Autobiografía de Benjamin Franklin

Escrito por Benjamin Franklin

Narrado por Joaquín Chable

Benjamin Franklin es reconocido como uno de los padres fundadores de los Estados Unidos de Norteamérica y el Primer Presidente Estadounidense. En la historia de Estados Unidos se le nombra por su trascendencia en la política del siglo XVIII; su firma se encuentra en la Declaración de Independencia de Estados Unidos. También destacó en ámbitos de creación como científico, inventor, editor e impresor de diversos periódicos de su época. 

Franklin comenzó a escribir su autobiografía en 1771, manuscrito que interrumpiría y retomaría en diversos momentos de su vida. Entre sus páginas, comparte episodios de la 

infancia, su juventud entre América y Europa, detallas experiencias como impresor, la vida personal y familiar, su participación en la Guerra de Independencia y la política, pero esta obra es especialmente valorada por la voz íntima que comparte sus reflexiones, lecturas más cercanas y cuestionamientos como uno de los representantes de los ideales políticos de su época.

• Idioma: Español
• Editorial: Lantern Audio
• Fecha de lanzamiento: 13 feb 2024
• ISBN: 9781959162568

Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was an American writer, printer, politician, postmaster, scientist, and diplomat. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Franklin found success at a young age as editor and printer of the Pennsylvania Gazette, a prominent Philadelphia newspaper. From 1732 to 1758, Franklin published Poor Richard’s Almanack, a popular yearly pamphlet that earned Franklin much of his wealth. An influential Philadelphian, Franklin founded the Academy and College of Philadelphia, which would become the University of Pennsylvania, in 1751. In addition, Franklin founded the Library Company of Philadelphia, as well as the city’s first fire department. As revolutionary sentiment was on the rise in the thirteen colonies, Franklin traveled to London to advocate on behalf of Americans unhappy with British rule, earning a reputation as a skilled diplomat and shrewd negotiator. During the American Revolution, his relationships with French officials would prove essential for the war effort, the success of which depended upon munitions shipments from France. Over the next few decades, he would serve as the first postmaster general of the United States and as governor of Pennsylvania while maintaining his diplomatic duties. A dedicated and innovative scientist, Franklin is credited with important discoveries regarding the nature of electricity, as well as with inventing the lightning rod, bifocals, and the Franklin stove. A slaveowner for many years, Franklin eventually became an abolitionist. Although he failed to raise the issue during the 1787 Constitutional Convention, he led the Pennsylvania Abolitionist Society and wrote essays on the subject of slavery, which he deemed “an atrocious debasement of human nature.”

Comentarios para Autobiografía de Benjamin Franklin

[bangerlm · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

Interesting vignettes into the life of Benjamin Franklin and the pre-revolution American colonies.

[kslade-1 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

Good autobiography as I recall. Especially impressed by his self-improvement plan.

[aliceanna-1 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

Interesting little slice of life from the start of our democracy. He definitely thought outside the box!

[buffalogr · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

The narrative of Benjamin Franklin’s life is full of adventure. He involved himself in all aspects of life. Franklin is known as a very upright individual, but that did not stop him from being an aggressive businessman. It is unfortunate that he did not write Volume II, covering the second half of his life.

[teresa_pelka · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

About the author, I'd say — honest. The language style requires good syntax and wording in translation.

