Source identified
Read & copy the quotation
“Always taking out of the meal-tub, and never putting in, soon comes to the bottom.”
- Source
- The Way to Wealth
- Date
- 1758
- Local voice
- Authorial persona / framed maxim · Poor Richard maxim, repeated through Father Abraham
Meaning of “Always taking out of the meal-tub, and never…”
Resources decline when withdrawals are not matched by replenishment, turning a household image into a warning about spending down finite savings.
Where does it come from?
The Way to Wealth, frugality section; Project Gutenberg #43855. The meal-tub is Franklin’s domestic metaphor for continual consumption without replacement.
Why the local voice matters
The Way to Wealth is framed as Father Abraham’s address compiling maxims Franklin had published through the Poor Richard / Richard Saunders persona. This record therefore preserves the framed authorial-persona layer instead of treating the maxim as unmediated Franklin narration.
