I want this to be a dialog not just me giving my opinion on what a certain quote means. So please share your thoughts on what you think what he is saying means. Also this will not contain all of his known quotes. If you'd like to read more on Benjamin Franklin or any of our other Founding Father I do actively encourage you to do so.

“A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body.”

Interpretation: A person is not complete unless they are versed in both pursuits of the mind as well as pursuits of the physical, IE. sports

“A learned blockhead is a greater blockhead than an ignorant one.”

Interpretation: Even if you are not an overly intellectually inclined person your life is still better if you give some portion of your life toward furthering yourself intellectually

“A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle.”

Interpretation: The world is much larger than you and your horizons. If you spend your whole life only concerned with how things impact you directly in your view you will miss a lot of what life has to offer. (This goes ESPECIALLY for Americans and the western world in general)

“A penny saved is a penny earned”

Interpretation: (With a slightly modern twist) You do not need to spend every cent you earn. Your money is tantamount to security in and over your life. When you live paycheque to paycheque and owe your soul to the credit card company you have no security.

“A small leak can sink a great ship.”

Interpretation: The smallest issues whether it be in ones personal life or in government in time become big issues over time. More or less keep your house in order and you will not have surprises down the line.

“Admiration is the daughter of ignorance.”

Interpretation: When you dedicate your time to celebrity no matter what form it comes in you are making yourself stupid and ignorant of the things going on around you. Celebrity becomes the god of your life and you see nothing else happening around you.

“All wars are follies, very expensive and very mischievous ones.”

Interpretation: In almost every instance when the people of a nation are led into going to war it is because they have been tricked in some way. The reasons for wars are almost always not the ones we are told as a people and often not as clear to the common man. What Franklin is saying here is that most wars are a trick to get a nation into debt in some way. (Don't believe me do some research on Rothschild and the battle of Waterloo)

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”

Interpretation: Are sports and celebrity more important to you than knowing what is happening in your nation? How about your state or province? What about your county or parish? What about your town? What about your family and home? See being WILLINGLY ignorant will infect and destroy every facet of your life.

“Anger is never without a reason, but seldom with a good one.”

Interpretation: We are quick to react when we believe ourselves to have been wronged, but how often do we stop and think of the ultimate consequences of our actions. If someone punches me and I punch them back are they going to stop punching me? Or is the fight going to escalate even further?

“As we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every

idle silence.”

Interpretation: There is no such thing as consequence free in this life. We wonder why the world hates us as Americans but the reality is that most Americans have not the slightest clue what their government has been up to in the world over the last 90 odd years. The truth is the average American doesn't care as long as he can have his football and six pack of beer. Which to be honest is more than a little sad.

“Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man”

Interpretation: None of us are perfect so we need to be in some sense striving to improve ourselves as people. Don't give your neighbor across the street, or across the ocean any reason to want to harm you or your property. People regardless of belief are more or less the same where ever you go, they just want to be happy and raise their family without fear of harm of starvation and whether you want to believe it or not the U.S. has gone about the business of starving and harming people in the so called “third world” for quite a long time. If we just practiced the “golden rule” and did unto people as we want done unto us the U.S. Would not have any issues with other nations who are just trying to protect and feed themselves.

“Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.”

Interpretation: If you had no clue about the world or politics because you were never told that's okay. You are not to blame, but now you are responsible. The old saying that knowledge is power is true. If you know how your government is screwing you and the rest of the world then you know how to stop it, but in order to stop it we need a lot more people to know.

“Buy what thou hast no need of and ere long thou shalt sell thy necessities”

Interpretation: We have ALL known the family who can barely pay the rent but they have a big screen t.v. Well guess what? America has really done the same thing as a nation! There are starving families in America but you are spending BILLIONS on a war on the other side of the planet against a people who could NOT pose a serious threat to the nation because most of them are still living a per-industrial lifestyle!

“Content makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor.”

Interpretation: Why are you content with poverty and uncertainty. If the cowboys win or lose it bears no personal gain or loss for you in a real way. If they win will it give you a job and house, will it put food on your table?

“Creditors have better memories than debtors.”

Interpretation: It is so easy to lose track of how much you owe because after all it's just a piece of plastic and honestly the practice should be illegal. It is not money in any real sense, you don't even know what a credit point looks like, you can't hold it, but it translates to your money, who the nice folks at MASTEROFSLAVES CARD will rip from your cold dead fingers.

“Distrust and caution are the parents of security.”

Interpretation: If you want to be truly secure you will NOT trust the police to make you secure, you will NOT trust the government to keep you secure. You will NOT trust that anyone except for you can keep you secure. If you feel unsafe where your at, then MOVE, take self defense courses. Buy a gun and learn how to use it from a proper trainer. I know the media tries to tell us that these things are actions of paranoid people, but would you rather not do these things and get hurt for the sake of how it might look, or have faith in knowing that you could at least put up a fight?

“Do good to your friends to keep them, to your enemies to win them.”

Interpretation: You do not need to conquer every enemy. Especially when it comes to the culture of the Muslim people. We would do far better to show them love, because by fighting with them we are creating martyrs and I've got news for you. Martyr's become symbols and you can NOT kill symbols.

“Energy and persistence conquer all things”

Interpretation: Keep fighting! You will see others go by the wayside and you yourself might not see the victory but we are ultimately fighting for our freedom and if we keep fighting eventually we will win. All things come and all things end.

“God helps those who help themselves.”

Interpretation: There is an almost uniquely American Christian sentiment that if your a good Christian that God will reward you by making you middle to upper middle class. This could not be further from the truth. The reason you are in the financial positions you are in is mostly because you to bought into the scam being played on the rest of the people, and the thing is that your actually not happier for it. You have bought into this concept that there is somehow a material reward for being a Christian and really missed what is important in life. The African Christian who does not even know where his next meal is coming from is happier than you are. (This is not for EVERY American Christian but it is a widespread belief) Are you spending what you have IE time, money on furthering Gods works? Or are you content to talk about God with other Christians and have your hobby and really do nothing for Him?

”Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it, is.”

Interpretation: Honor your family line in all that you do. I do not advocate the idea of being proud to be Black or White or Asian, or what ever you are because those things are arbitrary. Rather be proud of the things your parents and grand parents have done to bring you to where you are. They might not have been perfect but if they had not built themselves up to the level they were then you would not be at the level where you are.

“He does not possess wealth; it possesses him.”

Interpretation:” THE THINGS YOU OWN, OWN YOU

“He who would trade liberty for some temporary security, deserves neither, and will receive neither”

Interpretation: To give up your freedom to keep you safe is really the ultimate betrayal of the Constitution. That is why things like the patriot act are so very highly illegal in reality, but your afraid so not only do you allow it to happen but you demand it to.

In closing I have one final point. The freedoms you gave up were the only thing that can save you once the government re-classifies YOU as the terrorist for any number of reasons. The old adage that if your not guilty you have nothing to fear has become a moot point because they have reclassified what might make one a terrorist. So now we see at the very least a clear potential for an Orwellian state of despotism to evolve out of these Draconian laws that are now on the books. If you do not believe me then do the research yourself. Not Fox News, or CNN but really do the research. If you think I am wrong at the end of it then at least you might come out knowing a little bit more about your government.

Read YOUR Constitution and Bill Of Rights. After all how can you even know what rights you have if you have never bothered to look it up. It is YOUR responsibility to know these things for yourself and your children.

Again please comment on any or all of these. I really want to open a dialog and get a real discussion going. These are things that concern us all and we need to be able to sharpen our knowledge against each other so we can really learn something.

More Benjamin Franklin Quotes At: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/b/benjamin_franklin_10.html