[drsabs · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Everyone should read this book. The narrative of Benjamin Franklin’s life is full of adventure, including leaving Boston to make his fortune as a printer in Philadelphia, two extended stays in London, involvement in Pennsylvania politics, scientific experiments and participation in the French and Indian Wars. (The autobiography ends before the American Revolution). Franklin’s observations on colonial life are an important source for information on colonial America and its relationship with Great Britain. The insights on how Franklin achieved his success as a printer and politician provide practical advice that still resonates today. Even his description of his efforts to discipline himself to live a life of virtue and hard work is not only still relevant but also contributes to the overall pleasure to be derived from reading this autobiography.Franklin addresses his autobiography to his son, and indeed many people would benefit from reading the book when they start out in life. He lays out his daily effort to master thirteen virtues in which every day’s successes and failures were recorded on a chart listing the virtues and every day of the week. He acknowledges that when a friend pointed out that pride was one of his faults, he added humility to his list of virtues to be pursued. His total list consisted of the following twelve virtues in addition to humility: temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility and chastity. Concerning order (“Let all your things have their place; let each part of your business have its time“), he bemoans that he was never able to teach himself to keep his papers neat and tidy.More important than his schema of virtues is the wisdom to be derived from numerous examples of practical choices made in his political and business life. For example, Franklin tells the story of a man in the Pennsylvania Assembly who sought to defeat Franklin’s reappointment as clerk to the Assembly because the man had another candidate he was backing. Fortunately for Franklin, the man’s efforts fell short and Franklin was reappointed. Rather than treat this man henceforth as an enemy, however, Franklin, knowing the gentleman had a valuable collection of books, asked the man if he could borrow a particular book he knew was in the collection. The man was very happy to lend the book to Franklin, and became a close friend who did other favors for Franklin in the future. Franklin draws the lesson that a person who does a kindness for another person is much more likely to do additional kindnesses for that person in the future, while a person who does a kindness for another person is much less likely to receive a kindness in return.He identifies several actions which he labels “errata.” These include his failure to correspond from London with his future wife, who married someone else and only became Franklin’s wife much later after her first husband died. He also thinks it was a mistake for him when starting out to accept a large sum of money from a friend of his father’s, which because he lent it on to friends who never paid him back he himself was not in a position to pay back, although he was fortunate that his father’s friend did not ask for the money until many years later when Franklin did have the resources to pay.Franklin’s formal education ended in grade school and his father than began to seek an apprenticeship position for him. (He wanted to go to sea, which his father strongly opposed, and the initial plans for him to become a cleric fell through.) He ended up as an apprentice to one of his elder brothers who was a printer in Boston. (Benjamin was the 10th child in his family.) On moral grounds, he became a vegetarian. Later he discloses that he rationalized eating fish when he saw that the fish to be eaten had in their stomachs smaller fish they had devoured.Franklin loved to read and pursued his own self education. He learned foreign languages and Latin. (One of his recommendations for education is that students should study Latin after learning a romance language rather than before.) To improve his writing, he would take brief notes of articles in the Spectator magazine, and then rewrite the articles in his own language. He would then compare his writing to the original.He also loved to discuss issues and ideas with contemporaries. At first he would argue his positions forcefully, but soon learned that this approach was not persuasive. He then adopted the Socratic method and reveled in his ability to put his interlocutors into Socratic dilemmas. He was brought up as a Dissenter but reading books critical of Deism convinced him that Deism was the proper attitude toward God.On his first stay in London, he got a job with a printer. He lived on Little Britain near Clerkenwell, where the printers were located. He moved to Duke Street closer to the West End when he changed printers. Before returning to America, he gave some swimming lessons (in the Thames!) to sons of aristocrats and concluded he could have made a career out of this. He would swim from Chelsea to Blackfriar’s.While he was making his way and his fortune in Philadelphia as a printer, he also became involved in a variety of nonbusiness activities. He and his friends formed a discussion group, called the Junto, and these efforts eventually led to subscriptions to start the first library in America and to found a school which eventually became the University of Pennsylvania. He learned early on not to put himself forward as the founder of a new enterprise but rather to create it as an initiative of a number of friends. By not permitting one’s vanity to seek to raise one’s reputation above one’s friends, he found, it was much easier to get general consensus and financial support for new initiatives because a group of individuals could take the credit.By making his annual Poor Richard’s Almanac entertaining and useful, he “reaped considerable profit” from its sales. He was particularly proud of his newspaper. In a discussion that reminds us of debates concerning the role of free speech in social media today, he states the following:“In the conduct of my newspaper, I carefully excluded all libeling and personal abuse, which is of late years become so disgraceful to our country. Whenever I was solicited to insert anything of that kind, and the writers pleaded, as they generally did, the liberty of the press, and that a newspaper was like a stagecoach, in which anyone who would pay had a right to a place, my answer was, that I would print the piece separately if desired, and the author might have as many copies as they please to distribute himself, but that I would not take upon me to spread his detraction; and that, having contracted with my subscribers to furnish them with what might be either useful or entertaining, I could not fill their papers with private altercation, in which they had no concern, without doing the manifest injustice.”During the French and Indian War, he assisted General Braddock in obtaining wagons from Pennsylvania farmers, even though the farmers required Franklin guarantee compensation if the wagons were not returned. General Loudoun, Braddock’s successor put off paying Franklin for a long time, but fortunately he was paid shortly before the guarantee would have been exercised. At this time he made his second stay in London. He noticed how dirt would accumulate in the streets and then become mud in the rains. He came up with a proposal for keeping the streets clean, based on having a drain in the middle of the street. He also developed in Philadelphia an efficient method to operate street gas lights that he recommended be adopted in London.He relates how initially his discoveries in electricity were overlooked by the British but were acclaimed by the French. He favored teaching young women the basics of business accounting because widows who outlived their husbands engaged in business would need such knowledge to protect their interests.It is a pity that the autobiography ends before the American Revolution, but apparently his later years are covered by correspondence and other papers. He also had a falling out with his son William during the revolution. William, who was illegitimate, became a loyalist rather than supporting the patriot cause.Franklin’s autobiography is one of the most important primary sources for historians of the period at the same time that it is a readable and interesting narrative of part of the life of one of the most important founding fathers. The full richness of this autobiography cannot be adequately summarized in a review without repeating the autobiography itself. Start reading it (in my edition it was only 114 pages long) and see if it catches you within the first ten pages.

