
Thus from my lips, by thine my sin is purged. [Kisses her.]
[Juliet] Then have my lips the sin that they have took.
[Romeo] Sin from my lips? O, trespass sweetly urged!
Give me my sin again. [Kisses her.]
[Juliet] You kiss by the book.
This volume of sayings from Poor Richard’s Almanack ends with Franklin’s well-known list of Thirteen Virtues: Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquility, Chastity, and Humility. Readers of Franklin’s Autobiography will remember the gently self-mocking way in which Franklin looks back at his younger self trying to achieve a Program of Moral Perfection. Not all readers have appreciated Franklin’s list of virtues: D.H. Lawrence, for instance, responded to Franklin’s advice that humility-minded readers “Imitate Jesus and Socrates” by dryly adding, “And mind you don’t out-do them!”
It is important always to keep in mind that, when glancing through this fun volume, one is not really reading Poor Richard's Almanack as it was originally published. The original Almanack was, well, an almanac. Like the almanacs of today, Franklin's 1732-58 Almanack contained weather forecasts, legal and medical information, snatches of poetry, inspirational literature, recipes, games -- in short, many of the same things that almanacs contain nowadays. The aphorisms for which Poor Richard is best known nowadays appeared, quite literally, in the margins; the ever-enterprising Franklin squeezed maxims in wherever there was space, and the rest is history.
This edition of Poor Richard's Almanack is introduced by a brief preface that acknowledges Franklin's debts to earlier writers; commentator Paul Leicester Ford reminds the “Courteous Reader” of both what Franklin drew from others and how he created something original in the process:
It is hardly Necessary to state, that Franklin did not originate all the Sayings of Poor Richard. He himself tells us, that they were the “Wisdom of many Ages and Nations.” Any One, familiar with Bacon, Rochefoucauld, and Rabelais, as well as Others, will recognize old Friends in some of these Sayings….Yet, with but few Exceptions, these Maxims and Aphorisms had been filter’d through Franklin’s Brain, and were ting’d with that Mother Wit, which so strongly and individually marks so Much that he said and wrote.
Overall, this is a highly pleasant and enjoyable presentation of Franklin's "Poor Richard" aphorisms, just as long as one does not think one is getting the entirety of Poor Richard's Almanack. "Forewarn'd, forearm'd" (p. 50).
And it seems appropriate here to let Dr. Franklin get the last word, as he bids us farewell in his own inimitable way: “Let no pleasure tempt thee, no profit allure thee, no ambition corrupt thee, no example sway thee, no persuasion move thee, to do any thing which thou knowest to be evil; so shalt thou always live jollily; for a good conscience is a continual Christmas. Adieu” (p. 77).
Now there is good advice indeed, on which we can all agree. Farewell and adieu, Dr. Franklin, and many thanks for the opportunity you have given us to visit with you and Poor Richard.
Using the alias of Richard Saunders or “Poor Richard,” Franklin included in his almanac all the characteristic features that almanac readers of his time would have expected. The cover of his 1739 edition of Poor Richard’s Almanack, for example, tells the reader that the almanac will include “the Lunations, Eclipses, Judgment of the Weather, Spring Tides, Planets’ Motions and Mutual Aspects, Sun and Moon’s Rising and Setting, Length of Days, Time of High Water, Fasts, Courts, and Observable Days.” In a nod to his hometown, Franklin adds that his almanac is “Fitted to the Latitude of Forty Degrees [Philadelphia’s latitude], and a Meridian of Five Hours West from London,” though he helpfully notes, for the benefit of colonial readers up and down the east coast of North America, that his almanac “may, without sensible Error, serve all the adjacent Places, even from Newfoundland to South-Carolina.”
But readers do not turn to Poor Richard’s Almanack today for information about East Coast eclipses, or recipes for a prototype of the cheesesteak, or Delaware River high tides from 300 years ago; they look to it for the “Poor Richard” proverbs. And indeed, it is great fun reading 77 pages' worth of Benjamin Franklin's maxims for industry, thrift, humility, and optimistic good cheer -- proverbs that can be said to have done much to form our collective sense of the American character.
