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Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson

Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson

by Parker · 96 things on Twos

An American Life
Nothing is useful which was not honest
Industry and frugality are the means of procuring wealth and thereby securing virtue
He has perfect inattention to food during his life
Fish and guests stink after three days
Progress: the concept that individuals, and humanity in general, move forward and improve based on a steady increase of knowledge and the wisdom that comes from conquering adversity
Personal strivings are intertwined with the progress of humanity
History is a tale not of immutable forces but of human endeavors
Franklin was vegetarian for financial reasons. Franklin ate biscuits and raisins and used the time for study, “in which I made the greater progress from the greater clearness of year and quicker apprehension which usually attend temperance in eating and drinking”
He wasn’t always vegetarian
“So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for everything one has a mind to do”
“A man is sometimes more generous when he has little money than when he has plenty perhaps through fear of being thought to have but little”
People are more likely to admire your work if you’re able to keep them from feeling jealous of yoy
Don’t always hold your head so high. Stoop, young man, stoop—as you go through this world—and you’ll miss many hard thumps
Misfortunes are brought upon people by carrying their heads too high
A secret to being more revered than resented was to display a self deprecating humor, unpretentious demeanor, and unaggressive style in conversation
Happiness existed only as a contrast to unhappiness, and one could not exist without the other. Therefore, they balanced out: “Since pain naturally and infallibly produces a pleasure in proportion to it, every individual creature must, in any state of life, have an equal quantity of each”
Be extremely frugal
Speak truth in every instance; give nobody expectations that are not likely to be answered, but aim at sincerity in every word and action
Apply myself industriously to whatever business I take in hand, and not divert my mind from my business by any foolish project of suddenly growing rich; for industry and patience are the surest means of plenty
Never speak ill of no man whatever
Truth and sincerity have a certain distinguishable native luster about them which cannot be perfectly counterfeited
If two persons equal in judgement play for a considerable sum, he that loves money most shall lose; his anxiety for the success of the game confounds him
A person who is too fearful will end up performing defensively and thus fail to seize offensive advantages
Man is a sociable being and it is one of the worst punishments to be excluded from society
Knowledge was obtained rather by the use of the war than the tongue
Push ideas through suggestions and questions, and to use naive curiosity to avoid contradicting people in a manner that could give offense
Would you win the hearts of others, you must not seem to vie with them, but to admire them. Give them every opportunity of displaying their own qualifications, and when you have indulged their vanity, they will praise you in turn and prefer you above others. Such is the vanity of mankind that minding what others say is a much surfer way of pleasing them than talking well ourselves
The greatest conversational sin is talking overmuch which never fails to excite resentment
Other conversational sins: seeming uninterested, speaking too much about your own life, prying for personal secrets, telling long and pointless stories, contradicting or disputing someone directly, ridiculing or railing against things except in small witty doses, and spreading scandal
Slow and steady diligence is the true way to wealth
It is foolish to try and avoid all criticism
Gossip can promote virtue as some people are motivated more by fear of public humiliation than they are by inner moral principles
He continually resolved to speak ill of nobody
Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards
Opinions should be judged by their influences and effects; and if a man holds none that tend to make him less curious or more vicious, it may be concluded that he holds none that are dangerous, which I hope is the case for me
At the last day we shall not be examined by what we thought, but what we did. That we did good to our fellow creatures
His 12 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; (I.e., 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 at accidents common or unavoidable
Chastity: rarely use veneer but for health or offspring, never to fullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation
Humility: imitate Jesus and Socrates
Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise
He’s a fool that makes his doctor his heir
Eat to live and not live to eat
He that lies down with dogs shall rise up with fleas
Where there’s marriage without love, there will be life without marriage
Necessity never make a good bargain
There’s more old drunkards than old doctors
A good example is the best sermon
None preaches better than the ant and she says nothing
Diligence is the mother of good luck
He that pursued two gates at once does not catch one and let’s the other go
Haste makes waste
He’s a fool that cannot conceal his wisdom
No gains without pains
Love your enemies for they will tell you your faults
There was never a good knife made of bad steel
Half the truth is often a great lie
God helps them that helps themselves
His goal was to help aspiring tradesmen become more diligent, and thus more able to be useful and virtuous citizens
Let all men know thee but no man know thee thoroughly
Benevolence is the binding virtue of society
The good men may do separately is small compared with what they may do collectively
To pour forth benefits for the common good is divine
People are reluctant to support a proposer of any useful project that might be supposed to raise one’s reputation
People will eventually give you the credit, if you don’t try to claim it at the time
The present little sacrifice of your vanity will afterwards be amply repaid
Avoid direct contradiction and argumentation
If you would keep your secret from an enemy, tell it not to a friend
Lost time is never found again
As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously
To distress is to weaken, and weakening the children weakens the whole family
In colonial America it was sinful to look idle, in France it was vulgar to look busy
Never hurry your opponent, do not try to deceive, and never gloat in victory
Moderate your desire of victory over your adversary, and be pleased with the one over yourself
Of all the dear things in this world, idleness is the dearest
They who threaten are afraid
All wars are follies, very expensive, and very mischievous ones
There never was a good war or a bad peace
Science should be pursued initially for pure fascination and curiosity, and then practical uses would eventually flow from what was discovered
Industry and constant employment are great preservatives of morals and virtue
You know the soul is immortal; why then should you be such a niggard of a little time, when you have a whole eternity before you?
Franklin believed in salvation through good works, his religion was benevolent and tolerant, and was unabashedly striving and upwardly mobile
Franklin did not view penny saving as an end in itself but as a path that permitted young tradesmen to be able to display higher virtues, community, spirit, and citizenship
It is hard for an empty sack to stand up straight
Human felicity is produced not do much by great pieces of good future that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day