Benjamin Franklin (2003) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Characters/People edit see section history

• Benjamin Franklin: American Founding Father, inventor, printer and writer
• George Washington: First American President, and military General.
• Thomas Jefferson: Third American President, who worked with Franklin on independence documentation.
• Deborah Read Franklin: Benjamin Franklin's wife

Quotes edit see section history

• “"I have never known a peace made, even the most advantageous, that was not censured as inadequate. 'Blessed are the peacemakers' is, I suppose, to be understood in the other world, for in this they are frequently cursed."”

  Benjamin Franklin

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• “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

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• “Printers are educated in the belief that when men differ in opinion, both sides ought equally to have the advantage of being heard by the public; and that when Truth and Error have fair play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter.”

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• people are more likely to admire your work if you’re able to keep them from feeling jealous of you.6

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• Franklin went on to catalog the most common conversational sins “which cause dislike,” the greatest being “talking overmuch…which never fails to excite resentment.”

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• “He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged.”14

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• “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 surer way of pleasing them than talking well ourselves.”6

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• A secret to being more revered than resented, he learned, was to display (at least when he could muster the discipline) a self-deprecating humor, unpretentious demeanor, and unaggressive style in conversation.9

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• “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.”2

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• Knowledge, he realized, “was obtained rather by the use of the ear than of the tongue.” So in the Junto, he began to work on his use of silence and gentle dialogue.

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• While gambling at checkers with some shipmates, he formulated an “infallible rule,” which was that “if two persons equal in judgment play for a considerable sum, he that loves money most shall lose; his anxiety for the success of the game confounds him.” The rule, he decided, applied to other battles; a person who is too fearful will end up performing defensively and thus fail to seize offensive advantages.

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First Sentence edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Walter Isaacson (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 973.3092

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › History › Americas › United States › Colonial Period
• Books › History › Americas › United States › Revolution & Founding
• Books › Biographies & Memoirs › People, A-Z › ( F ) › Franklin, Benjamin
• Books › Biographies & Memoirs › Historical › United States
• Books › Biographies & Memoirs › Leaders & Notable People › Political

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