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The Autobiography and Other Writings

by Benjamin Franklin, Kenneth A. Silverman

3.75 of 5 stars 3.75 · rating details · 708 ratings · 60 reviews

Benjamin Franklin's writings represent a long career of literary, scientific, and political efforts over a lifetime which extended nearly the entire eighteenth century. Franklin's achievements range from inventing the lightning rod to publishing Poor Richard's Almanack to signing the Declaration of Independence. In his own lifetime he knew prominence not only in America bu...more

Paperback, 272 pages

Published April 29th 2003 by Penguin Classics (first published December 1st 1952)

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Jul 25, 2008 Natalie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Am I the only one who has a hard time enjoying listening to someone who clearly loves himself so dearly go on and on and on about himself? I mean, he wrote like 46 autobiographies. Sure he may have been a genius, but I'd just as soon other people tell me about it.

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Mar 08, 2011 Kendel Christensen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone

Recommended to Kendel by: Julia Shumway

Shelves: for-posterity

This book, though obviously an unfinished work from Franklin's life, is a gem. Is so open, so unassuming, as to make one forget that we are being tutored by one of the greatest diplomats of all time. It feels like reading a neighbor's personal blog. It is full of words to live by. Such as:

“the wisest man will receive lights and improve his progress, by seeing detailed the conduct of another wise man.”
(Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography, 59-60)

“I made it a Rule to forbear all direct Contradiction...more This book, though obviously an unfinished work from Franklin's life, is a gem. Is so open, so unassuming, as to make one forget that we are being tutored by one of the greatest diplomats of all time. It feels like reading a neighbor's personal blog. It is full of words to live by. Such as:

“the wisest man will receive lights and improve his progress, by seeing detailed the conduct of another wise man.”
(Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography, 59-60)

“I made it a Rule to forbear all direct Contradiction to the Sentiments of others, and all positive Assertion of my own. I even forbid myself, agreeable to the old Laws of our Junto, the Use of every Word or Expression in the Language that imported a fix'd Opinion; such as certainly, undoubtedly, etc. and I adopted instead of them, I conceive, I apprehend, or I imagine a thing to be so or so, or it appears to me at present. When another asserted something that I thought an Error, I denied myself the Pleasure of contradicting him abruptly, and of showing immediately some Absurdity in his Proposition; and in answering I began by observing that in certain Cases or Circumstances his Opinion would be right, but that in the present case there *appear'd or seem'd* to me some Difference, etc. I soon found the Advantage of this Change in my Manners. The Conversations I engag'd in went on more pleasantly. The modest way in which I propos'd my Opinions, procur'd them a readier Reception and less Contradition; I had less Mortification when I was found to be in the wrong, and I more easily prevail'd with others to give up their Mistakes and join with me when I happene'd to be in the right. And this Mode, which I at first put on, with some violence to natural Inclination, became at length . . . easy and . . . habitual to me.”
(Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography, 75)

“I shall never ask, never refuse, nor ever resign an Office.”
(Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography, 94)

“When Men are employ'd they are best contented.”
(Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography, 126)
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May 08, 2010 Dhsparkman rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Franklin was the foremost scientist on the planet in 1750. And that is just a small facet of a great man. His autobiography provides a great insight into the life and times of colonial America, in which he played a leading part. One gets a first hand look at the French and Indian [Seven Years':] War, as fought in North America on the administrative front.
What is surprising is the self-absorbtion of Franklin himself. One sees a man who is totally consumed with himself, and thinking of himself a...more

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Aug 23, 2010 Barbara rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Supposedly, I am a distant descendent of Ben Franklin so when I saw this used book, I picked it up for $1. My thinking was that the autobiographical writings might be of interest since I would be reading what Benjamin, himself, wrote. I wasn't disappointed. Being a writer (among many other things) by profession, he chronicled his life from early boyhood to old age in a letter to his son. This letter was fun and I totally enjoyed it but it only encompassed 181 pages of the book. Other writings fo...more

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Sep 21, 2011 Patrick McCoy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography-autobiography, classics

Benjamin Franklin is a giant of American history-the only man to sign all four major documents of the founding of the United States. He figures in prominently in the John Adams miniseries on HBO, not to mention his Poor Richard and electricity fame. This led me to finally read The Autobiography and Other Writings of Benjamin Franklin. The hallmark of the Penguin Classics are the knowledgeable forwards and carefully edited edition and this one is no exception-Kenneth Silverman has done an excelle...more

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Mar 21, 2010 Kristin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club, nonfiction

First, let me state that I have not read this entire book. I read the autobiography, and aside from possibly going back and reading his advice to a friend on choosing a mistress, it's all I intend to read.