[gottfried_leibniz-1 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

I took this book to understand more about Franklin. Franklin is writing this to his son. I enjoyed his plan for moral perfection, and he admits that he is not perfect. It seemed that Franklin read a lot and enjoyed being around with readers.

Deus Vult
--Gottfried

[emathison-1 · Calificación: 2 de 5 estrellas]

It reads more like a diary or journal than an autobiography.

[jarratt_1 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

I listened to the autobiography via LibriVox.org. While I recognize that volunteers read the books, the narrator for this book would've been right at home on NPR.Nevertheless, I quite enjoyed Franklin's autobiography. Although I've read much about the period, I was a bit worried that the language would be such that it might be difficult to follow. But this was not the case. Many of the anecdotes were quite humorous and certainly illuminating. Franklin was an amazing man.The problem with the book is that he didn't cover anything beyond 1764 or so. This was disappointing to me as I expected to hear his thoughts on the 10-year period leading up to the Declaration of Independence, as well as his involvement in said document. I also wanted to hear, from his perspective, about his time in France. Maybe I should have already been aware of the period the book covered but I wasn't.Regardless, I'd encourage you to read (or listen) to it as it reminds us that human nature doesn't change, but that every now and then along comes someone who breaks the mold. Franklin is clearly an example of this.

[benuathanasia · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

I'm not a big fan of biographies, but I feel like the useful advice offered within Franklin's life-story is deserving of some serious bonus points. So much of what he said was so motivating and makes me feel like I can achieve some previously unforeseen potential.

[darthdeverell · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin was written in two sections, the first in 1771 and the second in 1778. The autobiography ends in 1757 and so never arrives at the American Revolution, but it still captures Franklin's wit and personality. Though he claims to write for his son's benefit, his adage on page 157 better sums up his goal: "That, 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." Much like the advice doled out in Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanacks, the Autobiography serves as an example to his readers on how to live their lives. For those reading with an interest in history, Franklin's writing helps to capture the character of the time in which he lived, but is likely colored by nostalgia and memory.

[jculkin-1 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

Well I found out only in reading that it wasn't complete! That surprised me. The title really should be changed to 'The Unfinished...' or something similar.

Started off so well! An awesome insight into the path this god of industriousness took from adolescence to adulthood. The best part was his account of how he settled his printing business in Pennsylvania, and how he carried out his life in general at that time, and how he learned to deal with people. It petered off half way and became mainly an account of politics and goings-on, still with the backdrop of his ridiculous industriousness.

The first part was 5/5, but the the book is not coherent so 3/5. Looking forward to a biography

[regoodrich · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Though the reading is a little rough at times due to an older style of English writing, I found myself entertained and impressed by this life account by Benjamin Franklin. He was a highly-accomplished man of greater wisdom than most. It was interesting to read how he came up with the ideas and then carried them through to form the first public library in Pennsylvania as well as a volunteer fire department and what you might call a handy 'road crew'. Not to mention vast public undertakings that were successful via his participation. What I especially enjoyed was his list of personal virtues--character traits he purposefully molded into himself to become a better husband, friend, neighbor, and individual. Benjamin Franklin was by choice a grand fellow.

