The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Franklin’s memoir is a playbook for apprenticeship, networks, and incremental virtue — not perfection. Public projects (library, fire brigade, postal routes) compound trust and leverage.
The line I kept
“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”
The core claim
Character and craft are public goods: show reliability, document your learning, and invest in institutions that outlive any one deal.
What to steal
- Virtue tracking — one week, one habit, honest misses.
- “Humility” in argument — Socratic style to disarm opposition.
- Junto-style circles — peers who raise standards without theatre.
What to ignore
Idealizing every detail — read for process, not for moral perfection across centuries.
This week
Pick one civic or professional habit to track daily for five minutes; review once on Sunday without self-punishment.