I like this edition of Poor Richard's Almanack, with its old-style typeface (much like what one sees in many of the documents for sale at shops in Colonial Williamsburg), its woodcut illustrations, the durable light-brown paper of the pages; it all does much to give one a nostalgic sense of stepping back into history, walking the streets of 18th-century Philadelphia in Franklin's entertaining company.
The familiar proverbs are all here, and they emphasize well the impact that Franklin had on American and world culture through his almanac. “No gains without pains” (p. 28) has its modern echoes in every gym or health club where the words “No Pain, No Gain” are prominently displayed on one or more of the walls. “God helps them that help themselves” (p. 54) embodies well Franklin’s philosophy of prudent, industrious self-reliance, and would certainly make any list of Poor Richard’s greatest hits. And a characteristically Franklinian warning that ruin always awaits the careless can be found in Poor Richard’s warning that “For want of a Nail, the Shoe is lost; for want of a Shoe, the Horse is lost; for want of a Horse, the Rider is lost” (p. 55).
Where a maxim or poem is accompanied by a red-tinted woodcut, the effect is particularly endearing. One such woodcut shows a pair of young lovers under a tree. A home in the distance, with smoke rising from a chimney, emphasizes the lovers’ isolation. Three birds fly in the sky overhead; a dog sits loyally close by. And Cupid hovers in the sky overhead, with an arrow from his bow pointed directly at the lovers. The accompanying poem reads:
My love and I for kisses play’d,
She would keep stakes, I was content,
But when I won, she would be paid,
This made me ask her what she meant:
Quoth she, since you are in this wrangling vein
Here take your kisses, give me mine again. (p. 25)
The way this little poetic vignette captures the joy of young love made me think of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, a play that the inveterate reader Franklin no doubt knew well – and specifically of the dialogue when these two young people, struck with love at first sight, savour their first kiss:
[Romeo] Then move not while my prayer’s effect I take.
Thus from my lips, by thine my sin is purged. [Kisses her.]
[Juliet] Then have my lips the sin that they have took.
[Romeo] Sin from my lips? O, trespass sweetly urged!
Give me my sin again. [Kisses her.]
[Juliet] You kiss by the book.
This volume of sayings from Poor Richard’s Almanack ends with Franklin’s well-known list of Thirteen Virtues: Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquility, Chastity, and Humility. Readers of Franklin’s Autobiography will remember the gently self-mocking way in which Franklin looks back at his younger self trying to achieve a Program of Moral Perfection. Not all readers have appreciated Franklin’s list of virtues: D.H. Lawrence, for instance, responded to Franklin’s advice that humility-minded readers “Imitate Jesus and Socrates” by dryly adding, “And mind you don’t out-do them!”
It is important always to keep in mind that, when glancing through this fun volume, one is not really reading Poor Richard's Almanack as it was originally published. The original Almanack was, well, an almanac. Like the almanacs of today, Franklin's 1732-58 Almanack contained weather forecasts, legal and medical information, snatches of poetry, inspirational literature, recipes, games -- in short, many of the same things that almanacs contain nowadays. The aphorisms for which Poor Richard is best known nowadays appeared, quite literally, in the margins; the ever-enterprising Franklin squeezed maxims in wherever there was space, and the rest is history.
This edition of Poor Richard's Almanack is introduced by a brief preface that acknowledges Franklin's debts to earlier writers; commentator Paul Leicester Ford reminds the “Courteous Reader” of both what Franklin drew from others and how he created something original in the process:
It is hardly Necessary to state, that Franklin did not originate all the Sayings of Poor Richard. He himself tells us, that they were the “Wisdom of many Ages and Nations.” Any One, familiar with Bacon, Rochefoucauld, and Rabelais, as well as Others, will recognize old Friends in some of these Sayings….Yet, with but few Exceptions, these Maxims and Aphorisms had been filter’d through Franklin’s Brain, and were ting’d with that Mother Wit, which so strongly and individually marks so Much that he said and wrote.
Overall, this is a highly pleasant and enjoyable presentation of Franklin's "Poor Richard" aphorisms, just as long as one does not think one is getting the entirety of Poor Richard's Almanack. "Forewarn'd, forearm'd" (p. 50).
