Benjamin Franklin Wealth, Luxury, and Virtue Born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1706, Benjamin Franklin was raised by a Puritan family and became an apprentice as a printer to his older brother. After working for his brother until 1723, Benjamin Franklin went to Philadelphia and opened his own printing shop. He became the public printer for Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey. During this time Franklin formulated the “Thirteen Virtues”. Franklin said, “I propos’d to myself, for the sake of clearness, to use rather more name with fewer ideas annx’d to each, than a few names with more ideas; and I included under thirteen names of virtues all that at that time occurr’d to me as necessary, or desirable, and annexed to each a short precept,
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Franklin said, “We have an English Proverb that says “He that would thrive / Must ask his Wife”; it was lucky for me that I had one as much dispos’d to Industry and Frugality as myself… They had been bought for me without my Knowledge by my Wife, and had cost her the enormous Sum of three and twenty Shillings, for which she had no other Excuse or Apology to make but that she thought her Husband deserv’d a Silver Spoon and China Bowl as well as any of his Neighbours” (National Humanities Center 2). The silver spoon symbolizes the wealth and success that Benjamin Franklin will later on develop in his life. It also symbolizes the love and appreciation she has towards her husband. She believes that he deserves the better and finer things in life. Later on in 1758, Franklin wrote about unaffordable luxuries. One of the things that Franklin said was, “Ploughman on his Legs is higher than a Gentleman on his Knees” (National Humanities Center 5). By this quote Franklin means that that most people, "gentleman" bend to society, and are followers besides leaders, whereas the "plowman", the working man, works for what he gets besides bending to society. The gentleman may think that following, and brown-nosing gets you what you want, but honestly the plowman is the one who reaps the rewards for his efforts of working hard for himself, besides taking the rewards of others. Really the plowman is the leader and the gentleman the follower, contrary to what society would like to think. Also if you try harder than anyone else then you can accomplish more than
Franklin said, “We have an English Proverb that says “He that would thrive / Must ask his Wife”; it was lucky for me that I had one as much dispos’d to Industry and Frugality as myself… They had been bought for me without my Knowledge by my Wife, and had cost her the enormous Sum of three and twenty Shillings, for which she had no other Excuse or Apology to make but that she thought her Husband deserv’d a Silver Spoon and China Bowl as well as any of his Neighbours” (National Humanities Center 2). The silver spoon symbolizes the wealth and success that Benjamin Franklin will later on develop in his life. It also symbolizes the love and appreciation she has towards her husband. She believes that he deserves the better and finer things in life. Later on in 1758, Franklin wrote about unaffordable luxuries. One of the things that Franklin said was, “Ploughman on his Legs is higher than a Gentleman on his Knees” (National Humanities Center 5). By this quote Franklin means that that most people, "gentleman" bend to society, and are followers besides leaders, whereas the "plowman", the working man, works for what he gets besides bending to society. The gentleman may think that following, and brown-nosing gets you what you want, but honestly the plowman is the one who reaps the rewards for his efforts of working hard for himself, besides taking the rewards of others. Really the plowman is the leader and the gentleman the follower, contrary to what society would like to think. Also if you try harder than anyone else then you can accomplish more than