# "Beer is proof God loves us..." --Franklin?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-is-proof-god-loves-us-franklin/435555>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 30, 2008, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-is-proof-god-loves-us-franklin/435555 "2008-01-30T05:19:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-is-proof-god-loves-us-franklin/435555/1 "2008-01-30T05:19:21Z")

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“Beer is proof God loves us and wants us to be happy” is a quote often attributed to Benjamin Franklin. Is there any evidence this quote is authentic, or is it apocryphal?

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**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-is-proof-god-loves-us-franklin/435555/2 "2008-01-30T05:24:02Z")

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[The Myth of Ben Franklin and His Love of Beer](http://www.beerinfood.com/Franklin.html)

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**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-is-proof-god-loves-us-franklin/435555/3 "2008-01-30T05:32:54Z")

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Thanks **XRV** , it didn’t ring true, but it is so pervasive on the intarweb, I couldn’t find anything to refute it.

Cheers.

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**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-is-proof-god-loves-us-franklin/435555/4 "2008-01-30T14:59:09Z")

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Maybe a (huge) misremembering of Housman’s “Malt does more than Milton can; to justify God’s ways to man?”

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**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-is-proof-god-loves-us-franklin/435555/5 "2008-01-30T17:46:30Z")

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For the record, Franklin did write something entitled, [“Fart Proudly”](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1583940790)

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-is-proof-god-loves-us-franklin/435555/6 "2008-01-30T18:21:38Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> For the record, Franklin did write something entitled, “Fart Proudly”

Actually, he didn’t. At any rate, Franklin didn’t title his piece that – it’s only one of a list of pieces of advise. The editors of the volume you link to gave the ook that title for its humor and shock value.