PROVERBS  --  3

Rain or Snow,
To Chili go,
You’ll find it so,
For ought we know.
Time will show.
Rather go to bed supperless, than run in debt for a Breakfast.
Read much, but not many Books.
Reader, farewel, all Happiness attend thee:
May each New-Year better and richer find thee.
Reader, I wish thee Health, Wealth, Happiness,
And may kind Heaven thy Year’s Industry bless.
Reading makes a full Man, Meditation a profound Man, discourse a clear Man.
Receive before you write, but write before you pay.
Reniego de grillos, aunque sean d’oro. [Spanish: I refuse to worship crickets, though they be of gold.]
Rob not for burnt offerings.
Rules of Health and long Life, and to preserve from Malignant Fevers, and Sickness in general. [Next 10 days]
Eat and drink such an exact Quantity as the Constitution of thy Body allows of, in reference to the Services of the Mind.
Rules to find out a fit Measure of Meat and Drink. [Next 10 days]
If thou eatest so much as makes thee unfit for Study, or other Business, thou exceedest the due Measure.
Sal laughs at every thing you say. Why? Because she has fine Teeth.
Sam’s Religion is like a Chedder Cheese, ’tis made of the milk of one & twenty Parishes.
Search others for their virtues, thy self for thy vices.
Seek Virtue, and, of that possest,
To Providence, resign the rest.
Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor Liberty to purchase power.
She that paints her Face, thinks of her Tail.
Silks and Sattins put out the Kitchen Fire.
Sin is not hurtful because it is forbidden but it is forbidden because it’s hurtful. Nor is a Duty beneficial because it is commanded, but it is commanded, because it’s beneficial.
Since I cannot govern my own tongue, tho’ within my own teeth, how can I hope to govern the tongues of others?
Since thou art not sure of a minute, throw not away an hour.
Sloth (like Rust) consumes faster than Labour wears: the used Key is always bright.
Sloth and Silence are a Fool’s Virtues.
Some are justly laught at for keeping their Money foolishly, others for spending it idly: He is the greatest fool that lays it out in a purchase of repentance.
Some are weatherwise, some are otherwise.
Some men grow mad by studying much to know,
But who grows mad by studying good to grow.
Sorrow is dry.
Speak and speed: the close mouth catches no flies.
Speak with contempt of none, from slave to king,
The meanest Bee hath, and will use, a sting.
Squirrel-like she covers her back with her tail.
Strange! that a Man who has wit enough to write a Satyr; should have folly enough to publish it.
Strange, that he who lives by Shifts, can seldom shift himself.
Strive to be the greatest Man in your Country, and you may be disappointed; Strive to be the best, and you may succeed: He may well win the race that runs by himself. [In Franklin’s writings, to be greatest is to be most powerful, while to be best is to be most righteous.]
Take Courage, Mortal; Death can’t banish thee out of the Universe.
Take this remark from Richard poor and lame,
Whate’er’s begun in anger ends in shame.
Tart Words make no Friends: a spoonful of honey will catch more flies than Gallon of Vinegar.
Teach your child to hold his tongue, he’l learn fast enough to speak.
Tell a miser he’s rich, and a woman she’s old, you’ll get no money of one, nor kindness of t’other.
That Quantity that is sufficient, the Stomach can perfectly concoct and digest, and it sufficeth the due Nourishment of the Body.
The absent are never without fault, nor the present without excuse.
The ancients tell us what is best; but we must learn of the moderns what is fittest.
The church the state, and the poor, are 3 daughters which we should maintain, but not portion off.
The Creditors are a superstitious sect, great observers of set days and times.
The cunning man steals a horse, the wise man lets him alone.
The Devil sweetens Poison with Honey.
The Difficulty lies, in finding out an exact Measure; but eat for Necessity, not Pleasure, for Lust knows not where Necessity ends.
The D—l wipes his B—ch with poor Folks Pride.
The excellency of hogs is fatness, of men virtue.
The Eye of a Master, will do more Work than his Hand.
The Family of Fools is ancient.
The generous Mind least regards money, and yet most feels the Want of it.
The good or ill hap of a good or ill life,
is the good or ill choice of a good or ill wife.
The good Paymaster is Lord of another man’s Purse.
The good Spinner hath a large Shift.
