The Way to Wealth

Sloth makes all things difficult, but industry all easy.

It was about this time I conceiv'd the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection.

In this piece it was my design to explain and enforce this doctrine, that vicious actions are not hurtful because they are forbidden, but forbidden…

And now I speak of thanking God, I desire with all humility to acknowledge that I owe the mentioned happiness of my past life to His kind providence,…

Thomas was bred a smith under his father; but, being ingenious, and encouraged in learning (as all my brothers were) by an Esquire Palmer, then the…

I disliked the trade, and had a strong inclination for the sea, but my father declared against it; however, living near the water, I was much in…

Josiah Franklin, and Abiah his wife, lie here interred. They lived lovingly together in wedlock fifty-five years. Without an estate, or any gainful…

There was another bookish lad in the town, John Collins by name, with whom I was intimately acquainted. We sometimes disputed, and very fond we…

My brother had, in 1720 or 1721, begun to print a newspaper. It was the second that appeared in America, and was called the New England Courant.…

During my brother's confinement, which I resented a good deal, notwithstanding our private differences, I had the management of the paper; and I made…

My inclinations for the sea were by this time worne out, or I might now have gratify'd them. But, having a trade, and supposing myself a pretty…

I have been the more particular in this description of my journey, and shall be so of my first entry into that city, that you may in your mind…

After dinner, my sleepiness return'd, and being shown to a bed, I lay down without undressing, and slept till six in the evening, was call'd to…

My father received the governor's letter with some apparent surprise, but said little of it to me for some days, when Capt. Holmes returning he…

We proceeded to Philadelphia. I received on the way Vernon's money, without which we could hardly have finish'd our journey. Collins wished to be…

I presented him an inventory of a little print'g-house, amounting by my computation to about one hundred pounds sterling. He lik'd it, but ask'd me…

Ralph was inclin'd to pursue the study of poetry, not doubting but he might become eminent in it, and make his fortune by it, alleging that the…

This transaction fixed Ralph in his resolution of becoming a poet. I did all I could to dissuade him from it, but he continued scribbling verses till…

The governor, seeming to like my company, had me frequently to his house, and his setting me up was always mention'd as a fixed thing. I was to…

Ralph, though married, and having one child, had determined to accompany me in this voyage. It was thought he intended to establish a correspondence,…

Mr. Andrew Hamilton, a famous lawyer of Philadelphia, had taken passage in the same ship for himself and son, and with Mr. Denham, a Quaker merchant,…

Understanding that Colonel French had brought on board the governor's despatches, I ask'd the captain for those letters that were to be under my care…

I immediately got into work at Palmer's, then a famous printing-house in Bartholomew Close, and here I continu'd near a year. I was pretty diligent,…

My pamphlet by some means falling into the hands of one Lyons, a surgeon, author of a book entitled "The Infallibility of Human Judgment," it…

Watts, after some weeks, desiring to have me in the composing-room, I left the pressmen; a new bien venu or sum for drink, being five shillings,…

At Watts's printing-house I contracted an acquaintance with an ingenious young man, one Wygate, who, having wealthy relations, had been better…

I had from a child been ever delighted with this exercise, had studied and practis'd all Thevenot's motions and positions, added some of my own,…

I must record one trait of this good man's character. He had formerly been in business at Bristol, but failed in debt to a number of people,…

He now told me he was about to return to Philadelphia, and should carry over a great quantity of goods in order to open a store there. He propos'd to…

Thus I spent about eighteen months in London; most part of the time I work'd hard at my business, and spent but little upon myself except in seeing…

I soon perceiv'd that the intention of engaging me at wages so much higher than he had been us'd to give, was, to have these raw, cheap hands…

I should have mentioned before, that, in the autumn of the preceding year, I had form'd most of my ingenious acquaintance into a club of mutual…

I mention this industry the more particularly and the more freely, tho' it seems to be talking in my own praise, that those of my posterity, who…

I perceive that I am apt to speak in the singular number, though our partnership still continu'd; the reason may be that, in fact, the whole…

Their example was follow'd by many, and our number went on growing continually. This was one of the first good effects of my having learnt a little…

But now another difficulty came upon me which I had never the least reason to expect. Mr. Meredith's father, who was to have paid for our…

As soon as he was gone, I recurr'd to my two friends; and because I would not give an unkind preference to either, I took half of what each had…

Our debates possess'd me so fully of the subject, that I wrote and printed an anonymous pamphlet on it, entitled "The Nature and Necessity of a Paper…

The utility of this currency became by time and experience so evident as never afterwards to be much disputed; so that it grew soon to fifty-five…

I soon after obtain'd, thro' my friend Hamilton, the printing of the Newcastle paper money, another profitable jobb as I then thought it; small…

I now open'd a little stationer's shop. I had in it blanks of all sorts, the correctest that ever appear'd among us, being assisted in that by my…

There remained now no competitor with me at Philadelphia but the old one, Bradford; who was rich and easy, did a little printing now and then by…

And now I set on foot my first project of a public nature, that for a subscription library. I drew up the proposals, got them put into form by our…

When we were about to sign the above-mentioned articles, which were to be binding upon us, our heirs, etc., for fifty years, Mr. Brockden, the…

Tho' I seldom attended any public worship, I had still an opinion of its propriety, and of its utility when rightly conducted, and I regularly paid…

But it so happened that my intention of writing and publishing this comment was never fulfilled. I did, indeed, from time to time, put down short…

In this piece it was my design to explain and enforce this doctrine, that vicious actions are not hurtful because they are forbidden, but forbidden…

And this mode, which I at first put on with some violence to natural inclination, became at length so easy, and so habitual to me, that perhaps for…

I mention this affair chiefly for the sake of recommending that branch of education for our young females, as likely to be of more use to them and…

I have already mention'd that I had only one year's instruction in a Latin school, and that when very young, after which I neglected that language…

My first promotion was my being chosen, in 1736, clerk of the General Assembly. The choice was made that year without opposition; but the year…

On the whole, I proposed as a more effectual watch, the hiring of proper men to serve constantly in that business; and as a more equitable way of…

My business was now continually augmenting, and my circumstances growing daily easier, my newspaper having become very profitable, as being for a…

When the company separated, and the papers were collected, we found above twelve hundred hands; and, other copies being dispersed in the country, the…

My being many years in the Assembly, the majority of which were constantly Quakers, gave me frequent opportunities of seeing the embarrassment…

It was in allusion to this fact that, when in our fire company we feared the success of our proposal in favour of the lottery, and I had said to my…

An ironmonger in London however, assuming a good deal of my pamphlet, and working it up into his own, and making some small changes in the machine,…

Peace being concluded, and the association business therefore at an end, I turn'd my thoughts again to the affair of establishing an academy. The…

In 1751, Dr. Thomas Bond, a particular friend of mine, conceived the idea of establishing a hospital in Philadelphia (a very beneficent design, which…

At length he came to me with the compliment that he found there was no such thing as carrying a public-spirited project through without my being…