His significant influence on later self-help writers includes Dale Carnegie, Stephen Covey and Anthony Robbins.įranklin's law of constant self-improvementįranklin wrote the Autobiography as an old man, considered a great man. He was truly modern in seeing that the individual was not a fixed proposition at all, but self-creating. Franklin scholar Ormond Seavey (OUP: 1993) has noted that 'It was always natural for Franklin to be trying on a fresh identity, as if he were putting on new clothes'. Life is not something we must suffer through, but is ripe for endless tinkering.įranklin is seminal in the self-help literature because he disregarded any religious conception that we were naturally bad or good people, rather blank slates designed for success. Franklin was a printer by trade, and believed that character was the result of correcting the 'errata' (errors) that prevent us from attaining perfection. In his famous The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Max Weber names Franklin as a key exponent of this ethic. His background was Puritan, and culturally, he remained one, self-examining and self-improving. The first part of the book details experiences with family, friends, bosses and work mates, in addition to travels and attempts to start new businesses, all of which will strike chords with today's reader.įranklin believed that virtue was worth it for its own sake, whether or not it was to the glory of God. At no point does he claim any special mastery over how to live life, but he was committed to finding a formula that could assure a person of some success.įranklin never tries to show superiority he speaks directly to the reader and laces it all with subtle humour, giving it the intimate feel of a fireside chat. As a scientist, Franklin wrote it almost as if it is was a report on the failures and successes of experiments in living. The Autobiography is not a chronicle of Franklin's brilliance the idea was to show how a person's life and character could become a noble one through constant self-assessment. 'If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.' In the history books he looms large as co-drafter of the Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution, but the Autobiography has been lauded as 'The first great book written in America' (Richard E Amacher: 1962) It helped to create the modern literary form of the autobiography, and has been a bestseller for two centuries, despite the fact that it was never finished or properly edited.įranklin's attitude to written work is summed up in one of his own aphorisms: Benjamin Franklin is best known as an historical figure, for his role in the American Revolution and experiments with electricity.

The autobiography of benjamin franklin