Selected passages from Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson. An inspiring figure in American history. Self-made, industrious, revolutionary.
“‘From a child I was fond of reading,’ he recalled, ‘and all the little money that came into my hands was ever laid out in books.’”
“But Franklin was a reasonable soul, so wedded to being rational that he became adroit at rationalizing.”
“I took care not only to be in reality industrious and frugal, but to avoid all appearances of the contrary”
“He was, in the words of the critic Jonathan Yardley, ‘a self-created and self-willed man who moved through life at a calculated pace toward calculated ends’”
“Franklin easily made casual friends, intellectual companions, useful patrons, flirty admirers, and circles of genial acquaintances, but he was less good at nurturing lasting bonds that involved personal commitments or emotional relationships, even within his own family.”
Benjamin Franklin’s 13 Virtues
- Temperance: Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation
- Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation
- Order: Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time
- Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve
- Frugality: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; waste nothing
- Industry: Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions
- Sincerity: Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly
- Justice: Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty
- Moderation: Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve
- Cleanliness: Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation
- Tranquility: Be not disturbed at trifles, or accidents common or unavoidable
- 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
- Humility: Imitate Jesus and Socrates
“The used key is always bright”
“When the well’s dry we know the worth of water”
“Diligence is the mother of good luck”
“Search others for their virtues, thy self for thy vices”
“Love your enemies, for they will tell you your faults”
“God helps them that help themselves”
“People will eventually give you the credit, he noted, if you don’t try to claim it at the time”