"We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable" in a draft of the Declaration of Independence changes it instead into an assertion of rationality. The scientific mind of Franklin drew on the scientific determinism of Isaac Newton and the analytic empiricism of David Hume and Gottfried Leibniz. In what became known as "Hume's Fork" the latters' theory distinguished between synthetic truths that describe matters of fact, and analytic truths that are self-evident by virtue of reason and definition.

Time is an herb that cures all Diseases.

'Tis true there is much to be done, . . . but stick to it steadily, and you will see great effects, for constant dropping wears away stones . . . and little strokes fell great oaks, as Poor Richard says. . . .

Leisure is the time for doing something useful.

One of the advantages of being a 'reasonable creature' is that one can find a reason for whatever one wants to do.

Reading was the only amusement I allowed myself

Human happiness comes not from infrequent pieces of good fortune, but from the small improvements to daily life.