Poor Richard’s Almanac

Diplomat, journalist, inventor, philosopher, scientist, philanthropist - Benjamin Franklin's fecund intellect and persistent frugality yielded writings, inventions, and political progress in an amount surpassing all of his contemporaries. In his diplomatic capacity, Franklin negotiated several crucial points with Great Britain, and won acclaim in France for his charming wit. Franklin began working at age ten, so the knowledge that enabled him to write political criticism and articles on living well, as well as to study natural phenomena and develop numerous inventions, was the product of self-instruction. His best-known written works are Poore Richard's Almanack, a collection of aphorisms for living productively, and his unfinished Autobiography, in which he describes the events and principles which guided his life's work.