Analysis of the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
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Analysis of the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
There is a famous saying that smart people learn from their mistakes, dumb people do not learn from their mistakes, and wise people learn from other people’s mistakes. If there is any merit to this statement, Benjamin Franklin was most assuredly a wise man. Now that isn’t to say that he did not make mistakes, but he certainly was able gain wisdom from watching other men’s failures. In the Autobiography of Biography of Benjamin Franklin, he often accounted for and made reference to the many mistakes he had made in his life, thus proving that he was a strong and noble man. It takes a strong and noble man to be able to openly admit his own wrongdoings. In Part One of the autobiography he recounts a story about his apprenticeship in his brother, James’s, print shop. The two of them had a great disagreement which began with James getting in trouble with the law. Benjamin Franklin decided he did not want to be a part of this, so he walked out on his brother and his apprenticeship. Afterwards he felt poorly for abandoning hi s brother, and claimed this decision to be “the first errata of my life” (Franklin 2003). Benjamin Franklin certainly made mistakes, but his numerous and innovative accomplishments are what he is remembered for. Possibly his greatest accomplishment was assisting in the unification of the original 13 colonies, making him one of our nation’s founding fathers.
In order to achieve the aforementioned great accomplishment, Benjamin Franklin used his sharp debate skills instilled in him by his father to convince people to reach a common understanding. That common understanding was the colonies needed to put religious and political differences aside and unite as one in order to one day become an independent nation. Benjamin Franklin saw the big picture. He was able to realize that most religions political ideologies were all mostly founded and based upon the same moral and social principles. He was...
There is a famous saying that smart people learn from their mistakes, dumb people do not learn from their mistakes, and wise people learn from other people’s mistakes. If there is any merit to this statement, Benjamin Franklin was most assuredly a wise man. Now that isn’t to say that he did not make mistakes, but he certainly was able gain wisdom from watching other men’s failures. In the Autobiography of Biography of Benjamin Franklin, he often accounted for and made reference to the many mistakes he had made in his life, thus proving that he was a strong and noble man. It takes a strong and noble man to be able to openly admit his own wrongdoings. In Part One of the autobiography he recounts a story about his apprenticeship in his brother, James’s, print shop. The two of them had a great disagreement which began with James getting in trouble with the law. Benjamin Franklin decided he did not want to be a part of this, so he walked out on his brother and his apprenticeship. Afterwards he felt poorly for abandoning hi s brother, and claimed this decision to be “the first errata of my life” (Franklin 2003). Benjamin Franklin certainly made mistakes, but his numerous and innovative accomplishments are what he is remembered for. Possibly his greatest accomplishment was assisting in the unification of the original 13 colonies, making him one of our nation’s founding fathers.
In order to achieve the aforementioned great accomplishment, Benjamin Franklin used his sharp debate skills instilled in him by his father to convince people to reach a common understanding. That common understanding was the colonies needed to put religious and political differences aside and unite as one in order to one day become an independent nation. Benjamin Franklin saw the big picture. He was able to realize that most religions political ideologies were all mostly founded and based upon the same moral and social principles. He was...