Franklin …

• Benjamin Franklin was an author, inventor, politician, scientist, statesman, philosopher, satirist, and diplomat. His electrical discoveries were a major contribution to physics.
• Some of his inventions include: bifocals, the lightning rod, and a woodburning stove.
• He started an early library, fire department, and street sanitation. Like Da Vinci he was a 'Renaissance Man'.
• He lived from 1706 - 1790.
• Like Jefferson he helped write the Declaration of Independence and found America.
• Also like Jefferson he represented the Age of Enlightenment and the coming of the ability for the common person to stand up on her or his own.
• As a satirist, he is one of the most quoted people ever!
  • "A learned blockhead is a greater blockhead than an ignorant one."
  • "Teach your child to hold his tongue, He'll learn fast enough to speak."
  • "A penny saved is a penny earned."
  • "We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately."
  • "Admiration is the daughter of ignorance."
  • "Anger is never without a reason, but seldom with a good one."
  • "Be slow in choosing a friend, slower in changing."
  • "To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals."
  • "Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age, but they die young."
  • "Fish and guests smell after three days."
  • "He that won't be counselled can't be helped."
  • "In this world, nothing is certain but death and taxes."
  • "He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else."
  • "The eye of the master will do more work than both his hands."