Benjamin Franklin: The self-made model

 

6/28/04

The self-made model

By Joannie Fischer

 

 

 

 

'God helps them that help themselves" was a maxim Benjamin Franklin not only touted but lived, perhaps more than any other American ever.

 

The very model of the poor boy who makes good, Franklin rose by initiative and talent to become one of the world's most beloved Americans.

 

Not only did he wow the intellectuals of Europe, convincing them that the new philosophy of individualism was to be taken seriously, but he also provided a stunning example of just how much is possible when self-reliance hitches its wagon to liberty.

 

    Born the 15th child of a poor candle maker, Franklin received only three years of formal schooling.

 

So while other future Founding Fathers, like Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, were receiving the best educations money could buy, an 11-year-old Ben set about educating himself--and never stopped.

 

For starters, he taught himself Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, and German and used them all with flair.

 

Then, having learned to play the harp, violin, and guitar, he delved into science, math, and philosophy.

 

He devoured every book he could find, from Plutarch's Lives to John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.

 

He learned the publishing business and became one of the world's most successful writers, authoring bestsellers such as Poor Richard's Almanack .

 

In 1748, at the age of 42, Franklin had amassed so much wealth that he could retire and devote the rest of his life to his multifarious interests.

 

   Busy. He became even more industrious in "retirement," however, inventing things like bifocals and the lightning rod.

 

Like a modern workaholic, he admonished, "Be always asham'd to catch thy self idle."

 

But unlike today's typical overachiever, Franklin was devoted to public service.

 

In his home city of Philadelphia, he helped to start the first public library, public museum, college, hospital, and patent office.

 

"When you're good to others," he quipped, "you are best to yourself."

 

With a more serious tone, upon signing the Declaration of Independence, he warned, "We must all hang together or assuredly, we shall all hang separately."

 

Words of wisdom that seem just as apt in today's America.

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/040628/misc/28self.b.htm