Benjamin Franklin's The Autobiography Of Benjamin Franklin

If I were to be alive at the time Benjamin Franklin set out and published his autobiography, I would have a few things to say in regards to his thoughts, statements he made, and actions that he partook in.
To start off with, in relation to Benjamin Franklin’s thoughts, on page twelve of “The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin”, he stated “That felicity, when I reflected on it, has induced me sometimes to say, that were it offered to my choice, I should have no objection to a repetition of the same life from its beginning” (Franklin,12).
This does an effective job showing that Benjamin Franklin, although he was a prominent figure during his time, also had some regrets about the way he chose to live his life at a young age. I felt like
this was a new topic because I was accustomed to a collective society and everyone pitching in together to create an idealized image as was mentioned in “The City on a Hill” when I wrote “The eies of all people are uppon us” (Winthrop 18). Benjamin Franklin also mentioned “I have discovered many faults and amended them” (Franklin 18). This shows that he did not simply allow his mistakes to remain as they are but, rather, he did something that is admirable which is realizing that he, as a human being, also made mistakes and instead of focusing on that and wallowing in self-pity, he chose to step up to the challenge and figure out a way to resolve his wrongs. Instead of focusing on reflecting on the individual self, I for one feel like Benjamin Franklin should have been more focused on the collectivistic culture rather than reflecting on his life and where he fits in.

In relation to Benjamin Franklin’s actions, I feel like, due to the world changing and adding to new areas of study such as science, I feel like his scholarly behavior differed from my own.
He stated in “The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin” “this booking inclination at length…” (Franklin 17). This was rare because he tended to read books that did not pertain to religion but rather books for his own pleasure due to his interest in them. As for me, I was merely focused on spreading my way of life rather than feeding on knowledge from someone else. The other aspect that differed from my own is the emphasis that he has placed on family. He stated in “The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin” “I think you may like to know something of his person and character” in reference to his father (Franklin 15). He chose to explicitly mention his father and went into depth describing him due to the influence he had, while I , for one, in both my journal and the poem “City on a Hill” neglected to mention my family due to not seeing it as prevalent in expressing my desired views so, due to this, I was surprised by this and found this to contrast with my view of how things should
be.
The third aspect was Benjamin Franklin and the statements that he had made.
One particular statement that he made was ‘For want of modesty is want of sense” (Franklin 20). This seemed to mean that as a person wants to know what is going on around them across all levels, then the same thing applies to the person wanting to not brag about what is going on. One point that was similar between myself and Benjamin Franklin was when he stated in “The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin” “It was about this time I conceiv’d the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection” (Franklin 52) This compares to when I stated “For wee must consider that wee shall be as a city upon a hill” (Winthrop 17). This is similar in the way that both Benjamin Franklin and I wanted to achieve a state of perfection; however, it differed in the way that he strived for individual perfection while I wanted to achieve perfection in the sense of being a model for the other cities to look favorably upon. Another similarity between I and Benjamin Franklin was when Benjamin Franklin stated “on the whole, tho’ I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it” (Franklin 58). This relates to myself because I had visions of a city so full of virtue that I wanted others to imitate it. Due to causing individuals, such as Anne Hutchinson, pain in the instance as stated in the journal when she was brought to trial multiple times and was banished at first from
the city but later from the Catholic Church in general simply for advocating for her beliefs and what she deemed as being a voice from God (Winthrop 13,18). I was unable to achieve that concept of perfection and so was Benjamin Franklin, so, in that sense, as well as the ones mentioned above, we are similar.

Dear John Winthrop,
I have read your piece of work, and I must say that I agree with the similarities that you posed, and I also agree that some differences do exist among us in terms of the value we place on family and the emphasis for scholarly ideas. I realize that I fell short in my prospect for perfection, and I must say that I agree with the surprise that you felt due to my emphasis on intellect while you were more avidly focused on religion and creating this idealized city. I agree with what you said, but, in relation to when you said that I placed a heavy emphasis on my family, that is true, but I also placed a heavy emphasis on religion and living according to my faith. Reflection is a vital part of faith, and I emphasized reflection when I made the chart which shows that I not only practiced my faith but also took the time to improve myself in the process.
From my perspective, I do think that this world is heading towards a bright future because I see the changes in relation to science and how people are striving to improve themselves and obtain more knowledge, Since we learn from knowledge, I think that if people make use of the resources available to them, then I only see a bright future. Also, by learning, people do not remain oblivious to what is going on around them but rather are adapt to all the changes. While we have come a long way, in terms of our nation, we still have a long way to go, and I think that change is coming for the better.
Sincerely,
Benjamin Franklin