And it seems appropriate here to let Dr. Franklin get the last word, as he bids us farewell in his own inimitable way: “Let no pleasure tempt thee, no profit allure thee, no ambition corrupt thee, no example sway thee, no persuasion move thee, to do any thing which thou knowest to be evil; so shalt thou always live jollily; for a good conscience is a continual Christmas. Adieu” (p. 77).
Now there is good advice indeed, on which we can all agree. Farewell and adieu, Dr. Franklin, and many thanks for the opportunity you have given us to visit with you and Poor Richard.
September 12, 2017
This is a wonderful collection of Benjamin Franklin's philosophies and values, in which his writing proves concise, sound and still relatable today. The maxims this details concern a variety of topics from humility to morality. I thoroughly enjoyed the brief introduction, by Andrew S. Trees, which this begun with. It provided a cursory biography of the life of the great once-humble-tradesman-turned-founding-father, and framed the anthology nicely.
February 29, 2024
2024: Benjamin Franklin emphasizes not wasting time, being industrious, frugal, diligent and seeking knowledge - a superb role model. For instance daily reminders:
Make haste slowly. Drive thy business, or it will drive thee. If you have time, don’t wait for time.
2022-07-18; Choicest morsels of wisdom, a favorite. Wake up early, get chores done.
“Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” (Discipline, time management)
“Since thou art not sure of a Minute, throw not away an Hour.” (Time)
”You may delay, but time will not.” (Time)
“Have you somewhat to do tomorrow, do it today.” (Time)
“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that’s the stuff life is made of.” (Time)
“Beware of little expenses: a small leak will sink a great ship.”
“Drive thy business, or it will drive thee.”
“Necessity never made a good bargain.”
“Make haste slowly.”
“Diligence is the mother of luck.”
“All things are easy to Industry, all things difficult to Sloth.”
“Would you live with ease, do what you ought, and not what you please.”
“No gains without pains.”
“Learn of the skillful: he that teaches himself, hath a fool for his master.”
“For age and want save while you may; no morning sun lasts a whole day.”
“Humility: imitate Jesus and Socrates.”
Make haste slowly. Drive thy business, or it will drive thee. If you have time, don’t wait for time.
2022-07-18; Choicest morsels of wisdom, a favorite. Wake up early, get chores done.
“Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” (Discipline, time management)
“Since thou art not sure of a Minute, throw not away an Hour.” (Time)
”You may delay, but time will not.” (Time)
“Have you somewhat to do tomorrow, do it today.” (Time)
“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that’s the stuff life is made of.” (Time)
“Beware of little expenses: a small leak will sink a great ship.”
“Drive thy business, or it will drive thee.”
“Necessity never made a good bargain.”
“Make haste slowly.”
“Diligence is the mother of luck.”
“All things are easy to Industry, all things difficult to Sloth.”
“Would you live with ease, do what you ought, and not what you please.”
“No gains without pains.”
“Learn of the skillful: he that teaches himself, hath a fool for his master.”
“For age and want save while you may; no morning sun lasts a whole day.”
“Humility: imitate Jesus and Socrates.”
June 1, 2021
A collection of wise sayings assembled by the great man. One to dip into from time to time. Wisdom, humour and recipes for smiling. Delightfully presented. Highly quotable...(sorry in advance!):
“One good Husband is worth two Wives; for the scarcer things are, the more they’re valued.
Fish and Visitors stink after three days.0
There are three faithful friends – an old wife, an old dog, and ready money.
Speak with contempt of none, from slave to king,
The meanest Bee hath, and will use, a sting.
A lawyer being sick, and extream ill,
Was moved by his friends to make his will,
Which soon he did, gave all the wealth he had,
To frantic persons, lunatick and mad.
And to his friends this reason did reveal,
(That they might see with equity he’d deal,)
From madmen’s hands I did my wealth receive,
Therefore that wealth to madmen’s hands I leave.
Good sense is a Thing all need, few have, and none think they want.
A false Friend and a Shadow attend only while the Sun shines.
Epitaph on a Scolding Wife by her Husband:
Here my poor Bridget’s Corps do lie, she is
at rest, - and so am I.”
