Timely instruction from the greatest mind America has ever produced

[Greyhound]

"The only tool of the average citizen - and it is a tremendous tool, when wielded with determination - is to take possession of your voice and start decrying the loss of freedom in this country. Write to your representatives and tell them that you want the government to give back the freedoms they have stolen from us. Write to the papers, and tell them that freedom of the press isn't worth a nickel unless it serves the people. Speak freely to your friends and colleagues, and awaken them to the loss of freedom in this nation.
"And when you are criticized, as you will be, remind your critics that you have the right to speak your mind. And if they shout you down, as they probably will, then inform them that since they insist on being asses, you will henceforth communicate with them with the appropriate part of your own anatomy. And turning to face them from the posterior, let them know where you stand. Let every fart count as a peal of thunder for liberty. Let every fart remind the nation of how much it has let pass out of its control.
"It is a small gesture, but one that can be very effective - especially in a large crowd. So fart, and if you must, fart often. But always fart without apology.
"Fart for freedom, fart for liberty - and fart proudly"
- Benjamin Franklin :kick: :bounce: :kick:

[klook]

1. This is by Carl Japiske, not Ben Franklin

Japiske wrote an article for the Saturday Evening Post in 1998 including a dream sequence in which Franklin speaks to him. The part about farting was not part of the SE Post article and was apparently added later by some email hoaxster.

[Greyhound]

2. I sit partially corrected, it is published in his book "Fart proudly

Writings of Benjamin Franklin You Never Read in School"

[klook]

6. Upon further inquiry...

Turns out I may have been wrong about saying that an internet hoaxster added the "fart proudly" stuff to the end of the S.E. Post piece. Sorry for the misinformation! However, I'm still not sure whether Carl Japikse or Benjamin Franklin actually wrote it.

I've been looking for proof that Franklin didn't write the "Fart Proudly" piece and can't confirm that. According to the Cambridge University Press web site, the title comes from his satirical letter to the Royal Academy proposing the scientific study of flatulence. So it may be that Japikse just took the letter to the Royal Academy as a point of departure.

At any rate--although the advice to give oratorial opponents a dose of the old methane is amusing--I think this coda weakens the piece. I was getting into the philosophy and wisdom as I read, when it was refuted by this descent into juvenile bathroom humor. Nothing wrong with juvenile bathroom humor, mind you--but I thought it weakened this piece and basically shifted attention away from the case made in the first half.

[Gold Metal Flake]

3. Thanks for correcting this.

I dislike how stuff gets passed around with the repeaters never checking the authenticity.

Edit to reduce random meanness.

[Greyhound]

4. I fail to see how this is "corrosive" and is exactly the kind of thing

Franklin would say to us. The last is not an internet hoax, I own the book and simply overlooked the fact that it came from the last chapter that he (Japikse) wrote entitled "The Dream".

[Gold Metal Flake]

5. Attributing ficticious quotes to historical figures ...

...and presenting them as true is dishonest.

That's how I see it.

You can be as defensive about it as you want to be, but that only compounds the error.

[Greyhound]

7. Ok, here's the skinny

My quoted piece was written Carl Japikse in the last chapter of the afore mentioned book. Ben Franklin did write the satirical essay proposing the study of a means of scenting farts in the same way that asparagus changes the oder of urine, to the Royal Academy of Brusselles (his spelling)
The book is a collection of Franklin's less widely known essays and letters. Copyright 1990. Published by Enthea Press. ISBN 1-89804-801-X.
I overlooked the fact that the last chapter was written by Japikse and not Franklin, as all the rest of the writing were.
Sorry for mistakenly attributing it to Franklin himself.

[klook]

8. All right, now we're straight

Thanks.

BTW, I didn't take offense at your quote; I thought it was a pretty good read. Just wanted to set the record straight. And now you have done the research to really set it straight.
:toast:

[Greyhound]

9. I just laughed my ass off reading it, and it was so Franklinesque,

I just couldn't resist. But I am glad that that somebody else had read it. Here's hoping it reaches those who need to hear it. :toast: