Autobiography of Benjamin FranklinJ.B. Lippincott & Company, 1868 - 409 pages Charming self-portrait covers boyhood, work as a printer, political career, scientific experiments, much more. Its openness, honesty, and readable style have made the "Autobiography" one of the great classics of the genre. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 58
Page 10
... published in Philadelphia in 1818 . ( Edition 1817 , p . 47. ) I drank. ( From the Edition of 1817 , p . 1. * ) Imagining it may be equally agreeable to you to learn the cir- cumstances of my life , many of which you are unacquainted ...
... published in Philadelphia in 1818 . ( Edition 1817 , p . 47. ) I drank. ( From the Edition of 1817 , p . 1. * ) Imagining it may be equally agreeable to you to learn the cir- cumstances of my life , many of which you are unacquainted ...
Page 14
... published and unpublished , leaving him to draw from them such con- clusions as he thinks the testimony will warrant . The array which I shall make , if it do not settle all these questions , may lead , it is to be hoped , to the ...
... published and unpublished , leaving him to draw from them such con- clusions as he thinks the testimony will warrant . The array which I shall make , if it do not settle all these questions , may lead , it is to be hoped , to the ...
Page 15
... publish them . He was persuaded to do so , and in 1784 , while residing at Passy , then a suburb of Paris , wrote the succeeding pages of the MS . to page 104. The part written in England was followed with this memorandum , written ...
... publish them . He was persuaded to do so , and in 1784 , while residing at Passy , then a suburb of Paris , wrote the succeeding pages of the MS . to page 104. The part written in England was followed with this memorandum , written ...
Page 16
... published a French edition of some of Franklin's works in 1793. He attributes the Autobiography to a desire on the part of Franklin and his French friends to neutralize the pernicious influence of Rousseau's Confessions , which , during ...
... published a French edition of some of Franklin's works in 1793. He attributes the Autobiography to a desire on the part of Franklin and his French friends to neutralize the pernicious influence of Rousseau's Confessions , which , during ...
Page 17
... published in 1781 , and all of Franklin's Memoirs that Castera published or knew anything of had been written ten years before . The Doctor returned to the United States in the summer of 1785 . In the fall of that year he received a ...
... published in 1781 , and all of Franklin's Memoirs that Castera published or knew anything of had been written ten years before . The Doctor returned to the United States in the summer of 1785 . In the fall of that year he received a ...
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
acquaintance advantage affairs afterwards agreeable appear'd appeared arriv'd Art of Virtue Assembly attended Autograph Benjamin Franklin Boston CALIFORN captain character colonies conduct continu'd continued copy desire dispute Ecton Edition of 1817 England English father France French friends gave give good-natur'd governor grandfather hands honor instructions intended Keimer letter LIBRARY Little Britain lived London Lord Loudoun manner manuscript Memoirs ment never Northamptonshire occasion opinion original pamphlet paper Paris Passy perhaps person Philadelphia piece pounds sterling present printed printer printing-house profit propos'd proposed proprietary province published Quakers Ralph receiv'd received says sect sent Society soon Sparks thing thought thro tion took translation uncle Benjamin Union Fire Company UNIVERS UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Veillard Collection virtue waggons William Franklin William Temple Franklin writing written wrote young
Popular passages
Page 100 - I took a delight in it, practis'd it continually, and grew very artful and expert in drawing people, even of superior knowledge, into concessions, the consequences of which they did not foresee, entangling them in difficulties out of which they could not extricate themselves, and so obtaining victories that neither myself nor my cause always deserved.
Page 101 - If you ask, Why less properly ? I must repeat the lines : " Immodest words admit of no defense For want of modesty is want of sense.
Page 222 - Father of light and life, thou Good Supreme ! O teach me what is good ; teach me Thyself ! Save me from folly, vanity, and vice, From every low pursuit ; and fill my soul With knowledge, conscious peace, and virtue pure ; Sacred, substantial, never-fading bliss...
Page 229 - And to this habit (after my character of integrity) I think it principally owing that I had early so much weight with my fellow-citizens when I proposed new institutions, or alterations in the old, and so much influence in public councils when I became a member ; for I was but a bad speaker, never eloquent, subject to much hesitation in my choice of words, hardly correct in language, and yet I generally carried my points.
Page 209 - Seest thou a man diligent in his calling, he shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before mean men...
Page 223 - I was surprised to find myself so much fuller of faults than I had imagined; but I had the satisfaction of seeing them diminish. To avoid the trouble of renewing now and then my little book, which, by scraping out the marks on the paper of old faults to make room for new ones in a new course, became full of holes...
Page 91 - To return : I continued thus employed in my father's business for two years, that is, till I was twelve years old ; and my brother John, who was bred to that business...
Page 99 - While I was intent on improving my language, I met with an English Grammar (I think it was Greenwood's), at the end of which there were two little sketches of the arts of rhetoric and logic, the latter finishing with a specimen of a dispute in the Socratic method ; and soon after I procured Xenophon's Memorable Things of Socrates, wherein there are many instances of the same method.
Page 112 - Second-street, and ask'd for bisket, intending such as we had in Boston; but they, it seems, were not made in Philadelphia. Then I asked for a three-penny loaf, and was told they had none such. So not considering or knowing the difference of money, and the greater cheapness nor the names of his bread, I bade him give me three-penny worth of any sort. He gave me, accordingly, three great puffy rolls. I was...
Page 221 - Here will I hold. If there's a power above us (And that there is, all Nature cries aloud Through all her works), he must delight in virtue ; And that which he delights in must be happy.