Inspiration to Live Your Magic: 75 Inspiring Biographies

Benjamin Franklin
Known for both his self-discipline and his sense of humor, Benjamin 
Franklin was famous for his many accomplishments, including his 
inventions.
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Printer, inventor, scientist, writer, politician, and ambassador - Benjamin Franklin was all 
of these and more. He invented things we still use today, and changed the history of his 
nation. How did he do it? By being self-disciplined, he said. Ben Franklin actually set out 
to make himself a better person, and his efforts seemed to work.
Ben was born in the United States when it was still a British colony. He was a clever boy 
with a sense of humor; he used to write anonymous letters to his brother’s newspaper that 
were so funny and biting that everyone wondered who the author could be.
Young Ben was determined to be a success. He made himself a list of good character 
traits he thought would help him succeed, and he practiced each one for a week at a time.
His list was: temperance (not eating or drinking too much); silence (only saying what is 
useful); order (keeping things in their places and doing things at the right time); 
resolution (always keeping your word); frugality (not wasting money); industry (working 
hard and making good use of your time); sincerity (not being hurtful or lying); justice 
(doing what’s right); moderation (not too much of anything); cleanliness (body, clothes, 
and house); tranquility (staying calm when things go wrong); chastity (being pure with 
sex); and humility (not bragging).
Ben Franklin’s self-discipline helped him to become a successful printer with his own 

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newspaper and popular magazine. He became well known for sayings that are still 
repeated today, such as: “Honesty is the best policy”; “Time is money”; and “A penny 
saved is a penny earned.”
Many of his inventions are also still used today - bifocal glasses, swim fins, and the 
Franklin wood stove, for example. He studied science, and became world-famous for his 
experiments that helped prove that lightning carried electricity.
Franklin was well known for his charitable work - creating a library, a fire department, 
and a public insurance company. He also got involved in politics, fought for American 
independence, and represented the United States in England and France. Back home, he 
helped to write the U.S. Constitution.
But, of all these accomplishments, Ben Franklin was most proud of one thing: improving 
himself every day.
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