The Road to Wealth so Seldom Followed

Money, the poor have none and the rich never have enough. Money and the desire for wealth has existed for hundreds of generations, and as we know from Benjamin Franklin's The Way To Wealth, the desire for money and the complaint of not having enough certainly existed at the time. Franklin's The Way To Wealth is only several pages long, but is brimming with advice and counsel on money. It is truly a pragmatic outlook on how to earn and how to save ones money. He presents the reader with the bare and solid truth which becomes evident people aren't interested in following. Franklin's The Way To Wealth illustrates how hard work, modesty, and refraining from borrowing are all essential in creating financial stability.

Franklin stresses that if a person want to succeed financially, then they have to pick an industry of interest to them and then work tirelessly to create the best business they can. Businesses don't just require attention and hard work at the beginning, but throughout, otherwise the business will be driven to the ground before they realize it. There is no place for laziness in success. "How much more than is necessary do we spend in sleep, forgetting that the sleeping fox catches no poultry and that there will be sleeping enough in the grave" (Franklin 452). As the well-known saying goes, time is money, and Franklin doesn't fail to mention that time spent wisely is the key to success. Businesses require time and attention to become successful and the people who invest the most time and energy reap the most profit. "Lost time is never found again; and what we call time enough, always proves little enough" (452). Time generally pass by faster than anticipated and tasks generally take longer to complete than expected. Franklin emphasizes the importance of time management and focusing as much attention as possible on improving ones business. People who spend time working hard are the ones who are rewarded in the end. "Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise" (452). Success and wealth all require sacrifice and time. No one ever accomplished anything during their sleep and the people who are late to awaken, are left to go pick their bunch at the already picked at crops, while the early risers have already been up selling their products, and profiting. "Plow deep, while sluggards sleep, and you shall have corn to sell and to keep" (452). People who are late to awaken have an immense disadvantage and no matter how hard they work the rest of the day, the business owners who were up at dawn still have the advantage of all the time spend working before the sluggards awoke. Franklin also dispels the myth that random luck and success are related in any way. "Diligence is the mother of good luck" (452). Good luck is not born out of thin air, but rather comes to those who are diligent with their work, and create an environment which facilitates success. Luck does not pick people, but luck comes to those who earn it through hard work. Hard work creates financial security for today and tomorrow. "Work while it is called today, for you know not how much you may be hindered tomorrow" (452). Never do tomorrow what one can do today. The future is never certain and it is always wisest and most profitable to take advantage of today and work as if tomorrow may never come. The people who work as though there's no tomorrow are the ones who reap the most profit and become successful, and are also best able to weather hard economic times and other uncertainties of life. People who work hard and appreciate the value of time and money end up with the most profit. "Let not the sun look down and say, inglorious here he lies" (453). A person must be thankful for the time and day that they have and they will be thanked in return. "Keep thy shop, and thy shop will keep thee" (453). If a person takes great care of their shop then their shop will be successful and therefore be able to provide them with finances. Careful attention can go a long way in ensuring financial success. "A little neglect may breed great mischief" (453). A person should always take care of all aspects of their business and never neglect even the smallest aspect of it, otherwise they are digging a hole from which failure can slowly sneak in. Financial success comes to the diligent hard working individuals who use their time wisely.

Once money has been acquired, modesty is perhaps the most sacred virtue that Franklin presents the reader with. Modesty is what can make the poor rich and the rich richer. "If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as of getting: the Indies have not made Spain rich, because her outgoes are greater than her incomes" (454). No matter what a person's salary, it is impossible to keep and save that money if they are spending more than is coming in. Even the richest of the rich can become poor if they habitually spend more than they have. People can't always fulfill their every desire, and attempting to will only result in bankruptcy. "Women and wine, game and deceit, Make the wealth small and the wants great" (454). Self-indulgence, especially in excess will only do harm to ones pocketbook. Even the smallest of indulgences can add up and wreak just as much havoc as the larger indulgences. Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship; and again, who dainties love shall beggars prove; and moreover, fools make feasts, and wise men eat them. (454) Small leaks in the pocketbook are what can become many, and their size often makes it hard to find them and eliminate them. Without special care small indulgences grow to become many and are often overlooked because they appear small and harmless, when in reality they can be more damaging than great indulgences, which are unmistakable. Modesty is not simply about withholding indulgences but it is about spending wisely. Purchasing something at a modest price doesn't make it a good investment if the product is not something one needs or something that one will use. "You expect they will be sold cheap, and perhaps they may for less than they cost; but if you have no occasion for them" (454). A person must think about whether they really need something before they purchase it. "At a great penny-worth pause a while" (454). People must be careful because they are more inclined to purchase something when they see a small price tag attached to it, because often the low price draws them in more so than the product. When people think they spot a good "deal" they are more inclined to buy something, yet if they have no need for the product then buying it becomes a wasteful expense and not a good deal. If it is of no use and worth to a person, than no matter how low the price tag is, it is more than the products worth. People must live within their means and purchase things which they can afford and which they need. "Great estates may venture more, but little boats should keep near shore" (455). People who earn more aren't necessarily at liberty to throw their money left and right, but they have a bigger money reserve to work with and have more leeway. Modesty is an essential element to financial success and stability.