“One good Husband is worth two Wives; for the scarcer things are, the more they’re valued.
Fish and Visitors stink after three days.0
There are three faithful friends – an old wife, an old dog, and ready money.
Speak with contempt of none, from slave to king,
The meanest Bee hath, and will use, a sting.
A lawyer being sick, and extream ill,
Was moved by his friends to make his will,
Which soon he did, gave all the wealth he had,
To frantic persons, lunatick and mad.
And to his friends this reason did reveal,
(That they might see with equity he’d deal,)
From madmen’s hands I did my wealth receive,
Therefore that wealth to madmen’s hands I leave.
Good sense is a Thing all need, few have, and none think they want.
A false Friend and a Shadow attend only while the Sun shines.
Epitaph on a Scolding Wife by her Husband:
Here my poor Bridget’s Corps do lie, she is
at rest, - and so am I.”
March 24, 2012
Peruse the bookshelves at the museum shop of the Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, and you will no doubt see this edition of Poor Richard's Almanack. It is great fun reading 77 pages' worth of Benjamin Franklin's maxims for industry, thrift, humility, and cheerfulness -- maxims that can be said to have done much to form our collective sense of the American character. This Peter Pauper Press edition of Poor Richard's Almanack, with its old-style typeface (much like what one sees in many of the documents for sale at shops in Colonial Williamsburg), its woodcut illustrations, the durable light-brown paper of the pages, does much to give one a nostalgic sense of stepping back into history, walking the streets of 18th-century Philadelphia in Franklin's entertaining company. At the same time, it is important to reflect that, when glancing through this fun volume, one is not really reading Poor Richard's Almanack as it was originally published. The original Almanack was, well, an almanac. Like the almanacs of today, Franklin's 1732-58 Almanack contained weather forecasts, legal and medical information, snatches of poetry, inspirational literature, recipes, games -- in short, many of the same things that almanacs contain nowadays. The aphorisms for which Poor Richard is best known nowadays appeared, quite literally, in the margins; the ever-enterprising Franklin squeezed maxims in wherever there was space, and the rest is history. This edition of Poor Richard's Almanack gives one only the maxims, including Franklin's List of Virtues from his Autobiography, and framed by a brief preface that acknowledges Franklin's debts to earlier writers. Overall, this is a highly pleasant and enjoyable presentation of Franklin's "Poor Richard" aphorisms, just as long as one does not think one is getting the entire Poor Richard's Almanack. "Forewarn'd, forearm'd."
September 6, 2016
Franklin wrote a yearly almanack with quotes and stories for each month under the pseudonym of Richard Saunders. Almanacks were popular in colonial America. They offered weather forecasts, advice for running a household, puzzles and witticisms. Franklin's almanacks are a funny satire on life in the 18th century and were famous for his wordplays. Many famous sayings we still know were penned by Franklin in his almanac. Here are a few:
Three may keep a secret if two of them are dead.
Lost Time is never found again.
Love your Enemies, for they tell you your Faults.
for the rest of my review cut and paste the following link to my blog post:
http://sharonhenning.blogspot.com/201...
Three may keep a secret if two of them are dead.
Lost Time is never found again.
Love your Enemies, for they tell you your Faults.
for the rest of my review cut and paste the following link to my blog post:
http://sharonhenning.blogspot.com/201...
December 22, 2023
مجموعة من فلسفات وقيم المفكر والعالِم الفيلسوف بنجامين فرانكلين أحد الآباء المؤسسين للولايات المتحدة الأمريكية، والتي لا تزال موثقة حتى يومنا هذا.
تضم الرزنامة مواضیع متعددة ما بین أقوال وأمثال وحكم ونصائح، منها ما ھو خاص بفرانكلین نفسه وبعضها تعود أصولها إلى ثقافات وشعوب وكتب أخرى.
تضم الرزنامة مواضیع متعددة ما بین أقوال وأمثال وحكم ونصائح، منها ما ھو خاص بفرانكلین نفسه وبعضها تعود أصولها إلى ثقافات وشعوب وكتب أخرى.
June 25, 2025
Ol' Ben is a mess. I've always wanted to read and own this book. Enjoyed it!
So fun.
So fun.
