"Well, I should rather make soap and candles than starve, on the
whole," Benjamin remarked in reply; "but nothing short of starvation
could make me willing to follow the business."

"One other thing ought to make you willing to do such work," added his
father; "a determination to be industrious. Idleness is the parent of
vice. Boys like you should be industrious even if they do not earn
their salt. It is better for them to work for nothing than to be
idle."

"I think they better save their strength till they can earn
something," said Benjamin. "People must like to work better than I do,
to work for nothing."

"You do not understand me; I mean to say that it is so important for
the young to form industrious habits, that they better work for
nothing than to be idle. If they are idle when they are young, they
will be so when they become men, and idleness will finally be their
ruin. 'The devil tempts all other men, but idle men tempt the devil';
and I hope that you will never consent to verify the proverb."

Mr. Franklin had been a close observer all his life, and he had
noticed that industry was characteristic of those who accomplished any
thing commendable Consequently he insisted that his children should
have employment. He allowed no drones in his family hive. All must be
busy as bees. All had some thing to do as soon as they were old enough
to toil. Under such influences Benjamin was reared, and he grew up to
be as much in love with industry as his father was. Some of his best
counsels and most interesting sayings, when he became a man, related