Benjamin Franklin's <i>Autobiography</i> only covers up to the time when he was establishing himself as a printer in Philadelphia before his marriage, including a brief mention of his experiments with lightning, so if you are looking for an account of his activities during the War of Independence, Constitutional Convention, or as ambassador to France, this is not the book for you. It's an interesting account of his early years, from his childhood, education, and apprenticeship in Boston, moving to Philadelphia, dealing with rivalry between the printing houses there, then becoming a business owner himself, starting a newspaper, traveling to England to procure printer's equipment, and his start in Philadelphia politics.
Throughout the <i>Autobiography</i>, Franklin emphasizes the lessons he learned along the way, including the high value of the qualities of thrift, resourcefulness, hard work, taking the initiative in one's own education, avoiding debt, refraining from the development of expensive habits, as well as how to get along well with others, especially how to debate in a reasonable and non-arrogant way. These are definitely lessons on which we could all use a refresher course. Despite being a rather vague and non-denominational Christian, Franklin was very interested in moral self-improvement, even developing a list of rules to live by that would be acceptable to any reasonable person of any denomination.
It's a shame he didn't get further along in writing the <i>Autobiography</i> than he did, but as we all know, he was a very busy man!
Throughout the <i>Autobiography</i>, Franklin emphasizes the lessons he learned along the way, including the high value of the qualities of thrift, resourcefulness, hard work, taking the initiative in one's own education, avoiding debt, refraining from the development of expensive habits, as well as how to get along well with others, especially how to debate in a reasonable and non-arrogant way. These are definitely lessons on which we could all use a refresher course. Despite being a rather vague and non-denominational Christian, Franklin was very interested in moral self-improvement, even developing a list of rules to live by that would be acceptable to any reasonable person of any denomination.
It's a shame he didn't get further along in writing the <i>Autobiography</i> than he did, but as we all know, he was a very busy man!
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