“Were I a Roman Catholic, perhaps I should on this occasion vow to build a chapel to some saint, but as I am not, if I were to vow at all, it should be to build a light-house.
[Letter to his wife, 17 July 1757, after narrowly avoiding a shipwreck; often misquoted as "Lighthouses are more helpful than churches."]”
― Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Benjamin Franklin Volume 2
[Letter to his wife, 17 July 1757, after narrowly avoiding a shipwreck; often misquoted as "Lighthouses are more helpful than churches."]”
― Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Benjamin Franklin Volume 2
“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.”
―
―
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
― Memoirs of the life & writings of Benjamin Franklin
― Memoirs of the life & writings of Benjamin Franklin
Alex’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Alex’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Polls voted on by Alex
Lists liked by Alex









