Benjamin Franklin

It told of Abraham giving food and shelter to a 198-year-old man, then throwing him out when he said he did not believe in Abraham’s God. The parable concluded: And at midnight God called upon Abraham, saying, Abraham where is the stranger? And Abraham answered and said, Lord, he would not worship thee; neither would he call upon thy name. Therefor

“Some may think these trifling matters not worth minding,” Franklin said, but they should remember that “human felicity is produced . . . by little advantages that occur every day.”10

Out of this arose a vision of America as a nation where people, whatever their birth or social class, could rise (as he did) to wealth and status based on their willingness to be industrious and cultivate their virtues.

“If you would keep your secret from an enemy, tell it not to a friend.”

“He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged.”

“an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,”

“The present little sacrifice of your vanity will afterwards be amply repaid.”

People will eventually give you the credit, he noted, if you don’t try to claim it at the time.

“Americans of all ages, all stations in life, and all types of dispositions are forever forming associations,” Tocqueville famously marveled. “Hospitals, prisons and schools take shape this way.”