This is why Franklin is seminal in self-help literature. Life is not something we must suffer through, but is ripe for endless tinkering. Franklin was a printer by trade and believed that character was the result of correcting the ‘errata’ that prevent us attaining perfection. In his famous The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Weber names Franklin as a key exponent of this ethic. His background was Puritan and culturally he remained one, self-examining and self-improving. The first part detailed experiences with family, friends, bosses, and work colleagues, in addition to travels and attempts to start new businesses, all of which will strike chords with today’s reader.įranklin believed that virtue had worth for its own sake, whether or not it was to the glory of God. This motivation makes The Autobiography one of the original self-help classics.įranklin never tried to show superiority he spoke directly to the reader and laced the book with subtle humour, giving it the intimate feel of a fireside chat. Franklin, as a scientist, wrote it almost as if it were a report on the failures and successes of experiments in living.Īt no point did he claim any special mastery over how to live life, but he was committed to finding a formula that could assure a person of some success. The Autobiography, published in 1790, was not a chronicle of Franklin’s brilliance the idea was to show how a person’s life and character could become a noble one through constant self-assessment. Franklin’s attitude to written work is summed up in one of his own aphorisms: ‘If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.’ Experiments in living

It helped to create the modern literary form of the autobiography and has been a bestseller for two centuries, despite the fact that it was never finished or properly edited. In the history books he looms large as a co-drafter of the Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution, but The Autobiography has been lauded by biographer Richard Amacher as ‘The first great book written in America.’ But as Franklin scholar Ormond Seavey notes in his introduction to The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, his great influence on the affairs of the 18th century Western world in business, politics and science was built on his skill as a writer. In a nutshell: Constant self-improvement and a love of learning form your ticket to unusual success.īenjamin Franklin is best known as a historical figure, for his role in the American Revolution and experiments with electricity.

Franklin the autobiography