November 22, 2022
I've heard this book referenced a lot in history classes, ever since I was in elementary school. I'm in college now and I got to read it....man am I not impressed. I thought it was supposed to be some great collection of advice for the colonial period. It's just a proverb collection! And many of them are repeated....which got on my nerves as I was reading it. Yeah, it was a quick read but seriously? I feel disappointed that that's all it was. Just a bunch of quotes in a list. No commentary on them or anything. I feel ripped.
June 12, 2021
The book's principles have aged surprisingly well, Human fallacies/heuristics probably will remain the same despite any technological leaps.
March 26, 2019
Trite wisdom and moralistic instruction in getting on.
July 23, 2021
I've got a thing for wisdom teachings, and in our twittering, flighty, foolish age, there's a real countercultural pleasure in principles that ground human action in a wry practicality.
Franklin's legendary collection of sayings, aphorisms, and poems? It floats my boat. It's not just that these pithy little bits of Sophia are grounding. They're also still...with some inevitable exceptions...surprisingly relevant to contemporary existence.
Good stuff.
Franklin's legendary collection of sayings, aphorisms, and poems? It floats my boat. It's not just that these pithy little bits of Sophia are grounding. They're also still...with some inevitable exceptions...surprisingly relevant to contemporary existence.
Good stuff.
September 20, 2014
Pretty good. Filled with many of the classic aphorisms we've heard a million times (such as "early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy wealthy and wise" and "three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.")
Franklin seems a little too preoccupied with gluttony (there are many warnings against eating too much) and sloth and drunkenness.
There are some questionable morsels of wisdom: "Love well, whip well." ???? And "Ne'er take a wife til thou hast a house (and a fire) to put her in." And a fire?!
And this one is just plain bitter: "Where there's marriage without love, there will be love without marriage."
It's safe to say there are a bunch of worse evils than drunkenness, but Franklin writes this: "Drunkenness, that worst of evils, makes some men fools, some beasts, some devils."
And these edicts on eating:
"Three good meals a day is bad living."
"A full belly makes a dull brain."
"He that never eats too much will never be lazy."
"Eat few suppers and you'll need few medicines."
"To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals."
* * *
The almanac would've been better off if it were organized by vice. As it is, all the varying topics were thrown together, and some witticisms were repeated almost verbatim or reiterated with only slight alteration a few pages apart from each other.
* * *
Thanks Mr. Franklin, for writing a short book to help me reach my book goal.
Franklin seems a little too preoccupied with gluttony (there are many warnings against eating too much) and sloth and drunkenness.
There are some questionable morsels of wisdom: "Love well, whip well." ???? And "Ne'er take a wife til thou hast a house (and a fire) to put her in." And a fire?!
And this one is just plain bitter: "Where there's marriage without love, there will be love without marriage."
It's safe to say there are a bunch of worse evils than drunkenness, but Franklin writes this: "Drunkenness, that worst of evils, makes some men fools, some beasts, some devils."
And these edicts on eating:
"Three good meals a day is bad living."
"A full belly makes a dull brain."
"He that never eats too much will never be lazy."
"Eat few suppers and you'll need few medicines."
"To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals."
* * *
The almanac would've been better off if it were organized by vice. As it is, all the varying topics were thrown together, and some witticisms were repeated almost verbatim or reiterated with only slight alteration a few pages apart from each other.
* * *
Thanks Mr. Franklin, for writing a short book to help me reach my book goal.
January 13, 2012
A literary glimpse into colonial times, this almanac created by Benjamin Franklin is a priceless treasure for Americans. Franklin, under the pen name of Richard Saunders, displays his outright moral aptitude, and the wisdom of one of the founders of this prosperous nation. Seeing that the almanac was the second most popular book in colonial homes (after, hhhhm, the Holy Bible), it is fitting that a master of economic gain such as Franklin would have created one. Franklin, you live on in the hearts of many Americans, and many of your sayings are still in use these many years later!
July 22, 2008
My 1st 5-star book!
June 30, 2024
I have always had a soft spot for Mr. Franklin. Perhaps it was because I shopped at the Ben Franklin store in the small town where I grew up.
