How The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin drew on Proverbs
A documented line of influence: Benjamin Franklin demonstrably engaged Solomon’s work. The commentary below is Gröblé’s, verbatim from each work’s page.
The source
Proverbs
Solomon · c. 450 BCE
BibleThe influenced
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin · 1791
EnlightenmentRelevance
6/10
On The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin’s page
- Franklin's whole gospel of industry traces to a single line of Solomon
- He quotes Proverbs 22:29 directly — the verse his father drilled into him, "he shall stand before kings" — as the spur to a lifetime of diligence
- Read it first and you hear the ancient voice behind the self-made man's swagger when he adds that he has "stood before five"
On Proverbs’s page
- One verse out of Proverbs became the engine of an American life
- Franklin's father drilled Solomon's line into him — "Seest thou a man diligent in his calling, he shall stand before kings" (22:29) — and Franklin made it his work-ethic creed
- He quotes it by name in the Autobiography, then notes he has since stood before five