"as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously.’’ - Benjamin Franklin.
TIL Benjamin Franklin was an early advocate of open source technology and patented none of his designs : Franklin stove, lightning rod, bifocals, flexible urinary catheter, glass armonica (rubbing glass with wet fingers to produce sound), carriage odometer among others.
He dropped out of school at the age of 10 to work in his father's candle and soap shop to help support his family of 17 siblings.
Despite his lack of formal schooling, Franklin's innate curiosity, ingenuity, and practical experience led him to become one of the most influential figures in American history - as the Founding Fathers of the United States and one the architects of the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution.
Asides that he was also a philosopher, scientist and a writer - Poor Richard's Almanack remains infamous and many of his aphorisms are still used till today “Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today”
He was known as a “printer” - he picked up the printing trade and had his own printing business - which was peak mass communication at that time, and had his own newspaper
He’s also a funny guy - humorous and witty - through his jokes, hoax and satires. One example of satire is this piece "The Speech of Miss Polly Baker," published in 1747 to critiqued the harsh treatment of unwed mothers by society and the legal system.
He used to publish a lot of pieces as anonymous as freedom of speech was not fully accepted (his brother who was a publisher was put in prison for one of his thought-provoking piece). 2 centuries later, this problem still exist in today's world.
I picked up this story as I was reading up on the various cultures around the world and their gutsy ways of spotting opportunities in the midst of challenges.
Some terms commonly used : Yankee Ingenuity (US), wire No 8 (Kiwi), Jugaad (Hindi), Gambiarra (Brazil), and Jua Kali (Kenya) - the idea is to do more with less, be creative, resourceful, resilient and have a flexible mindset. There are many books with this title if you need a little pick me up.
But if you want to read ‘The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin’, it is also incredibly uplifting and well written. It is a letter by Benjamin Franklin to his son William Franklin (unfinished and published posthumously)
In his book he provides a long list of books he has read and the many thoughts and self experiments, habits and his reactions to them. But more so, he shares the vivid journey he went through meeting diff people and the lessons he learnt along the way.