This short but important book is well worth looking into. It encourages thrift, duty, hard work, and simplicity. Wow! Our country would do well if more people followed the advice in this book.
This short but important book is well worth looking into. It encourages thrift, duty, hard work, and simplicity. Wow! Our country would do well if more people followed the advice in this book.
October 16, 2025
Short, practical, wise. Good old Franklin.
January 10, 2017
Brilliant, blissful and beautiful choice of words and phrases. Some are Benjamin Franklin's own and some are derived from Latin, Greek and other older sources. This almanac serves as a book of wisdom, enlightenment and success.
Ben had a desire for educating the common people, having been raised into a lower middle class family, and had his own life-long rags to riches story. He started publishing these yearly almanacs, as a way of better the living conditions of people by words of wisdom, and in part, because he wanted some literary recognition.
I will quote some, the most I connected deeply with:
'He that can compose himself, is wiser than he that composes books'
'Write with the learned, pronounce with the vulgar'
'Thou hadst better eat salt with the Philosophers of Greece, than sugar with the Courtiers of Italy'
'A good example is the best sermon'
'Words may shew a man's Wit, but Actions his Meaning'
'It is not Leisure that is not used'
'He that best understands the World, least likes it'
'Fear not Death; for the sooner we die, the longer shall we be immortal'
And of course, not to forget the ones that made me chuckle:
'Doors and walls are fools paper'
'Fish and visitors stink in 3 days'
'Who knows a fool, must know his brother; For one will recommend another'
'Harry Smatter, has a mouth for every matter'
'Tim was so learned, that he could name a Horse in nine Languages; So ignorant, that he bought a Cow to ride on'
As you read through the Poor Richard's manual, you will feel the comical and amiable energy Ben places in his work. He even sets up fictional absurd experiments just to toy with the reader's reason and logic.
Poor Ben suffered obesity throughout his later life, and was a reason for his death. To this, we can understand his intensive interest in health and being in shape, for he writes the following adages:
'To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals'
'Beware of meat twice boiled and an old foe reconciled'
'Eat few Suppers, and you'll need few Medicines'
'After Fish, Milk do not wish'
'Hold your Council before Dinner; the full Belly hates Thinking as well as Acting'
He even goes on recommending some kind of physical work out for people to do:
'Use now and then a little Exercise a quarter of an Hour before Meals, as to swing a Weight, or swing your Arms about with a small Weight in each Hand; to leap, or the like, for that stirs the Muscles of the Breast.'
He is probably the earlier English writer to form the common modern phrasing we use to do;
'No pain, no gain' in the form : 'No gains without pains'
Another thing worth mentioning, is that he is fascinated by great thinkers and inventors, for he dedicated small paragraphs on their death and birth anniversaries, and thus educating his readers in general knowledge. He also teaches some of his inventions and methods of how to grow wine from grapes in the woods, and how to protect houses from thunder and lightening. One of the extremely few negative things I have seen in his work, is his ignorance of the difference between Turks as an ethnicity and Muslims as a religious group.
To anyone who read up until here, and enjoyed some of the quotes and ideas mentioned, please do not hesitate to read the entire collection, for there are so many adages that I cannot possibly include or be able to fully grasp. So a person's interpretation and usage of a proverb may vary.
Ben had a desire for educating the common people, having been raised into a lower middle class family, and had his own life-long rags to riches story. He started publishing these yearly almanacs, as a way of better the living conditions of people by words of wisdom, and in part, because he wanted some literary recognition.
I will quote some, the most I connected deeply with:
'He that can compose himself, is wiser than he that composes books'
'Write with the learned, pronounce with the vulgar'
'Thou hadst better eat salt with the Philosophers of Greece, than sugar with the Courtiers of Italy'
'A good example is the best sermon'
'Words may shew a man's Wit, but Actions his Meaning'
'It is not Leisure that is not used'
'He that best understands the World, least likes it'
'Fear not Death; for the sooner we die, the longer shall we be immortal'
And of course, not to forget the ones that made me chuckle:
'Doors and walls are fools paper'
'Fish and visitors stink in 3 days'
'Who knows a fool, must know his brother; For one will recommend another'
'Harry Smatter, has a mouth for every matter'
'Tim was so learned, that he could name a Horse in nine Languages; So ignorant, that he bought a Cow to ride on'
As you read through the Poor Richard's manual, you will feel the comical and amiable energy Ben places in his work. He even sets up fictional absurd experiments just to toy with the reader's reason and logic.
