Franklin

Franklin

“The life that Franklin depicts is more than a success story. It is a story of nothing

but success. What makes Franklin’s success great is that he does nothing compulsively,

irrationally, or out of weakness, but appears to be governed by reason, moderation, and

virtue. With his strong sense of identity he seems singularly immune to the workings of

the conflict-torn inner self that Yeats called the “Foul rag-and-bone shop of the heart,” his existence untroubled by stretches of ennui and waste. The absence of a sense of the harshness and inexplicability of life, together with his emphasis on material success is what seemed to allow Franklin to succeed.” (These quotes were taken out of the introduction to Franklin’s autobiography).

With all this in mind, I chose to read “The Autobiography and Other Writings of

Benjamin Franklin.” This book as you could tell was written by Benjamin Franklin and

it’s publisher is Penguin Classics. The main topic of this biography was the life of

Benjamin Franklin and about all of his accomplishments and the hardships that he faced

growing up. This autobiography was written in the first person point of view, as a letter that Franklin wrote to his son William. Because of the fact that this book was written by Benjamin Franklin and about Benjamin Franklin, I believed everything that was said but what I disliked was how Franklin wasn’t able to complete this book and how he didn’t spend more time on discussing his major philosophies. The main thesis of this book was the hardship that Franklin was faced with and how he grew up to become the man that he did. I believe that the one sentence that deals with the theme of this autobiography is a quote which Franklin once said; “I cannot boast of much Success in acquiring the Reality of this Virtue; but I had a good deal with regard to the Appearance of it.” So with the belief that working hard will help achieve goals, Franklin also states, “If you work hard you will lead a fulfilling life.” A third quote from Franklin's autobiography that states the importance he placed on hard work to achieve success is; “Industry, Lose no time.-Be always employ'd in something useful.-Cut off all unnecessary Actions.” This shows about how Franklin wasn’t the type of person who waits for something to happened but works hard to achieve his goals.