
“He that hath a trade, hath an estate.”
Benjamin Franklin, in Poor Richard's Almanack (1772)
Misattributed
Jacula Prudentum (1651)
“He that hath a trade, hath an estate.”
Benjamin Franklin, in Poor Richard's Almanack (1772)
Misattributed
“Learning hath gained most by those books by which the printers have lost.”
Of Books.
The Holy State and the Profane State (1642)
“I am learning my business. Literature nowadays is a trade.”
Vol. I, Ch. 1 : A Man of His Day, p. 8
New Grub Street : A Novel (1891)
Context: I am learning my business. Literature nowadays is a trade. Putting aside men of genius, who may succeed by mere cosmic force, your successful man of letters is your skilful tradesman. He thinks first and foremost of the markets; when one kind of goods begins to go off slackly, he is ready with something new and appetising. He knows perfectly all the possible sources of income. Whatever he has to sell he'll get payment for it from all sorts of various quarters; none of your unpractical selling for a lump sum to a middleman who will make six distinct profits.
“Whence thy learning? Hath thy toil
O'er books consumed the midnight oil?”
Introduction, "The Shepherd and the Philosopher"; "Midnight oil" was a common phrase, used by Quarles, Shenstone, Cowper, Lloyd, and others.
Fables (1727)
“Love the little trade which thou hast learned, and be content therewith.”
IV, 31
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book IV
“A man with two trades to his credit can easily learn another ten.”
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962)