The Sage of Main Street
Governor
Kochist Jackboots Clicking Their HeelsSo there is no source to prove Franklin ever stated this, there are various people from the modern day that attribute it to Franklin, yet not one single source to verify it. There are sources that claim Jefferson stated it, but again no verifiable source to prove either said it.
You really should learn to research much better or, at the very least, quote verifiable quotes in their context.
The other quote by Franklin, "(We have) a republic. if you can keep it" is also taken out of context by the enemies of democracy. He was asked whether the Framers had given us a monarchy or a republic, so he wasn't distinguishing between a republic and democracy, like the elitist Selfists always claim. Before the New Left and its hidden twin, the Aynal Randies, took over in the 1960s, the only people who preached that "We live in a republic, not a democracy" were the foaming-at-the-mouth fascists of the wacko John Birch Society.