[mewzilla]

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. In my youth I traveled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.

Benjamin Franklin, On the Price of Corn and Management of the Poor, November 1766

[AD from SpringBay]

Benjamin Franklin - I want to say something about how he should be required reading and how he is great, and all that... but I guess I’ll just let him speak for himself and wish we had a Ben Franklin for our own time.