[salmondaze · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

I first picked this book up along with a good binding of Poor Richard's Almanack quite some time ago but I didn't start reading it until after I heard about it from Christopher Hitchens in his collection, Arguably. Besides calling him the cleverest of the founding fathers, he also had seemingly unearthed new light on the downright humor of Benjamin Franklin. I didn't know a saying like "The Lord Helps Those Who Help Themselves" was in jest but after I heard that suddenly it made perfect sense. Sadly that and much of the rest of his famous proverbs are not included in this biography which has some humor in it but contrary to what Hitchens said is actually fairly straight forward and worse, a little on the unedifying side. This may be due to its incomplete state. Sure, some of it had some insight into what made the man so successful and for that I've awarded the score I did but it also gets into matters of state which I find to be boring. All in all not what Christopher Hitchens touts it to be or even what Franklin probably wanted it to be and therefore a disappointment. Stay for parts 1 and 2 but leave for parts 3 and 4, and wonder what the book would've looked like complete. As it is, it's just not enough. Of anything.

[trilliams · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

"Started From The Bottom" in book form, basically. Franklin's own 4-page outline of his life is amazing.

[cassandrat-1 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

I like the reflection on his growth and tales of upbringing. But, Old Benjamin was prone to speak highly of himself and there are a few racist and sexist parts regarding Native Americans especially.

[waelrammo · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

The book is split into four parts. The first part was a spectacular overview of the first third of his life. It wasn't tedious and brought together for me many concepts I've so far spent my life contemplating.

I do recommend.

[kakadoo202 · Calificación: 2 de 5 estrellas]

oh my. what an unlikable guy this benjamin unles you are a workoholic. he refused to play chess with his friend because it takes time away from his studies? he never stopped to smell the roses it seems. a sad life.

[nosajeel · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Benjamin Franklin has a wonderful voice. It is consistently sincere and earnest while having a strange combination of humility and smugness. I found Part I of the Autobiography most interesting. It describes Franklin's early experiences, his start in printing, his flight from Boston to Philadelphia, the rivalries between different print shops, and his trip to England. In part this was interesting because it was a single unified narrative, whereas much of what came later was more of a collection of miscellanies about Franklin's role in everything from the legislation provisioning armed forces to Poor Richard's Almanac to the Indian wars to inventions as varied as the Franklin stove to how to best arrange the gutter in public streets. Unfortunately it had only a very brief part on the runup to the revolution and nothing on the revolution or what followed. It is a loss that Franklin never wrote a complete autobiography.

[schmerguls · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

The first part of this is quite engaging, as Franklin relates his time in Boston and his moving to Philadelphia. I remember reading part of this in eighth grade, including his wife-to-be seeing him walking with bread under his arm when he first arrived in Philadelphia. His time in develping his career as a printer is of interest. The next three parts are less attractive, as he tells of his wisdom and success in his endeavors in regard to the library, the fire fighting force, and his inventions. The autobiography does not cover the most important events of his life and effectually ends in the 1750's when much of his brilliant career lay in the future.

[cwflatt · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

My first look into the early life of a famous American. I always knew he was a printer, but never fully understood how much his profession played a roll in his life. As a printer and a Mason I hope to follow Ben as a great American.

