Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Reading this short book has been on my list of books to read since the 12th grade. It's taken me this long to finally finish it! But I'm so glad I did.

Franklin was an amazing man. He was born in 1706 and died in 1790. I would say he was closer to the renaissance than to modernism. He was born over 300 years ago! When he was 18, there were about 15,000 people in all of Boston. That's a very small population. The total population of all the colonies in 1725 was nearly 500,000 people. That's all! This was a relatively tiny place, compared to modern times. A person like Franklin must have made a huge splash.

What I found most interesting from reading his autobiography was his social entrepreneurism and his ability to create good will. His political acumen was astounding, and he made friends wherever he went. He could see the bigger picture that making enemies by confounding people was perhaps pleasurable, but it made too many enemies. So he didn't seek for being right, but for consensus. He was a builder of society.

Franklin was also a believer in God. He was a very practical man that wasn't interested in belonging to a sect because it was the right one. He would attend sermons where friends of his were preaching, but he would quit attending after awhile because the sermons were not about making people a good people, but about being right in abstract doctrines.

He was very interested in doing good. He outlined a chart where he could live by the 13 virtues and keep track of which ones he had not been living, and then he would try to ameliorate his life by working harder the next day with that virtue.

Here is his list of virtues:

1. Temperance - eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
2. Silence - speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
3. Order - let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
4. Resolution - resolved to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
5. Frugality - make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; I. E., Waste nothing.
6. Industry - lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
7. Sincerity. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly; and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
8. Justice - wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
9. Moderation - avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
10. Cleanliness - tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.
11. Tranquility - be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
12. Chastity - rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.
13. Humility - imitate Jesus and Socrates

Here's two quotes that really stood out to me about his beliefs:

"And now I speak of thanking God, I desire with all humility to acknowledge that I owe the  mentioned happiness of my past life to His kind providence, which led me to the means I used and gave them success."

"I never doubted, for instance, the existence of the Deity; that he made the world, and govern'd it by his Providence; that the most acceptable service of God was the doing good to man; that our souls are immortal; and that all crime will be punished, and virtue rewarded, either here or hereafter."

Franklin was a great example. He's a worthy example. He is someone that, I think, everyone could live up to. It's hard to have Jesus as your life example, because not many people can sell everything they have and work with the poor, like he did. Many of us have families. Franklin offers an alternative way of living life that is industrious and still blesses the lives of many people, including mine, over 200 years after his death.

Franklin is a north star whereby one can find a direction to right their own ship on the sea of life.

It's going to be my goal to have my children read this, perhaps often, to find out how having a good character can make a difference in your life. It also demonstrates what one person can do in helping change society for the better. He lived a great life, and he showed many how to follow in his foot steps. It's a worthy goal.

Here's a short list of some of his accomplishments.

- worked as an apprentice to his father making candles at 12 
- left his family on his own at 17 to Pennsylvania 
- lived in England by himself for 18 months when he was 18 
- started a public library in Pennsylvania 
- started a newspaper and printing company 
- created the first fire station
- started the first fortified defenses in Philadelphia
- started the first academy 
- paved the roads in Pennsylvania 
- honorary mater in arts from Yale college for "improvements and discoveries and electric branch of natural philosophy."
- helped create the first union of the colonies
- he taught himself French, Italian, Spanish and Latin
- much more! 

Here's a list of his writings that I think are interesting:  All of his writings can be found here.

1. His own autobiography
2. Poor Farmer's Almanac.
(I'll update this as I read more from his writings)

Some of Franklin's proverbs:

"It is hard for an empty sack to stand upright"