Poor Ben suffered obesity throughout his later life, and was a reason for his death. To this, we can understand his intensive interest in health and being in shape, for he writes the following adages:
'To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals'
'Beware of meat twice boiled and an old foe reconciled'
'Eat few Suppers, and you'll need few Medicines'
'After Fish, Milk do not wish'
'Hold your Council before Dinner; the full Belly hates Thinking as well as Acting'
He even goes on recommending some kind of physical work out for people to do:
'Use now and then a little Exercise a quarter of an Hour before Meals, as to swing a Weight, or swing your Arms about with a small Weight in each Hand; to leap, or the like, for that stirs the Muscles of the Breast.'
He is probably the earlier English writer to form the common modern phrasing we use to do;
'No pain, no gain' in the form : 'No gains without pains'
Another thing worth mentioning, is that he is fascinated by great thinkers and inventors, for he dedicated small paragraphs on their death and birth anniversaries, and thus educating his readers in general knowledge. He also teaches some of his inventions and methods of how to grow wine from grapes in the woods, and how to protect houses from thunder and lightening. One of the extremely few negative things I have seen in his work, is his ignorance of the difference between Turks as an ethnicity and Muslims as a religious group.
To anyone who read up until here, and enjoyed some of the quotes and ideas mentioned, please do not hesitate to read the entire collection, for there are so many adages that I cannot possibly include or be able to fully grasp. So a person's interpretation and usage of a proverb may vary.
February 10, 2015
Even though it's short, this is a better book to dip into than to read straight through -- the way to get value from it is to spend at least a little time pondering the maxims.
But I'm not like that; I went from cover to cover. The result was to make me feel guilty: I should have been finishing my grading, not reading this book, and Franklin is happy to drive the point home...
Well done is better than well said.
Have you somewhat to do to-morrow, do it today.
You may delay, but Time will not.
... as well as plenty of others.
Mostly pleasant reading, with a scattering of disrespect for women passing as humor.
But I'm not like that; I went from cover to cover. The result was to make me feel guilty: I should have been finishing my grading, not reading this book, and Franklin is happy to drive the point home...
Well done is better than well said.
Have you somewhat to do to-morrow, do it today.
You may delay, but Time will not.
... as well as plenty of others.
Mostly pleasant reading, with a scattering of disrespect for women passing as humor.
Sam's wife provok'd him once; he broke her crown:
The surgeon's bill amounted to five pounds;
This blow (she brags) has cost my husband dear,
He'll ne'er strike more: Sam chanc'd to overhear.
Therefore, before his wife the bills he pays,
And to the surgeon in her hearing says:
Doctor, you charge five pound, here e'en take ten,
My wife may chance to want your help again.
May 19, 2019
This is an interesting book and gives some insight into the kind of advice people were often given. While I was reading I realized there was apparently some serious paranoia about a few different things: doctors, women, and debt collectors. While it's already a given that certain unfortunate ideas held nowadays stem from earlier periods this book gives a pretty good idea of what some of them were and are, especially regarding women. Having said that, I'm not sure anyone is a big fan of being in debt but I can't help but think there were some different undertones to that sentiment back in the day.
So, I can't say I always "enjoyed" this book but it is historically illuminating and I would recommend it on those merits. Probably my favorite piece of advice was "Men and melons are hard to know." This was not something I'd ever heard before and I found it quite amusing. I looked it up and it is actually a pretty good observation: both can be pretty thick.
So, I can't say I always "enjoyed" this book but it is historically illuminating and I would recommend it on those merits. Probably my favorite piece of advice was "Men and melons are hard to know." This was not something I'd ever heard before and I found it quite amusing. I looked it up and it is actually a pretty good observation: both can be pretty thick.
July 1, 2008
Benjamin Franklin is able to put forth a comical series of almanacks, under a creative pseudonym for which a back history is created, all while engaging in a verbal battle with another almanack maker. A very small amount of his jokes are somewhat ribald, but nothing hardcore.
