Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Never confuse Motion with Action. ― Benjamin Franklin The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is the traditional name for the unfinished record of his own life written by Benjamin Franklin from 1771 to 1790; however Franklin himself appears to have called the work his Memoirs. Although it had a tortuous publication history after Franklins death this work has become one of the most famous and influential examples of an autobiography ever written. