By Bob Cox
When
Orville Redenbacher (born 1907) shared his philosophy on TV about why
his popcorn tasted better than his competitors, he proudly stated the
virture of doing one thing and doing it better than anyone else.
Apparently, one of our nation’s founding fathers failed to see
that commercial. Perhaps being born two centuries prior to
Redenbacher and the abscence of television had something to do with
it.
Nevertheless,
Benjamin Frankin (born 1706) might be best remembered as the human
incarnation of the swiss army knife. Franklin
was an accomplished printer, politician, postmaster, scientist,
inventor, civic activist, statesman, diplomat and author. He
was a true jack of all trades and a master of many. At the core of
his many interests was a insatiable thirst for knowledge that only a
love of reading would quench.
Benjamin
Franklin was born in Boston,
Massachusetts,
on January 17, 1706. His father Josiah wanted Ben to attend school
with the clergy, but only had enough money to send him to school for
two years. Franklin’s formal education ended when he was just ten.
This didn’t stop young Ben as he continued to educate himself
through voracious reading habits.
Two
years later, he became an apprentice
to his brother James, who taught Ben the printing trade. When Ben was
15, James founded The
New-England Courant,
which was the
first truly independent newspaper in the colonies. During this
time, Ben had developed an interest in writing for the paper;
however, his brother rejected his request. Ben conceived a clever way
around his brother by improvising the pseudonym of "Mrs.
Silence Dogood", a middle-aged widow. Mrs. Dogood's letters
instantly became the topic of conversation around town. Neither James
nor the Courant's
readers were aware of the ruse. When James finally discovered that
the middle-aged widow was actually his brother, he was shocked and
humiliated!
The
following year, Franklin became a staunch advocate of free speech
when his brother was jailed for three weeks in 1722 for publishing
material unflattering to the governor. Franklin took over the reigns
of the paper and proclaimed under the Dogood column: "Without
freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom and no such
thing as public liberty without freedom of speech."
By
the time he was old enough to drink (age 21), Franklin, formed a
group called the Junto.
This was an organization of like minded aspiring individuals that
strived to improve themselves and their community. Reading was a
great pastime of the Junto, but books were rare and expensive. The
members initially created a library that was assembled from their own
collection of books. Eventually, Franklin came up with the idea of a
subscription
library by gathering the funds from all the members to buy books
for the entire organization. This was the birth of the Library
Company of Philadelphia and its charter was composed by Franklin
in 1731. Today, the Library Company is now a world renowned research
library with over half a million rare books, pamphlets and
manuscripts.
The
foundation of Franklin’s brilliance and amazing accomplishments was
a relentless pursuit of knowledge and enlightenment. In spite of all
the early obstacles, Franklin was like a powerful surge of water
rushing down a mountain, bending around every object that stood in
his way.
The
next time you’re confronted by a problem that looks like an
immovable boulder, take a page out of Mrs. Dogood’s library and
explore every possible way around it. Be the water upon the mountain
of life.
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