A lack of modesty can lead people down a slippery slope, tumbling into a heap of debt, at the mercy of creditors. Franklin explains how extravagances can cost people their freedom when they become consumed by them and seek out loans in order to fulfill their endless thirst for the superficial and superfluous. "By these, and other extravagancies, the genteel are reduced to poverty, and forced to borrow of those whom they formerly despised"(455). These extravagances can even render the wealthiest of people to a state of poverty. "Fond pride of dress is sure a very curse; E'er fancy you consult, consult your purse" (455). Vanity and exhibitionism can quickly lighten the load in ones wallet. Pride is a manifestation of want in a visible form. "When you have bought one thing, you must buy ten more, that your appearance may be all of a piece" (455). Exhibitionism can quickly become a game with no end. People can easily become consumed by the vanity of dress and quickly end up buying a few of this, a few of that, in order to keep up appearances and ultimately end up knee deep in depth, without even realizing. "'Tis easier to suppress the first desire, than to satisfy all that follow it" (455). Once someone has had a taste of something, then they know the feeling and end up craving it more. When one's just wet their pallet with a mouthwatering taste it is harder to resist wanting more, than when one can only imagine how good something tastes. It is best to never start something that can have a negative impact on ones financial situation, then to start and then try to keep it under control. Urges often get the best of many people. "For pride that dines on vanity sups on contempt" (455). For all the jollies that luxuries may provide, they will provide that much more misery when the money to supply these extravagances runs out. "The second vice is lying, the first is running into dept" (455). People in debt become desperate not knowing where to get the money to pay their creditors. They quickly become creative, fabricating stories to try and win themselves some time and to justify their position. It is ironic that people end up losing their pride when in debt, the one thing that got them there in the first place. "Creditors are a superstitious sect, great observers of set days and times" (456). The time to pay back ones loans quickly comes around and although people may wish to forget when that day is, creditors on the other hand, are at one's doorstep ready to collect. When a person misses their payment there will be grave consequences such as having their belongings taken and auctioned off, and even jail time, if they owe an exceeding amount. It is wisest to make sacrifices than to take out loans and become a slave to creditors, for one can't prosper financially when all their incoming profits must go towards paying off debts.

The Way to Wealth serves as a great guide to staying out of debt and making the most out of ones opportunities and talents. The ever-present dichotomy between words and actions, serves to emphasize the importance of taking wise advice and not simply agreeing with it. Franklin presents simple and doable things which are applicable for the poor and the rich alike. But, like Franklin emphasizes, advice is only as good as what people make of it, and if no one attempts to follow his advice then they have only themselves to blame when they end up in a bad financial situation. As most people don't "know the worth of water" (455) until " the well's dry" (455). The future is never clear as the present recession has proven, and following Franklin's advice could probably have saved many people from foreclosure and bankruptcy. However, like the people at the vendue, most would rather dig themselves a whole to fall into first, rather than build themselves a mountain of financial cushioning to support themselves in the hard times. As Franklin so poetically stated "pride breakfasted with plenty, dined with poverty, and supped with infamy" (455). It is easy to be on top one moment and then fall off and become a beggar chasing loans, and hiding from creditors. The hike to the top of the mountain may be treacherous but the reward great. But one must be careful for all the work it took to reach the peak of the mountain, all that is required is one small slip before they end up back at the bottom again. Nothing in life is certain and one must work hard and plan ahead to create the life and future one desire.

Baym, Nina. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 6. A. W. W. Norton & Company, 2002. 452-356.