The Boy Mechanic, vol. 2, page 196
A very simple way to pull a staple is to use the claws of an ordinary carpenter's hammer and a nail, as shown in the sketch. The staple can be removed quickly without being bent, and no damage to the material into which it was driven will result.
“God often bestows temporal prosperities on the wicked, to show how lightly he esteems what the world is so dazzled with; but crosses he reserves for his own, whom he would humble under his Almighty hand, and make them the objects of his delight.”
–Fenelon