[danthompson-1 · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

My wife recommended this one to me, and she was absolutely right to. I loved it. Ben Franklin is probably my favorite figure from that period in American history, not just for what he did but for his character, wit, and humility. All of those shine through in this book.His autobiography covers his life from his birth in 1706 through the mid-1760’s. It was written in four sections. The first was written as a letter to his son William in 1771, and it reads very much like one with personal asides and mention of family. The next was written in Paris in the early 1780s while acting as ambassador, and it was more formal, aimed at someone who at read that earlier letter to his son and encouraged him to continue the record. The third section was written after he had returned to Philadelphia after the Revolutionary War, and the fourth was a very short section that appeared to be an attempt to continue it towards the war.I detailed the sources of the writing because it impacts how it is read. The early section (perhaps the first half of the book) reads as an Englishman speaking to his son, both to fill him in on the family history as well as to remind him of some of their joint experiences. It reads fairly sweetly and humorously. The Revolutionary War is not yet on his horizon. At best, he expresses occasional distress as the some of the decisions by the crown and the decisions by the William Penn’s heirs back in England over the management of the Pennsylvania colony.The later sections were written during or after the war, and hints of family are gone. He does not say so explicitly, but it is known that he and his son took different sides in the war, and neither forgave the other. He makes occasional mentions of his son, as they actually took some joint actions during the French/Indian war in the 1760’s, but gone is that sense of affection. It’s noticeable in the language, but that much more striking when you know what happened between them.Also at this point, the war is behind him, and his frustration with England’s management of the colonies shows strongly. It is not merely that he feels they were wrong or greedy but that they were predisposed to act unethically or to at least act so as to protect themselves from the assumption that the colonists would act unethically. This was especially offensive to him as he had taken great pains over his life (as outlined in some of the text) to develop a strong ethical code.Obviously, he writes about the many of the projects he undertook in life, the accomplishments he made, and the relationships he forged, but rather that hoist them up to brag, he details his decisions around them and how he was able to succeed. It seems as though his main goal in this is not to preen but to instruct, as though he wants his audience to learn from his mistakes and methods to go forth and do even greater things.Towards that point, I think he nailed a good policy on debate, which will likely form a future essay I write on netiquette. After detailing a method of debate that won him many victories, some of which he felt were undeserved, he altered his strategy:I continued this method some few years, but gradually left it, retaining only the habit of expressing myself in terms of modest diffidence; never using, when I advanced any thing that may possibly be disputed, the words certainly, undoubtedly, or any others that give the air of positiveness to an opinion; but rather say, I conceive or apprehend a thing to be so and so; it appears to me, or I should think it so or so, for such and such reasons; or I imagine it to be so; or it is so, if I am not mistaken.This habit, I believe, has been of great advantage to me when I have had occasion in inculcate my opinions, and persuade men into measures that I have been from time to time engaged in promoting; and, as the chief ends of conversation are to inform or to be informed, to please or to persuade, I wish well-meaning, sensible men would not lessen their power of doing good by a positive, assuming manner, that seldom fails to disgust, tends to create opposition, and to defeat every one of those purposes for which speech was given to us, to wit, giving or receiving information or pleasure.For, if you would inform, a positive and dogmatical manner in advancing your sentiments may provoke contradiction and prevent candid attention.If you wish information and improvement from the knowledge of others, and yet at the same time express yourself as firmly fixed in your present opinions, modest sensible men, who do not love disputation, will probably leave you undisturbed in the possession of your error.And by such a manner, you can seldom hope to recommend yourself in pleasing your hearers, or to persuade those whose concurrence you desire.He hits on similar themes elsewhere on everything from telling someone they are mistaken to convincing a large group to support a position. It’s as much history as it is instruction on the art of polite debate. As such, I think this is a book that every American should read, less for its factual content than for its lessons on how to behave in a political society. As for the rest of you, it’s actually quite a bit of fun, so give that poor Yank a read anyway.

[stacey2112 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

I don't feel qualified to rate this. I'm just going to give it a solid 3.

[lisamorr · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

I enjoyed it, especially how much humor it contained. There are so many stories that I had to bring up and discuss with others - learning about how he was a vegetarian for awhile and while watching the other people on a ship catching and eating cod, and smelling how delicious it was when they were being cooked, and then seeing that inside each cod, there were smaller fish, he decided it was OK to eat another animal because the cod were eating other animals too. And then admitting to himself how great it was that man was a reasonable creature and could make such reasonable accomodations. And I enjoyed how he put together a list of virtues that he practiced and monitored (I'm actually considering trying out his system in 2013), and when someone he knew suggested he should add to the list, and in particular add pride. He eventually agreed to add pride, but he also admitted he was proud of his list of virtues...! Franklin's autobiography isn't complete, there are some gaps and it only covers ~50 of his 84 years. And certainly as an autobiography it's a bit biased...(there's a lot of pride in it!) I had read McCullough's John Adams and remember vividly what John Adams though about Franklin based on the time he spent with him in France. So, at some point I will need to read a good biography of Franklin.

[jasonlf · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Benjamin Franklin has a wonderful voice. It is consistently sincere and earnest while having a strange combination of humility and smugness. I found Part I of the Autobiography most interesting. It describes Franklin's early experiences, his start in printing, his flight from Boston to Philadelphia, the rivalries between different print shops, and his trip to England. In part this was interesting because it was a single unified narrative, whereas much of what came later was more of a collection of miscellanies about Franklin's role in everything from the legislation provisioning armed forces to Poor Richard's Almanac to the Indian wars to inventions as varied as the Franklin stove to how to best arrange the gutter in public streets. Unfortunately it had only a very brief part on the runup to the revolution and nothing on the revolution or what followed. It is a loss that Franklin never wrote a complete autobiography.

