The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

by Benjamin Franklin

I grew convinced that truth, sincerity and integrity in dealings between man and man were of the utmost importance to the felicity of life;

conceiving God to be the fountain of wisdom, I thought it right and necessary to solicit his assistance for obtaining it;

But, on the whole, though I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the endeavor, a better and a happier man than I otherwise should have been if I had not attempted it;

“He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged.”

That, as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously.

The best public measures are therefore seldom adopted from previous wisdom, but forced by the occasion.

They get victory sometimes, but they never get good will, which would be of more use to them.