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Quote by Benjamin Franklin

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Poor Richard's Almanack

Poor Richard's Almanack is a yearly publication that includes a variety of content ranging from practical advice on farming and weather predictions to moral and philosophical maxims. Authored by Benjamin Franklin, it became a popular source of guidance and entertainment during the 18th century. more

Author

Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin was a prominent figure in American history, serving as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was a statesman, scientist, inventor, and writer, born on January 17, 1706, and died on April 17, 1790. Franklin is renowned for his contributions to electricity, his support for the American colonial independence movement, and his successful diplomatic efforts in France. more

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“In the field of controversy I always pity the moderate party, who stand on the open middle ground exposed to the fire of both sides.”

“The peace of the Eastern church was invaded by a swarm of fanatics [monks], incapable of fear, or reason, or humanity; and the Imperial troops acknowledged, without shame, that they were much less apprehensive of an encounter with the fiercest Barbarians.”

“Pleasure and guilt are synonymous terms in the language of the monks, and they discovered, by experience, that rigid fasts, and abstemious diet, are the most effectual preservatives against the impure desires of the flesh.”

“I have somewhere heard or read the frank confession of a Benedictine abbot: "My vow of poverty has given me a hundred thousand crowns a year; my vow of obedience has raised me to the rank of a sovereign prince." - I forget the consequences of his vow of chastity.”

“[The monks'] credulity debased and vitiated the faculties of the mind: they corrupted the evidence of history; and superstition gradually extinguished the hostile light of philosophy and science.”