Poor Richard's Almanack (sometimes Almanac) was a yearly one published by Benjamin Franklin, who adopted the pseudonym of "Poor Richard" or "Richard Saunders" for this purpose. The publication appeared continuously from 1732-1758. It was a best seller for a pamphlet published in the American colonies; print runs reached 10,000 per year.
Franklin, the American inventor, statesman adn publisher, achieved success with Poor Richard's Almanack. Almanacks were very popular books in colonial Aemrica, with people in the colonies using them for the mixture of seasonal weather forecasts, practical household hints, puzzles, and other amusements they offered. Poor Richard's Almanack was popular for all of these reasons, and also for its extensive use of wordplay, with many examples derived from the work surviving in the contemporary American vernacular.
These are the maxims for the 1735 edition. These and the introduction can be found
here.
Look before, or you'll find yourself behind.
Bad Commentators spoil the best of books,
So God sends meat (they say) the devil Cooks.
Approve not of him who commends all you say.
By diligence and patience, the mouse bit in two the cable.
Full of courtesie, full of craft.
A little House well fill'd, a little Field well till'd, and a little Wife well will'd, are great Riches.
Old Maids lead Apes there, where the old Batchelors are turn'd to Apes.
Some are weatherwise, some are otherwise.
(Dyrro lynn y ddoeth e fydd ddoethach.)
The poor man must walk to get meat for his stomach,
the rich man to get a stomach to his meat.
He that goes far to marry, will either deceive or be deceived.
Eyes and Priests Bear no Jests.
The Family of Fools is ancient.
Necessity never made a good bargain.
If Pride leads the Van, Beggary brings up the Rear.
There's many witty men whose brains can't fill their bellies.
Weighty Questions ask for deliberate Answers.
When and in lie, Then, Maids, whate'er is ask'd of you, deny.
Be slow in chusing a Friend, slower in changing.
Old Hob was lately married in the Night,
What needed Day, his fair young Wife is light.
Pain wastes the Body, Pleasures the Understanding.
The cunning man steals a horse, the wise man lets him alone.
Nothing but Money, Is sweeter than Honey.
Humility makes great men twice honourable.
A Ship under sail and a big-bellied Woman,
Are the handsomest two things that can be seen [q] common.
Keep thy shop, & thy shop will keep thee.
The King's cheese is half wasted in parings:
But no matter, 'tis made of the peoples milk.
What's given shines, What's receiv'd is rusty.
Sloth and Silence are a Fool's Virtues.
Of learned Fools I have seen ten times ten, Of unlearned wise men I have seen a hundred.
Three may keep a Secret, if two of them are dead.
Poverty wants some things, Luxury many things, Avarice all things.
A Lie stands on 1 leg, Truth on 2 .
There's small Revenge in Words, but Words may be greatly revenged.
Great wits jump (says the Poet) and hit his Head against the Post.
A man is never so ridiculous by those
Qualities that are his own as by those that he affects to have.
Deny Self for Self's sake.
Tim moderate fare and abstinence much prizes In publick, but in private gormandizes.
Ever since Follies have pleas'd, Fools have been able to divert.
It is better to take many Injuries than to give one.
Opportunity is the great Bawd.
Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy wealthy and wise.
To be humble to Superiors is Duty, to Equals Courtesy, to Inferiors Nobleness.
Here comes the Orator! with his Flood of Words, and his Drop of Reason.
An old young man, will be a young old man.
Sal laughs at every thing you say. Why? Because she has fine Teeth.
If what most men admire, they would despise,'Twould look as if mankind were growing wise.
The Sun never repents of the good he does, nor does he ever demand a recompence.
Are you angry that others disappoint you? remember you cannot depend upon yourself.
One Mend-fault is worth two Findfaults, but one Findfault is better than two Makefaults.
Reader, I wish thee Health, Wealth, Happiness,
And may kind Heaven thy Year's Industry bless.
Robert Robinson was born in Saffham, Norfolk, in 1735. (He died in 1790). His widowed mother sent him at age 14 to London to learn the trade of barber and hair dresser. However, his master found he enjoyed reading more than work. Converted to Christ at age 17, Robinson became a Methodist minister. He later became a Baptist and pastored in Cambridge, England. He wrote a number of hymns, as well as on the subject of theology. His later life was evidently not an easy one, judging from an unsubstantiated but well known story about his hymn “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” One day, he encountered a woman who was studying a hymnal and she asked how he liked the hymn she was humming. In tears, he replied, “Madam, I am the poor unhappy man who wrote that hymn many years ago, and I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I had then.”
