Section I
People often have different drives that make them reach given heights of success. These heights are propelled by different factors and the inspiration that an individual has as well as the skill that an individual has. Benjamin Franklin had a great passion for writing and gaining information and that is the reason as to why he was employed in many print and press organizations (58). He even tried to venture in business in the same area. Due to his high regard for information, he knew that storing information for easier use and retrieval could be very important. As such, he and other writers started a club. Through the club, they brought their books together in a room and put them in a corner of a room (Franklin 69). As such, the members of the club could easily access these books and read them, and according to Franklin, “the number was not so great as we expected; and tho’ they had been of great use” (71). This implies that the books were of great help. However, there was no one to take good care of the books and the club collapsed, everyone taking his book away.
This propelled Franklin to think of how he can start his own library which was public in nature. He, therefore, with some of his friends, started a subscription library where they procured 50 members who would pay forty shillings for initial subscription and ten shillings a year for fifty years that the terms of the company were to continue. They later obtained a charter and increased their number to 100. This act changed the information sector since this was the mother of all subscription libraries which are common to date. As such, it can be said that Franklin’s idea changed the manner in which people access information, making it much easier for the public to access it. Studying became much easier.
Section II
Franklin realized that there was the need to develop moral perfection and was bent on making sure that he acquired it. He felt that since he had an understanding of what was wrong and what was right; there was no reason as to why he should not avoid what was wrong and doing what was right. However, he was soon to realize that he had taken on a “task of more difficulty than I had imagined” (Franklin 126). To go about his plan, he arranged the virtues in a manner that he could easily acquire them, and in a manner that acquisition of one would facilitate the acquisition of the next trait on the list. As such, he had thirteen virtues which he arranged in order. These were temperament, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, Cleanliness, tranquility, chastity and humility (Franklin 140).
Section III
In terms of religion, Franklin can be said to have been neither too religious nor unreligious. Rather, he combined some of the religious teachings with his moral reasoning to live his life. He neither denied the Deity nor fully acknowledged that everything happened due to his power. He says that “I had been religiously educated as a Presbyterian” (Franklin 134). This implies that he had a religious grounding from his childhood. He admits that he acquired quite a lot of virtues from his upbringing and from the church. In fact, he paid his dues to the church quite dutifully.
However, he never publicly attended the summons at the church. Rather, he used Sunday as his day of study. Some of his readings included the religious scripture that he could lay his hands on. On a different note, he felt that the church did no more than try to make its followers good members of the society. However, he notes that even though the father continuously gave summons about virtue, he left out some real aspects of virtue that were of importance to Franklin. This is why he sought to establish it his own way. As such, it can be said that though Franklin had a religious grounding, he felt that religion failed to meet his expectations. As such, he remained ascribed to the church but sought ways of filling the gap.
Work Cited
Franklin, Benjamin. Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. New York, NY: The Quinn & Boden Co. Press, 1916.