Now, parts of Benjamin Franklin's autobiography were very interesting, particularly when he's initiating fairly new social services for Philadelphia. (i.e.: circulating libraries, volunteer fire departments, and a university). However, I was very disapointed that despite writing in the 1780s,...more

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Feb 21, 2012 Ami rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

This was a delightful experience. I'm amazed at how much more modern his writing seems than I'd have previously thought. Franklin turns a witty phrase, and I read with a dictionary close by, but it was in no way dense. His account of how he taught himself to be a more skillful writer by imitating admired works, shuffling & reordering passages, etc. was fascinating. Later, he dares to edit lines of a Pope poem!

The introduction by a Franklin scholar is a helpful key to interpreting the man's m...more This was a delightful experience. I'm amazed at how much more modern his writing seems than I'd have previously thought. Franklin turns a witty phrase, and I read with a dictionary close by, but it was in no way dense. His account of how he taught himself to be a more skillful writer by imitating admired works, shuffling & reordering passages, etc. was fascinating. Later, he dares to edit lines of a Pope poem!

The introduction by a Franklin scholar is a helpful key to interpreting the man's motives, which are often rather shrewd and calculated so as to be inoffensive & therefore more likely to be respected. Franklin espouses a policy of modesty. However, this modesty arises not out of any particular sense of humility, for which he appears to have little regard. (He admits that vanity is a quality inherent in mankind and even serves a purpose if it moves us to do good for which we can be celebrated.) Rather, he proposes that a sense of modesty in which statements are presented as opinion or personal observation (as opposed to absolute truth or fact) have less room for opponents to debate and are less likely to cause one embarrassment when refuted by a skilled debater.

The editor also points out that Franklin often took on the role of "wise old man" in even his early writing, so by the time he was actually a wise old man, it was "a role Franklin deliberately grew into". Indeed, people often came to consult with Franklin for his opinion, and nominated him for public offices so that he didn't need to actively campaign. He was a person whose opinion was highly sought & respected, which is, tellingly, exactly how he describes his own father.

The Autobiography and other writings also show a good deal of Franklin's personal religious philosophy, and his preoccupation with morality. At one point he devises a 13-week "course" to work on his own adherence to the 13 virtues he has decided are necessary to be a good person, each defined and ordered so as to perpetuate the next in line. He says that he runs through this 13-week course 4 times the first year, and repeats it many times throughout his life. Interestingly, this appears to replace a need for organized religion, whose focus on dogma over morality he doesn't have much use for, preferring to spend his Sabbath reading and studying at home.

I was confused by his reference in the Autobiography to his 1726 Journal, in which he says that he first crafts his ideas about living a moral life. I couldn't find that reference anywhere in the 1726 Journal, and I think that might have been moved to Part 2 of the Autobiography, where he talks about that 13-week course, complete with a calendar chart. But then I was watching a PBS documentary where the actors were speaking in only words written by the people they were playing, and Franklin starts talking about things I didn't recognize from either piece of writing. So I'm still unsure what's going on with that.

Lastly, I was delighted to find that Franklin indeed possesses the charm that is usually attributed to him, and also a good sense of humor. "Old Mistresses Apologue" was quite the exercise in cheekiness, and I'm eager to proceed to more of his writings in this vein in the next Franklin book on my list, Fart Proudly.(less)

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Mar 25, 2010 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics

This was one of the hardest books to get through but it was pretty interesting to learn so much more about one of the great men who shaped America. I always knew Ben Franklin did a lot of things but I really had no idea how much he managed to accomplish in his lifetime. He was one of the early supporters of uniting the 13 colonies into one nation which was new info to me. I knew about bifocals and electricity, but I didn't know about the library, hospital, militia, and university he founded. I l...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Matt Ambs added it

The account of Franklin's humble beginnings, his frugal and industrious nature, and his rise to acclaim within New England. Perhaps the most interesting section of this book lies in the personal letters of Franklin, depicting, at times, a more pious and sincere account of the man. Among these letters lie the writings of an inventor, a politician, a humanist, and a deist. The comical anecdotes and accurate accounts of the brutality of humanity, though related often with much satirical shading, de...more

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Dec 20, 2012 Linda Cowell added it · review of another edition

I stand amazed at the acomplishments of Benjamin Franklin. He was self taught, having finished only grammer school, yet he initiated the first lending libraries, fire departments, newspaper chains and militias in the "colonies". He designed and built paved streets with drainage and streetlamps. He invented the Franklin stove, an improved design over existing models. As a representative from Pennsylvania to the Assembly of the American Colonies, he introduced a plan for the unification of the col...more

