Autobiography

4 ideas

1. Thirteen Virtues Tracked One Weekly

   Franklin listed thirteen virtues and planned to give each one a week of strict attention, marking daily lapses in a small book ruled into a grid, so that a full course would take thirteen weeks and could be repeated four times a year. The idea was to isolate one habit at a time and record faults daily rather than attempt reform all at once. He reports that in practice he went through the course less often, was interrupted by business and travel, and eventually left it off, though he credits the attempt with making him better than he would otherwise have been.

2. Winning a Rival by Borrowing His Book

   When a new member of the Pennsylvania Assembly opposed him, Franklin did not flatter him. He asked to borrow a rare book from the man's library, returned it a week later with a note of warm thanks, and the man became a friend for life. Franklin cites the maxim 'He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another than he whom you yourself have obliged.'

3. Diffident Phrasing Wins More Than Assertion

   Franklin dropped the Socratic trick of cornering people. He also stopped using dogmatic words like 'certainly' and 'undoubtedly' and said 'I conceive' or 'it appears to me at present.' He argues that open contradiction makes people defend their positions, while a tentative framing lets them adopt your view as if it were their own. He credits this habit with much of his influence in public councils, despite being a poor speaker.

4. Credit-Free Proposals Get Projects Built

   To raise subscriptions for the Library Company, Franklin presented the idea as the scheme of 'a number of friends' rather than his own. He found that people resist projects that seem to raise one person's reputation above their neighbors. Giving up credit at the start made the project easier to fund and carry out, and he says the credit usually came back to him later anyway.

Save and mark ideas in the app