In Their Own Words: Benjamin Franklin (2000) by Peter and Connie Roop
Once I thought of reading
Walter Isaacson’s 550+ pages of Benjamin
Franklin: An American Life (2004) but it is so thick and very detail. I
just want to read for inspirations and get a glimpse of Franklin’s life, so I
read this simpler, thinner biography just 112 pages. This book is very
interesting, clear and smooth reading. I read in one sitting in the library
today (this is how I spent my off day). Everyone must know this man, don’t ever
think that he is exclusive for Americans only, this man literally change the
world. Roop writes, “Even without all the
writing Ben Franklin left, the world would still remember his remarkable life.”
Benjamin Franklin
(1706-1790) was much more than one of the founding fathers of the United States
of America, however. He was a father, a husband, a friend, an author, a poet
(never last), a printer, an inventor, an entrepreneur, a scientist, a diplomat,
an ambassador, a representative, an initiator – and of all, a true American
thinker.
What I like about Ben is his hunger for knowledge and
continuous pursue for personal development. He was a vivid reader too. Ben loved to read and learn throughout his
life. When he was working with his brother, James, at the printing press, he
wrote, “I now had access to better books.
Often I sat in my room reading the greatest part of the night [and]… early in
the morning, lest it should be missed.” Ben also recalled, “From a child I was fond of reading, and all
the little money that came into my hands was ever laid out in books.”
Because of his natural curiosity, Ben read widely: science, religion, politics,
novels and essays.
Another thing I like about Ben is that he was born
without privilege or wealth. He becomes
who he is known today through hard work, faith, intelligence and determination.
His legacy includes the ideas of fire department, a national postal system,
free library, a hospital (with his fellow scientists), freedom of slavery, and
a university. He was the inventors of ‘armonica’, bifocal glasses, lightning
rods, and many more that make life easier and safer for people (there is one
experiment that was very dangerous for his own life, namely, flying a kite in a
thunderstorm to prove that lighting was indeed electricity). Ben’s life was an
exciting journey. On his deathbed he wrote a letter to a friend, he said he
would die with “little regrets, as,
having seen during a long life a good deal of this world, I feel a growing
curiosity to be acquainted with some other.”
Franklin died peacefully
in his home with his family, his inventions, and his books. With this, I closed
this book with gladness and inspired. Next time, when you go to the library or
bookstore, when you see a biography of Benjamin Franklin, please consider to
read it – better, buy it.
[I also watched “Biography Series: Benjamin Franklin, Citizen
of the World” DVD to explore more about Ben’s life. Both materials I
borrowed from the library. See, knowledge is free for the curious minds!]
THINK BIG.
START SMALL. GO DEEP.
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