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May 24, 2010 Gareth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Really easy read overall. It was very interesting to see what he saw as his own personal failings. In reading it I got the impression that he didn't really see them as faults at all but wanted to portray them as such for the dumbass reader. I don't quite know the correct term to describe it but it's like self-deprecating humor that makes you look charming for poking fun at yourself. The only difference was that his mentioning of personal failing wasn't told as a joke. Anyway I found it funny and...more

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Apr 28, 2013 Eddy Allen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arts-and-historical

"Writing has been of Great Use to me in the Course of my Life," Benjamin Franklin said in his famous Autobiography. With characteristically calculated understatement, he attributed his enormous and varied successes to "my having learnt a little to scribble."

This collection of Franklin's works begins with letters sent from London (1757-1775) describing the events and diplomacy preceding the Revolutionary War. The volume also contains political satires, bagatelles, pamphlets, and letters written i...more

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Jul 30, 2011 Michele Cacano rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history-non-fic

In short, the autobiographical writings are amazing. Benjamin Franklin has an ease of communication that allows his thoughts and emotions to flow freely from the pen into the minds of even the most modern readers. I find him to be intelligent beyond all expectation, wise beyond his time, and highly entertaining.

The other writings.... well, i am grateful for much of it, as it illuminated circumstances and peripheral information related to Benjamin Franklin's writings. But some of it trudged throu...more

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Jan 18, 2010 Tim added it

After multiple readings of this book, I have to say that I am coming to agree with DH Lawrence's assessment of Franklin (quite possible the only thing I agree with him about). "I admire him.... I do not like him." Franklin is the quintessential American, getting on in the world, active in affairs, inventing, politicking, organizing, reading, but never really thinking all that much. Oh, he claims his library increased the thinking of Americans. Yes, he wrote many things and connected lightning an...more After multiple readings of this book, I have to say that I am coming to agree with DH Lawrence's assessment of Franklin (quite possible the only thing I agree with him about). "I admire him.... I do not like him." Franklin is the quintessential American, getting on in the world, active in affairs, inventing, politicking, organizing, reading, but never really thinking all that much. Oh, he claims his library increased the thinking of Americans. Yes, he wrote many things and connected lightning and electricity, but all his achievements only make him the archetype for the American doer. Self-improvement is never to make a better self for Franklin, but to make a better Franklin in the world's eyes.

As for his religious views, I will let Lawrence take another shot. Franklin relates his religious principles about one God, who governs the world with his Providence, and who should receive worship and service from men (by doing good to other men), and the immortality of the soul and judgment based on virtue and vice. Lawrence notes the following: "Now if Mr. Andrew Carnegie, or any other millionaire, had wished to invent a God to suit his ends, he could not have done better. Benjamin did it for him in the eighteenth century. God is the supreme servant of men who want to get on, to produce. Providence. The provider. The heavenly store-keeper. The everlasting Wanamaker.

And this is all the God the grandsons of the Pilgrims Fathers had left. Aloft on a pillar of dollars." Puritan fathers would probably be a better comment, but on the whole I agree with Lawrence. For Franklin, the religious means of organizing and motivating society justify religious ends, albeit little ones.

In response to Lawrence's attacks, I will let historian Daniel Walker Howe say something more positive about Franklin and his contemporary, Jonathan Edwards: "Edward's message urged people to let God take over their hearts, and all else would follow. Franklin's message was that God helps those who help themselves." For Howe, both strands of thinking were woven together in 19th century evangelicalism, as many of Franklin's efforts at bettering humanity in the temporal world were taken over by evangelicals who also retained at least some of Edwards' thought. "Thus evangelical piety energized humanitarianism as deism never could - just as Franklin had expected." Franklin could say of his own Deism, quite humorously to my view, "I began to suspect that this Doctrine tho' it might be true, was not very useful."

In the end though it has to be said, it is not Frankin's ideas as much as his actions that influence coming generations. And it is not those actions, but the acclaim he seeks for those actions, that make Franklin seem less than likable. Franklin did not create the idea of self-improvement or of the improvement of society, but he remade them for colonial America. And for that his Autobiography takes endless credit.
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Mar 18, 2012 Garrett Nelson rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really enjoyed a few parts of the book like Ben Franklin's virtues, and his thoughts on being frugal and hard work. It is always interesting to read about history and this being a very important figure in American history made it more fascinating but it still was very hard to bare with. The author did a good job at bringing the text a little bit up to date but it was still hard to understand. If I had to read this again I would defiantly pick up a lot more, but I also learned a great deal abou...more

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Aug 30, 2011 Brennan Beck rated it 3 of 5 stars

Had to read it for school so I pretty much skimmed through it. It was alright. A little dry for my tastes in an autobiography. Autobiographies are a rare opportunity to express your thoughts and feels involved in your actions, but all we basically got from Ben was "I did this... then I did this..." But I guess the lack of passion and expression goes pretty well with his philosophy for a virtuous life.

