TheWaytoWealth
本杰明·富兰克林 / BenjaminFranklin
CourteousReader，
Ihaveheardthatnothinggivesanauthorsogreatpleasure， ； forthoughIhavebeen， ifImaysayitwithoutvanity， aneminentauthorofalmanacsannuallynowafullquarterofacentury， mybrotherauthorsinthesameway， forwhatreasonIknownot， haveeverbeenverysparingintheirapplause， andnootherauthorhastakentheleastnoticeofme， sothatdidnotmywritingsproducemesomesolidpudding， thegreatdeficiencyofpraisewouldhavequitediscouragedme.
Iconcludedatlength， thatthepeoplewerethebestjudgesofmymerit； fortheybuymyworks； andbesides， inmyrambles， whereIamnotpersonallyknown， Ihavefrequentlyheardoneorotherofmyadagesrepeatedwith“ asPoorRichardsays ”attheendonit； thisgavemesomesatisfaction， asitshowednotonlythatmyinstructionswereregarded， butdiscoveredlikewisesomerespectformyauthority； andIown， thattoencouragethepracticeofrememberingandrepeatingthosewisesentences， Ihavesometimesquotedmyselfwithgreatgravity.
Judge， then， ， theywereconversingonthebadnessofthetimesandoneofthecompanycalledtoaplaincleanoldman， withwhitelocks，“ Pray， FatherAbraham， whatthinkyouofthetimes？ Won’ttheseheavytaxesquiteruinthecountry？ Howshallwebeeverabletopaythem？ Whatwouldyouadviseusto？” FatherAbrahamstoodup， andreplied， “Ifyou’dhavemyadvice， I’llgiveittoyouinshort， forawordto ‘thewiseisenough， andmanywordswon’tfillabushel’， asPoorRichardsays.” Theyjoinedindesiringhimtospeakhismind， andgatheringroundhim， heproceededasfollows：
