epitaph, Benjamin Franklin
Posted on 05/26/2016 9:14:36 AM PDT by Oldpuppymax
Sometimes the rigors of daily life just get too overwhelming, causing me to turn to other less stressful items of interest. So I am now reading, “Benjamin Franklin -- An American Life,” by famed biographer, Walter Isaacson.
It is already an amazing story about an amazing man, and I am not half way through its 586 pages --- small type, no pictures!
Benjamin Franklin: author, inventor, scientist, politician, raconteur. But he considered himself, first and foremost, to be a printer. And would generally sign his name, “Benjamin Franklin, printer.”
For in that Colonial period, a printer was a person of great esteem and influence. There were no newspapers, as such, so the local printer controlled most what the people read and therefore much of what they thought. It was through many of his printing ventures that he became highly regarded as an authority on most everything.
Though probably the best known, “Poor Richard’s Almanac” was only one of Franklin’s many publications. He had a habit of writing an article, then, under an assumed name, writing a response to his own article and on occasion, using a third name to write a rebuttal to his previous comment. Such was Franklin’s way of exposing many sides to a given topic or question.
So I suppose it only natural that eventually he turned his thoughts to what was then termed “the fairer sex.” One such article, suppressed by his grandson and others...
(Excerpt) Read more at thecoachsteam.com ...
His autobiography still has not been surpassed, IMHO, as either a work of literature or a window into what made America great, however nascent that greatness might have been at the time.
And *STILL* the best quote about the first amendment:
“Freedom of the press is limited to those who own one” (although I’m not sure that was in the autobiography.)
Half way through Titan as I type this.
Have never read a book by Chernow, excellent writer for sure.
Benjamin Franklin - the finest mind the Western Hemisphere has produced.
Old biography authored by Carl VanDoren also superb.
Won Pulitzer Prize
epitaph, Benjamin Franklin
Now I have to think of Ben pleasuring the older ladies with blankets over their heads.
Please FreepMail me if you want to be added or removed from this low volume ping list. Ping requests gladly accepted.
Recessional of the Sons of the American Revolution:
“Until we meet again, let us remember our obligations to our
forefathers who gave us our Constitution, the Bill of Rights,
an independent Supreme Court and a nation of free men.”
Louisiana Democrat State Representative Attacks Declaration Of Independence On House Floor
The Hayride | May 26, 2016 | Scott McKay (MacAoidh)
Posted on 05/26/2016 4:12:40 PM PDT by smith5460
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3434299/posts
He would have loved the internet.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
