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In Benjamin Franklin’s work, it’s pretty surprising for me that what he values in life and wealth is kind of similar to Chinese’s thoughts. Just as Franklin says, it is best for one to be thrifty, and work hard and diligently.

In “The Way to Wealth,” he expresses that in order to be rich, we should not only work hard but also save useless spending. In addition to the life advice on wealth, it’s not difficult to realize that Franklin values diligence and frugality to be the secret to a good life of a person. Even in his biography, when he talks about his learning methods, diligence really plays an important role in his stories. (And that really reminds me of how I grew up with all these similar life mottos to follow.) 

Franklin’s Life Philosophy

Aside from Franklin claiming that he is being flawed so he could step back that the others will be happier, Franklin’s life maintains a successful balance for these four points: Self-betterment, self-examination, recognizing limits, and accepting imperfection.

Franklin’s attitude toward life is clear, he sets goals for himself and he works hard for achieving them. However, despite the fact that, as Franklin writes, he could not reach the perfect state, he was happy that, through self-examination and constant betterment, he had become a better person than the person he was before. Benjamin Franklin was still able to acquire the virtues from his accomplishments while reflecting humility by succumbing to his limits. I feel like that is also a good lesson for me, that before complaining or giving in to the challenges, we should all try our best and try to get the best selves out of our owns.