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Vorsprung durch writing and conversation

18/11/2015

 

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​I recently read Benjamin Franklin’s wonderful autobiography. I was struck by how, despite being taken out of school at the age of 10 to work for his father’s business (“tallow chandler and sope-boiler”), the young Franklin was extremely fond of reading, and spent what little money he had on books.
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Franklin also devoted much of his spare time to writing exercises, in order to teach himself “Method in the Arrangement of Thoughts”. He observed: “Prose Writing has been of great Use to me in the Course of my Life, and was a principal Means of my Advancement.”
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As I read these words, I found myself wondering whether people today recognise the benefits of “learning a little to scribble”, as Franklin put it. For that matter, do those benefits still hold in today’s world of mobile communication, tablets and social media? Personally I think the answer is a resounding “yes”. And certainly when I reflect back on my own life, I can see how being able to write reasonably well helped me acquire academic degrees, secure good jobs, earn the respect of colleagues, and finally earn my living through the written word… not to forget the satisfaction of the craft itself and the deep learning that it has generated for me.

As well as practising his writing, Franklin made a point of studying the art of conversation. For instance, as a young man he read about the Socratic Method. This persuaded him to drop the habit of “abrupt Contradiction” and adopt instead the attitude of “humble Enquirer and Doubter”, and eventually he developed a lasting habit of expressing himself in terms of “modest Diffidence”. This meant, when making a proposal that might be disputed, he would refrain from using words such as “certainly” and “undoubtedly”. I loved his explanation: “…a positive dogmatical Manner in advancing your Sentiments, may provoke Contradiction & prevent a candid Attention.”

Looking back on his life, Franklin felt his diffident habit had been of great advantage to him, enabling him to succeed in promoting a wide range of causes. And these included many things that we now take for granted, like a police force, a fire service and a public library*. That was all in the colony of Pennsylvania, but ultimately of course he became one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America.

Further reading

Benjamin Franklin’s “Autobiography and Other Writings” -- highly recommended for anybody who wants a real flavour of 18th century life and food for thought on what the phrase "a good life" could mean.

The same volume includes Franklin’s delightful “Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America”, which reveals the author's appreciation of “Indian” customs. He tells a marvellous story of how, in 1744, Indians in the colony of Virginia politely declined the offer of sending some of their sons to a college. They even made a counter-offer, saying:  “…if the Gentlemen of Virginia will send us a dozen of their Sons, we will take great Care of their Education, instruct them in all we know, and make Men of them.” 

* I borrowed Franklin’s Autobiography from my local library, which sadly can no longer be taken for granted.
Martyn
28/11/2015 04:49:29 pm

Very interesting post. I do like Franklin's phrase, "Method in the Arrangement of Thought". We could all do with more of that! With your footnote about not being able to take for granted the continued existence of your local library (and citing another famous American autodidact), this is what Ray Bradbury wrote: "Libraries raised me. I don't believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries because most students don't have any money. When I graduated from high school, it was during the Depression and we had no money. I couldn't go to college, so I went to the library three days a week for 10 years"

Alison link
1/12/2015 03:22:49 pm

Martyn, It was lovely to know you had read my post about Franklin. I quoted him word-for-word because I enjoyed his way of phrasing things so much. I heard on Sunday that Hove library is likely to move to another building. It would be nice if the old building retained its cultural use - e.g. as an art gallery for Hove.


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    ​Alison Donaldson is an author and writing coach, normally based in Hove, England.
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