Ben Franklin was wrong

My whole life, I have been taught and have heard many different sayings (quotes, proverbs, axioms, maxims, adages, whatever you want to call them) for different reasons. See when your young you might not get the proverb at all. An example would be played out like this:

Kid: "Dad, why do I look like Grandpa? "
Dad: "An apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
Kid: "But Dad what does a tree have to do with Grandpa?"

You see now the child is confused, it would have been a lot easier if the father had said "because he is your family." Stuff like this always makes me ponder of why we can't talk normally, and have to use aphorisms to answer questions or give advice. Life would be so much simpler.

Another thing is that the sayings are not always right. I always hear "The early bird catches the worm." I get it, if I get up early and do it first I get the prize, but you see that it always isnt the best thing to do. What I have learned is "The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese."

One saying that has always disturbed me, is Benjamin Franklin's aphorism, "A penny saved is a penny earned." At first I could never understand how I could earn something, when I already had it. But now I have understood that by saving the penny you are earning something for your future. The problem is though that this saying doesn't apply to our time, because you see with todays interest rates in savings accounts. A penny saved, with the annual compound interest of 3%, is now 1.03 cents earned. So sorry Mr. Franklin you were wrong...



-edited: 07/13/06 at 4:05 pm