Now, I'd like to think of myself as a fairly educated person, but that's all gone now. I spent my adult life learning science, engineering and technology. So it was time to go back to school and learn.
The first volume of the Harvard Classics contains three books: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, the Journal of John Woolman and Fruits of Solitude by William Penn. Before I got started with this first volume, I had no idea who John Woolman was. I knew the name William Penn but admittedly knew next to nothing about him. Benjamin Franklin, on the otherhand... who doesn't know about Ben Franklin?
You would think that a man as legendary as Benjamin Franklin would write an autobiography talking about how great he was. After all, he is an amazing man: statesman, politician, writer, inventor, ladies' man - you name it. Look up the word polymath and you'll see the definition as "wanting to be 1% as amazing as Ben Franklin." So for Franklin in his own autobiography to talk about how great he was wouldn't be bragging, just a statement of fact. But there wasn't. There wasn't a trace of bravado or ego that I could detect. The autobiography starts with his childhood, and his fondness of swimming and reading. Eventually he learns the trade of being a printer in Boston from his brother and starts to write, eventually becoming a star. His jealous brother, James, shafts Ben, and over the course of a few years, forces Ben to look for a job in New York, then Philadelphia.
From there, Franklin eventually starts a newspaper and attracts the attention of politicians for his intellect and hard work. In between writing Poor Richard's Almanac, religious pamphlets, building the first public library and inventing, Ben Franklin still had time to advise elected officials who came to him for advice. To politicians, his advice and proposals were pure gold. And we haven't even got close to discussing the Revolutionary War and his part in it. I know, I'm cutting it short, but if all of the works of the Harvard Classics were as awesome as this, then I was going to be in for an amazing reward.
Sure, you can find faults for this book. It was written over a span of nearly 20 years, so there are gaps in logic, narrative and coherence. The Autobiography lacks anything on the Revolution, which is a real downer. Some commenters said that there was a tone of arrogance and condescension, but I didn't see it. And if I did, I let it go by virtue of his contributions.
So what did I learn from his autobiography? Hard work, being humble and owning up to mistakes will take you far in life. He didn't come from a rich family and climbed his way up to becoming one of the greatest Americans ever. But why include this in the Harvard Classics? My guess is that as a historical record, it's necessary to read in order to understand what it was like in the colonies before the drums of war started to beat loudly. It was the first and major autobiographies in the English language, which wasn't a genre at that point. And a few volumes later, it hit me that a reason why this was included was to say to readers of the Harvard Classics: "Look at what this man did through self-improvement" - after all, 100 years ago, people started to read this collection to better themselves. Perhaps it was a wish of Dr. Charles Eliot to give common men and women the means to obtain a Harvard education to make better people of us all.
Next up: John Woolman and William Penn.
The first volume of the Harvard Classics contains three books: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, the Journal of John Woolman and Fruits of Solitude by William Penn. Before I got started with this first volume, I had no idea who John Woolman was. I knew the name William Penn but admittedly knew next to nothing about him. Benjamin Franklin, on the otherhand... who doesn't know about Ben Franklin?
You would think that a man as legendary as Benjamin Franklin would write an autobiography talking about how great he was. After all, he is an amazing man: statesman, politician, writer, inventor, ladies' man - you name it. Look up the word polymath and you'll see the definition as "wanting to be 1% as amazing as Ben Franklin." So for Franklin in his own autobiography to talk about how great he was wouldn't be bragging, just a statement of fact. But there wasn't. There wasn't a trace of bravado or ego that I could detect. The autobiography starts with his childhood, and his fondness of swimming and reading. Eventually he learns the trade of being a printer in Boston from his brother and starts to write, eventually becoming a star. His jealous brother, James, shafts Ben, and over the course of a few years, forces Ben to look for a job in New York, then Philadelphia.
From there, Franklin eventually starts a newspaper and attracts the attention of politicians for his intellect and hard work. In between writing Poor Richard's Almanac, religious pamphlets, building the first public library and inventing, Ben Franklin still had time to advise elected officials who came to him for advice. To politicians, his advice and proposals were pure gold. And we haven't even got close to discussing the Revolutionary War and his part in it. I know, I'm cutting it short, but if all of the works of the Harvard Classics were as awesome as this, then I was going to be in for an amazing reward.
Sure, you can find faults for this book. It was written over a span of nearly 20 years, so there are gaps in logic, narrative and coherence. The Autobiography lacks anything on the Revolution, which is a real downer. Some commenters said that there was a tone of arrogance and condescension, but I didn't see it. And if I did, I let it go by virtue of his contributions.
So what did I learn from his autobiography? Hard work, being humble and owning up to mistakes will take you far in life. He didn't come from a rich family and climbed his way up to becoming one of the greatest Americans ever. But why include this in the Harvard Classics? My guess is that as a historical record, it's necessary to read in order to understand what it was like in the colonies before the drums of war started to beat loudly. It was the first and major autobiographies in the English language, which wasn't a genre at that point. And a few volumes later, it hit me that a reason why this was included was to say to readers of the Harvard Classics: "Look at what this man did through self-improvement" - after all, 100 years ago, people started to read this collection to better themselves. Perhaps it was a wish of Dr. Charles Eliot to give common men and women the means to obtain a Harvard education to make better people of us all.
Next up: John Woolman and William Penn.
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