The Mount Rushmore of Editorialists: Ben Franklin

I am running a series on the great American editorialists This is part two. Part one is here.

"A great editorialist can be many things: insightful, sometimes witty, frequently pithy, prudent, and most of all perceptive."

The second face to go on the Mount Rushmore of editorialists was far more than just an editorialist, but his writing fits all the qualities of a great editorialist: insightful, sometimes witty, frequently pithy, prudent, and most of all perceptive. He was the original American superstar, Ben Franklin.

(hat tip to Wikipedia for the pic)

I won't cover Franklin's biography, which whole books have failed to actually capture him. Even when applying a label to him, it usually fails to capture his dominance in the field. For example, he was also a musician. According to his Wikipedia entry:

Franklin is known to have played the violin, the harp, and the guitar. He also composed music, notably a string quartet in early classical style. He developed a much-improved version of the glass harmonica, in which the glasses rotate on a shaft, with the player's fingers held steady, instead of the other way around; this version soon found its way to Europe.

How many people learn to play a musical instrument, let alone take it and improve upon the design?

And so he did with the concept of the newspaper. One might argue that Franklin created the editorial, or at least was the first to make it worth reading. His work as a writer for his own newspaper, The Pennsylvania Gazette, undoubtedly helped his later work on Poor Richard's Almanack, for which he will be forever known, as it helped shape the culture of the early American republic.

But here are some examples of his early work with The Pennsylvania Gazette:

Ambition has its disappointments to sour us, but never the good fortune to satisfy us.

Freedom of speech is a principal pillar of a free government; when this support is taken away, the constitution of a free society is dissolved, and tyranny is erected on its ruins. Republics and limited monarchies derive their strength and vigor from a popular examination into the action of the magistrates.

Admittedly, Poor Richard's Almanack was Franklin's literary tour de force. Even though it was only an annual publication, Franklin's pithy sayings helped make it the best seller it was. While "almanacks" were common for the time, Franklin's was the best seller, and here are some reasons why:

Love your Enemies, for they tell you your Faults.  

It would be thought a hard Government that should tax its People one-tenth Part of their Time, to be employed in its Service. 

Three may keep a Secret, if two of them are dead.

Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. 

Fish & Visitors stink in 3 days.

God helps them that help themselves. 

Don't throw stones at your neighbours, if your own windows are glass. 

A good Lawyer is a bad Neighbour.

Who has deceiv'd thee so oft as thy self?

Wink at small faults; remember thou hast great ones.

To err is human, to repent divine, to persist devilish. 

He's a Fool that cannot conceal his Wisdom. 

On that last note, I guess I need to shut up now. But being the fool I am...

Seriously, the modern lesson of Ben Franklin is: Wisdom doesn't always require a blog, when a tweet will do.