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Character Matters: 1706-1723:
Born into a large family of Boston tradesmen, Benjamin Franklin learned early that hard work, thrift, integrity, and self-discipline were important personal virtues. Though Franklin attended school for only two years, he turned to books for reference, self-education, and delight. He was well-read in the religious and moral teachings of Boston's Puritan leadership, and he modeled his own writing on famous philosophers and essayists.
At 12, Benjamin was apprenticed to his older brother James, a printer. Franklin learned the trade easily and well, but ambition got the better of him. Brilliant and independent, he ran away from Boston when he was only 17. Franklin traveled first to New York but, finding no work, continued on to Philadelphia.
"Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being unwilling to learn."
-- Poor Richard's Almanack, 1755 |