"
It may be added, also, that he did not even originate most of these
sayings, but only gave a new stamp to what he found in Hindu and Arabic
records. For all that, Poor Richard's Almanac is more likely to become
immortal than even Franklin's own name and fame.
The history of Bacon's essays is another fine example of what simplicity
can effect in the way of greatness. These essays were originally
nothing more than single sentences jotted down in a notebook, probably
as an aid to conversation. How many times they were worked over we have
no means of knowing; but we have three printed editions of the essays,
each of which is immensely developed from what went before.
In reading the following lines from Franklin, let us reflect that not
less than a year went to the writing of every phrase that can be called
great; and that if we could spend a year in writing a single sentence,
it might be as well worth preserving as these proverbs.
Some men have been made famous by one sentence, usually because it
somehow expressed the substance of a lifetime.
From "Poor Richard's Almanac."
Father Abraham stood up and replied, "If you would have my advice,
I will give it you in short; _for a word to the wise is enough,
and essay words won't fill a bushel,_ as POOR RICHARD says.
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