“ 'Tis hard for an empty bag to stand upright. ”
Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (1791). copy citation
| Author | Benjamin Franklin |
|---|---|
| Source | The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin |
| Topic | virtue poverty |
| Date | 1791 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20203/20203-h/20203-h.htm |
Context
“Buy what thou hast no Need of, and ere long thou shalt sell thy Necessaries. If you would know the Value of Money, go and try to borrow some; for, he that goes a borrowing goes a sorrowing. The second Vice is Lying, the first is running in Debt. Lying rides upon Debt's Back. Poverty often deprives a Man of all Spirit and Virtue: 'Tis hard for an empty Bag to stand upright. And now to conclude, Experience keeps a dear School, but Fools will learn in no other, and scarce in that; for it is true, we may give Advice, but we cannot give Conduct, as Poor Richard says: However, remember this, They that won't be counseled, can't be helped, as Poor Richard says: and farther, That if you will not hear Reason, she'll surely rap your Knuckles.”
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Meaning and analysis