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Jul 28, 2011 Todd Lemmon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is one of the greatest books ever written! I read this in college and have referred to it several times over the years as a resource of one of America's greatest entrepreneurs/inventors. His life is so Americana and it is relived as you read it. His virtues or values are a pattern for living and I admire his quest for perfection.

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Sep 28, 2010 Robert rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: autobiography, nonfiction, favorites, bookcrossing, own

This was a book that was on my reading list for a number of years. I eventually had an opportunity to read it circa 1992. I recall realizing the genius of Ben Franklin while reading it.

Ol' Ben seemed to have life figured out quite well. His wisdom is pertinent even today. I marvel at how prominent God and Jesus were in his life.

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Mar 18, 2013 angie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I don't know why but I get a real kick out of reading Ben Franklin. Not only are you getting opinions and observations straight from the horse's mouth when it comes to the 18th century, you're getting it from an oddly amusing and very pivotal figure in American history. What first appears quite stuffy is actually great entertainment...

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May 06, 2011 SpookySqueeek rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Three stars probably isn't really fair. Again, a book assigned for history class. The antiquated English is a little hard to get through, but Franklin is genuinely interesting. The editors notes in this edition are very helpful. If you're an American history fan, or just a Franklin fan, probably a great read.

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Nov 09, 2011 Emily rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was kind of boring, but hey its an autobiography of a man who lived 3oo years ago so how lively can you expect it to be. It did give me a better insight on Benjamin Franklin though so add a star for that. I had to read for school otherwise I probably wouldn't have read it....

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Feb 09, 2011 Daniella rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-but-didn-t-want-to

i never wanted to burn books before reading this one but after reading it i decided that burning some books can be rewarding. it took me months of falling asleep to finish this one. i throw it across the room about a hundred times before i was able to finish it.

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Jan 02, 2013 Ramaquar added it · review of another edition

This is a good insight into the society shaping the colonies. Franklin was a powerhouse thinker; the country could not have gone forward as it did without his vision. He is also an endearing person, as his voice rings loud through the ages in this book.

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Oct 20, 2012 Mark rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a book that could be considered a classic "to read"; and I agree, it is worth the time. Because Franklin has had such a tremendous influence on this country, and could be considered near genius given his additions to invention and thought to society, his autobiography is an important source to not only better understand Franklin, but perhaps the United States as well. That being said, the autobiography reads like Franklin's personal journal (as parts actually are) and as such much of the...more

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Mar 13, 2011 James rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Great book. Franklin humbly enlightens the reader with his views on how to lead a good, productive life and the lessons he has drawn from his own.

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May 31, 2012 Murray rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Informative. Sometimes the editors tended to twist what Franklin wrote to their own preconceived notions.

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May 22, 2010 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have enjoyed getting to know Benjamin Franklin. He is truly a modern Socrates.

Ben Franklin is the model of a Renaissance Man, and he had an astute understanding of Human nature.

I enjoyed his sense of humor, and his wisdom is just as applicable today it was over 300 years ago.

As I'm reading more biographies than I have in the past, I'm beginning to notice patterns in the lives of the great men in the world. Their vision is never disconnected into one subject of life, but their genius spills ov...more

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Jul 03, 2008 Steve Arntz added it · review of another edition

The book is a must read for anyone interested in American History. It was really interesting to read first hand accounts someone who was so involved in the founding of our nation and its culture. I was bored, however, through the first 65 pages and towards the end it got fairly dry as well. I was fascinated by the portion of the book that talks about his industry, inventions, and other endeavors as one of our first great citizens. Half the book was a five star and the other half was a two star,...more

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Feb 20, 2010 Bre Cregor rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book made me want to set higher goals and act on every creative thought I have ever conceived.

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Feb 09, 2013 Victoria Rodriguez rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Didn't realize this great man was such an annoying and arrogant man.

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Benjamin Franklin was a writer, a philosopher, a scientist, a politician, a patriot, a Founding Father, an inventor, and publisher. He helped with the founding of the United States of America and changed the world with his discoveries about electricity. His writings such as Poor Richards' Almanac have provided wisdom for 17 years to the colonies.

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