The greatest monarch on the proudest throne, is oblig’d to sit upon his own arse.
The King’s cheese is half wasted in parings: But no matter, ’tis made of the peoples milk.
The magistrate should obey the Laws, the People should obey the magistrate.
The Man who with undaunted toils,
sails unknown seas to unknown soils,
With various wonders feasts his Sight:
What stranger wonders does he write?
The Master-piece of Man, is to live to the purpose.
The Measure of Food ought to be (as much as possibly may be) exactly proportionable to the Quality and Condition of the Stomach, because the Stomach digests it.
The misers cheese is wholesomest.
The most exquisite Folly is made of Wisdom spun too fine.
The nearest way to come at glory, is to do that for conscience which we do for glory.
The noblest question in the world is What Good may I do in it?
The painful Preacher, like a candle bright,
Consumes himself in giving others Light.
The Poor have little, Beggars none;
the Rich too much, enough not one.
The poor man must walk to get meat for his stomach, the rich man to get a stomach to his meat.
The rotten Apple spoils his Companion.
The same man cannot be both Friend and Flatterer.
The sleeping Fox catches no poultry. Up! up!
The Sting of a Reproach, is the Truth of it.
The Sun never repents of the good he does, nor does he ever demand a recompence.
The Things which hurt, instruct.
The thrifty maxim of the wary Dutch,
Is to save all the Money they can touch.
The Tongue is ever turning to the aching Tooth.
The Use of Money is all the Advantage there is in having Money.
The World is full of fools and faint hearts; and yet every one has courage enough to bear the misfortunes, and wisdom enough to manage the Affairs of his neighbour.
The worst wheel of the cart makes the most noise.
There are lazy Minds as well as lazy Bodies.
There are no fools so troublesome as those that have wit.
There are no fools so troublesome as those that have wit.
There are no ugly Loves, nor handsome Prisons.
There are three faithful friends, an old wife, an old dog, and ready money.
There have been as great Souls unknown to fame as any of the most famous.
There is much difference between imitating a good man, and counterfeiting him.
There is much money given to be laught at, though the purchasers don’t know it; witness A’s fine horse, & B’s fine house.
There is no Man so bad, but he secretly respects the Good.
There’s a time to wink as well as to see.
There’s many witty men whose brains can’t fill their bellies.
There’s more old Drunkards than old Doctors.
There’s none deceived but he that trusts.
There’s small Revenge in Words, but Words may be greatly revenged.
They that study much, ought not to eat so much as those that work hard, their Digestion being not so good.
They who have nothing to be troubled at, will be troubled at nothing.
They who have nothing to trouble them, will be troubled at nothing.
Think Cato sees thee.
Thirst after Desert, not Reward.
Those who are fear’d, are hated.
Those who in quarrels interpose,
Must often wipe a bloody nose.
Those who pay for what they buy upon Credit, pay their Share of this Advance.
Thou canst not joke an Enemy into a Friend; but thou may’st a Friend into an Enemy.
Thou hadst better eat salt with the Philosophers of Greece, than sugar with the Courtiers of Italy.
Three good meals a day is bad living.
Three may keep a Secret, if two of them are dead.
Three things are men most liable to be cheated in, a Horse, a Wig, and a Wife.
Tim and his Handsaw are good in their Place,
Tho’ not fit for preaching or shaving a face.
Tim moderate fare and abstinence much prizes,
In publick, but in private gormandizes.
Time enough, always proves little enough.
Time is an herb that cures all Diseases.
Tis a strange Forest that has no rotten Wood in’t.
Tis better leave for an enemy at one’s death, than beg of a friend in one’s life.
Tis easier to prevent bad habits than to break them.
Tis easy to frame a good bold resolution;
but hard is the Task that concerns execution.
Tis easy to see, hard to foresee.
Tis vain to repine,
Tho’ a learned Divine
Will die this day at nine.
To all apparent Beauties blind
Each Blemish strikes an envious Mind.
To be humble to Superiors is Duty, to Equals Courtesy, to Inferiors Nobleness.
To bear other Peoples Afflictions, every one has Courage enough, and to spare.
To err is human, to repent divine, to persist devilish.
To God we owe fear and love; to our neighbours justice and charity; to our selves prudence and sobriety.
To whom thy secret thou dost tell,
To him thy freedom thou dost sell.
