The Autobiography and Other Writings Quotes

“I never doubted, for instance, the existence of the Deity; that he made the world, and governed it by his providence; that the most acceptable service of God was the doing good to man; that our souls are immortal; and that all crime will be punished, and virtue rewarded, either here or hereafter. These I esteemed the essentials of every religion; and, being to be found in all the religions we had in our country, I respected them all, though with different degrees of respect, as I found them more or less mixed with other articles, which, without any tendency to inspire, promote, or confirm morality, served principally to divide us, and make us unfriendly to one another.”
― Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography and Other Writings

“So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for everything one has a mind to do. Keimer”
― Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography and Other Writings

“I think all the heretics I have known have been virtuous men. They have the virtue of fortitude, or they would not venture to own their heresy; and they cannot afford to be deficient in any of the other virtues, as they would give advantage to their many enemies; and they have not, like orthodox sinners, such a number of friends to excuse or justify them.”
― Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography and Other Writings

“He agreed with the captain of a New York sloop for my passage, under the notion of my being a young acquaintance of his that had got a naughty girl with child, whose friends would compel me to marry her, and therefore I could not appear or come away publicly.”
― Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography and Other Writings

“In reality there is perhaps no one of our natural Passions so hard to subdue as Pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself. You will see it perhaps often in this History. For even if I could conceive that I had compleatly overcome it, I should probably be proud of my Humility.”
― Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography and Other Writings

“Jot down the things you have learned that have changed your life.

to winning a debate; persuasive speech works better than persuasive arguments.

Discover how to argue using the Socratic technique.

Don't make direct arguments.

If someone dislikes you, ask them to do you a favor. They will repeat it after they have done it. (For example, borrow a book from them.)

For a clearer context, convert poems to text and vice versa”
― Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography and Other Writings