June 6, 2011
A bit outdated with quotes like "Marry your Son when you will, but your Daughter when you can" but still great relevance in some: "Whate'er's begun in anger ends in shame."
January 1, 2013
There is NO better book of witticisms and wisdom than this one.
Totally tweetable, forever memorable.
I guess that's what you call timeless.
Totally tweetable, forever memorable.
I guess that's what you call timeless.
November 29, 2021
Benjamin Franklin is the model of a wise and virtuous man. This Almanack is an amazing collection of wise adages. Amazing how much wisdom was he able to concentrate on them.
July 24, 2022
Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor liberty to purchase power.
But what thou hast no need of; and e’er long thou shalt sell thy necessaries.
I have never seen the philosophers stone that turns lead into gold, but I have known the pursuit of it then a man’s gold into lead.
No longer virtuous, no longer free
Friendship increases by visiting friends, but by visiting seldom.
Old boys have their playthings as well as young ones; the difference is only in the price.
He that best understands the world, least likes it.
All things are cheap to the saving, dear to the wasteful.
Drink water, put the money in your pocket, and leave the dry-bellyach in the punch-bowl
But what thou hast no need of; and e’er long thou shalt sell thy necessaries.
I have never seen the philosophers stone that turns lead into gold, but I have known the pursuit of it then a man’s gold into lead.
No longer virtuous, no longer free
Friendship increases by visiting friends, but by visiting seldom.
Old boys have their playthings as well as young ones; the difference is only in the price.
He that best understands the world, least likes it.
All things are cheap to the saving, dear to the wasteful.
Drink water, put the money in your pocket, and leave the dry-bellyach in the punch-bowl
November 21, 2021
This collection of the Sayings of Poor Richard makes for a fun read! Here are some of my favorites:
“Who has deceiv’d thee so off as thy self?” (6).
“How many observe Christ’s Birth-day; How few his Precepts! O, ‘tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments” (12).
“When painful Colin in his grave was laid,
His mournful wife this lamentation made:
I’ve lost, alas! (poor wretch, what must I do?)
The best of friends and best of husbands too.
Thus of all joy and happiness bereft:
And with the charge of ten good children left;
A greater grief no woman sure can know.
Who (with ten children) —who will have me now?” (24).
“Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead” (31).
“Eat to live; live not to eat” (34).
“To lengthen thy life, lessen they meals” (34).
“A fat kitchen, a lean will” (38).
“Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards” (50).
“Let thy Discontents be Secrets” (59).
“Who has deceiv’d thee so off as thy self?” (6).
“How many observe Christ’s Birth-day; How few his Precepts! O, ‘tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments” (12).
“When painful Colin in his grave was laid,
His mournful wife this lamentation made:
I’ve lost, alas! (poor wretch, what must I do?)
The best of friends and best of husbands too.
Thus of all joy and happiness bereft:
And with the charge of ten good children left;
A greater grief no woman sure can know.
Who (with ten children) —who will have me now?” (24).
“Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead” (31).
“Eat to live; live not to eat” (34).
“To lengthen thy life, lessen they meals” (34).
“A fat kitchen, a lean will” (38).
“Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards” (50).
“Let thy Discontents be Secrets” (59).
January 31, 2025
Much wisdom in this book, albeit not all of it is useful given his deistic view of God and relative truthfulness of all religion in general. Had he acted on the truths that he loved to hear his good friend George Whitfield preach, he may not have been such a scoundrel in his latter days. This book is a good example of common grace given to the human mind in being able to understand objective truths revealed through nature and reason (general revelation), while also showing that if that thought is separated from Scripture (special revelation) it will not produce the fruit of holiness which is, as his 13th virtue reads: “Humility - emulate *Jesus* and Socrates.”
January 2, 2020
This is a tiny book with fun old time pictures. Some of the quotes I need to write down and re-read often, others were a bit outdated, but this was still a fun book to read!
January 10, 2020
A good book much like meditations just less long winded. Has good saying and adds value to any life. I really enjoyed it a short read.
September 8, 2025
The author never took himself too seriously, so why would you?
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