Tom, vain’s your Pains; They all will fail:
Ne’er was good Arrow made of a Sow’s Tail.
Tricks and Treachery are the Practice of Fools, that have not Wit enough to be honest.
Trust thy self, and another shall not betray thee.
Tugend bestehet wen alles vergehet.[German: Virtue is the requirement whom all offend.]
Turn Turk Tim, and renounce thy Faith in Words as well as Actions: Is it worse to follow Mahomet than the Devil?
Up, Sluggard, and waste not life; in the grave will be sleeping enough.
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.
Vanity backbites more than Malice.
Vice knows she’s ugly, so puts on her Mask.
Virtue and Happiness are Mother and Daughter.
Visit your Aunt, but not every Day; and call at your Brother’s, but not every night.
Want of Care does us more Damage than Want of Knowledge.
Wars bring scars.
We are not so sensible of the greatest Health as of the least Sickness.
Wealth is not his that has it, but his that enjoys it.
Weighty Questions ask for deliberate Answers.
Well done is better than well said.
Well done, is twice done.
What is a butterfly? At best
He’s but a caterpiller drest.
The gaudy Fop’s his picture just.
What is Serving God? ’Tis doing Good to Man.
What maintains one Vice would bring up two Children.
What one relishes, nourishes.
What pains our Justice takes his faults to hide,
With half that pains sure he might cure ’em quite.
What signifies your Patience, if you can’t find it when you want it.
What you would seem to be, be really.
What’s given shines,
What’s receiv’d is rusty.
What’s proper, is becoming: See the Blacksmith with his white Silk Apron!
When *** and *** in *** lie,
Then, Maids, whate’er is ask’d of you, deny.
When ’tis fair be sure take your Great coat with you.
When befriended, remember it:
When you befriend, forget it.
When Death puts out our Flame, the Snuff will tell,
If we were Wax, or Tallow by the Smell.
When Knaves fall out, honest Men get their goods: When Priests dispute, we come at the Truth.
When Man and Woman die, as Poets sung,
His Heart’s the last part moves, her last, the tongue.
When the Well’s dry, we know the Worth of Water.
When there’s more Malice shown than Matter:
On the Writer falls the satyr.
When you speak to a man, look on his eyes; when he speaks to thee, look on his mouth.
Where carcasses are, eagles will gather,
And where good laws are, much people flock thither.
Where there’s Marriage without Love, there will be Love without Marriage.
Where there’s no Law, there’s no Bread.
Where yet was ever found the Mother,
Who’d change her booby for another?
Who has deceiv’d thee so oft as thy self?
Who is strong? He that can conquer his bad Habits. Who is rich? He that rejoices in his Portion.
Who knows a fool, must know his brother;
For one will recommend another.
Who pleasure gives,
Shall joy receive.
Who says Jack is not generous? he is always fond of giving, and cares not for receiving. — What? Why; Advice.
Why does the blind man’s wife paint herself.
Wide will wear,
but Narrow will tear.
Wife from thy Spouse each blemish hide
More than from all the World beside:
Let DECENCY be all thy Pride.
Wink at small faults; remember thou hast great ones.
Wish a miser long life, and you wish him no good.
Wish not so much to live long as to live well.
With the old Almanack and the old Year,
Leave thy old Vices, tho’ ever so dear.
Without justice, courage is weak.
Women & Wine, Game & Deceit,
Make the Wealth small and the Wants great.
Would you live with ease,
Do what you ought, and not what you please.
Would you persuade, speak of Interest, not of Reason.
Wouldst thou enjoy a long Life, a healthy Body, and a vigorous Mind, and be acquainted also with the wonderful Works of God? labour in the first place to bring thy Appetite into Subjection to Reason.
Write Injuries in Dust, Benefits in Marble.
Write with the learned, pronounce with the vulgar.
Yet, in buying Goods, ’tis best to pay ready Money, because,
You cannot pluck roses without fear of thorns,
Nor enjoy a fair wife without danger of horns.
You may be more happy than Princes, if you will be more virtuous.
You may drive a gift without a gimblet.
You may talk too much on the best of subjects.
You will be careful, if you are wise;
How you touch Men’s Religion, or Credit, or Eyes.
Youth, Age, and Sick require a different Quantity [of Eat and Drink].