[seriousgrace · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Originally written as a letter to his illegitimate son, Benjamin Franklin sets out to tell the story of his life's work. It briefly covers his childhood but focuses more on his years of employment, first as a printer's apprentice, then as a prominent political leader among many, many other things. By the end of it you will be asking what didn't this guy do? However, it ends (abruptly) before his involvement in the Revolution or his efforts to free slaves, two aspects of his life I find most interesting. Peppered throughout the autobiography is Benjamin Franklin's adamant call to humility, modesty, and virtue which is humorously contradictory for a man with such a long list of obvious accomplishments.

[bilbodraco · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

Ben had a rare brilliance. That being said, when reading this book it's obvious he knew that as well. The hardest part in reading this book was muddling through the mind-blowing vanity. It was amazing to see history from his point of view, in an accurate historic and non-fictional setting but DANG! Very vain. That's my only complaint but it lowered my opinion of the account.

[gshuk_1 · Calificación: 2 de 5 estrellas]

There must be better audio out there on Benjamin Franklin. It was an autobiography so it was interesting hearing it from his perspective. That said it ended to early in his life for it did not even cover the revolution. Also, one has to focus due to the use of 18th century words and phrases. Overall it was very dry.

[buildingabookshelf · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Just about every leader in the self-improvement genre advises that you should read Ben Franklin’s autobiography. So, it has been on my list for a long time. I’ve tried to check it out many times, but it was never on the shelves at my local library. So, I finally put a hold on it, and here we are. The book takes the form of a letter to his son, so one of the most notable things about it is that it is not really a book, in the sense that it has no chapters. It is a very long letter spelling out what, you assume, Franklin felt it was important to tell us about his public life. I, for one, found it to be very enlightening. First of all, I learned a lot about Franklin. I’m sure I learned some of this stuff in elementary school, but I’ve since forgotten it. He is responsible for much more history than just the kite flying and the socializing in France. As a matter of fact, it is hard to believe that one person could contribute so much, in so many different aspects of life, to society. I walked away with the sense that Franklin never slept and never had a sick day in his life. He couldn’t have in order to do everything he did. I also learned a lot about society in the 1700s from this book. Because Franklin is writing about things that happened to him, you can easily get a sense of the way business, politics, and life was conducted during his time. This was a period in our culture where arguments were made through the use of a pamphlet. If you wanted to make a point about something, you wrote and distributed a pamphlet. Others would read and either agree or disagree with you. Many times, if they disagreed, they would do so through their own pamphlet. I believe that this pamphlet culture was imperative to the building of our culture, because the author of a pamphlet would think through their position, layout their arguments, providing supporting evidence or testimonials, and ensure that they had made their case before publishing. They put their reputation on the line when they published a pamphlet, knowing that if they published something that later turned out to be untrue, they would lose face. In our current environment of sound-bites and tweets, I must say that I’m a little nostalgic for a pamphlet culture. Finally, maybe because I spend my free time on issues of literacy and education, I learned from this book that Franklin was a self-taught, life-long learner. Part of the reason that he accomplished as much as he accomplished is because of his shear curiosity. He wasn’t a scientist, but that didn’t stop him from conducting science experiments and publishing his findings. He didn’t do this for any other reason that he was curious to know why things work the way they do. He didn’t say to himself, ‘I wonder how come it is faster to sail from America to Europe than it is to sail from Europe to America, but I’m not a scientist, so I guess I’ll never know.’ He did some experiments and found the Gulf Stream. He didn’t leave it to someone else, he didn’t ask for permission, and he didn’t let the fact that he was a printer, not a scientist keep him from doing it. He had an insatiable need to learn and discover new things. That may be the best lesson we can take from Franklin’s life.

[la2bkk · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

I have mixed feelings about this book. Franklin's accomplishments are beyond dispute, and certain stories he relates have a charm that harken back to America in a very different age.Nonetheless, Franklin's view of himself is nothing other than narcissistic, and his incessant attention (i.e., devotion?) to money is distasteful. All in all, a decent read into a storied but ultimately unappealing personality.