Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

WE Americans devour eagerly any piece of writing that purports to tell us the secret of success in life; yet how often we are disappointed to find nothing but commonplace statements, or receipts that we know by heart but never follow. Most of the life stories of our famous and successful men fail to inspire because they lack the human element that makes the record real and brings the story within our grasp. While we are searching far and near for some Aladdin’s Lamp to give coveted fortune, there is ready at our hand if we will only reach out and take it, like the charm in Milton’s Comus,