The Way to Wealth: Getting Rich and Creating Wealth the Ben Franklin Way 1

Idleness and Laziness Amount to Nothing

Life is merely time. Waste that time and you’re wasting your life. Sloth will bring on disease and shorten life faster than working too much. Watch out for “idle employments or amusements” that will amount to nothing, Franklin warns. He says that while the government may tax your wages excessively, idleness and sloth will tax you even more.

Too Much Sleep is a Waste of Time

Quoting Poor Richard, Franklin espouses the saying that “there will be sleeping enough in the grave.” While Franklin is correct in that “the sleeping fox catches no poultry,” we should keep in mind that the body does require sleep yet we truly don’t need more than 8 hours. If you are finding you need more or have trouble getting out of bed in the morning, make an appointment with your primary physician to check for underlying illnesses or depression. “Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.”

Lost Time is Never Found Again

Sloth makes everything difficult, but the person who is industrious finds their work easy, Franklin wrote. Being diligent will make the work less confusing, and there will be time enough. “let us then be up and be doing, and doing to the purpose.” Poor Richard’s saying, “But dost thou love life, then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of.”

Don’t Wait Around and Dream of Better Times

Franklin quotes Poor Richard here that if the person who lives and waits, hoping for something better “will die fasting.” Franklin says the best thing a person can do is to make their own fortune, to do things and make things happen by being industrious, as “There are no gains, without pains.”

Diligence is the Mother of Good Luck

Another saying of Poor Richard, Franklin is putting together what he sees are the keys to gaining wealth, avoiding poverty and debt. “Plough deep, while sluggards
sleep, and you shall have corn to sell and to keep,” according to Poor Richard.

Franklin’s advice is a timeless piece filled with familiar sayings that advocate hard work, industriousness, diligence and honesty. By learning from historical icons giving instruction that has survived hundreds of years we too can figure out the secrets to success, making money and creating wealth for a rich life.