Ben’s Advice

To the left is a magnet I have displayed on my refrigerator—in a place I am very likely to see it at least once a day. It says on the back that it was produced by a novelty company called Ephemera Inc. I have looked up information on the quote.  Nearly every source mentions that the quote is taken out of context.  It was supposedly included in a letter Franklin wrote about taxes in Pennsylvania.  Furthermore, the magnet version I have has the added phrase “and lose both” which never appears in any of the quoted sources that I could find.

So, the magnet misrepresents what Franklin evidently intended, and it adds a phrase that suggested Franklin expected a society to lose both liberty and security once it gives up a little bit of liberty. The worry in most of the commentary seems to be that Franklin did not really intend to comment on the loss of liberty in a general way. And certainly he did not himself add the idea that a society would be both undeserving of liberty and security as well as actually lose liberty and security if it gave up a little liberty. So, if you are a stickler for authentic and accurate quotes from famous people, this magnet is not for you.

However, I am happy to keep it on my refrigerator and to see it every day because I do actually feel it rightly predicts the loss of both liberty and security once the slippery slope of losing a little liberty starts. I feel it rightly warns of what is happening in the US right now.  We are giving up some of our liberty with the likely outcome that we will lose even more. And from what I have learned over the years about Benjamin Franklin, I think he would agree, whether he ever said it or not.