When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.
— Benjamin Franklin
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
— Benjamin Franklin
It would be a hard government that should tax its people one-tenth part of their income
— Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1758
I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it.
— Benjamin Franklin