The price of the book
One day a gentleman walked into one of Ben Franklin’s book stores. As one of the clerks went to assist him, the gentleman asked the clerk the price of the book he wished to purchase.
The young clerk looked at the price posted on the book and said, “That book is one dollar, sir.”
The gentleman began to haggle with the clerk over the price. The clerk assured him that the correct price for the book was one dollar and no lower. As the man realized that his efforts to haggle with the clerk were going nowhere, he insisted on speaking with Ben Franklin directly.
Franklin stopped his work, walked out to the storefront and the gentleman asked, “What is the price of this book?”
Franklin answered, “One dollar and a quarter.”
The gentleman was confused and replied, “Your clerk just said it was a dollar.”
Franklin looked at the book again and answered, “Yes, it was a dollar. But now you’re wasting my time.”
This page was last updated November 10, 2002.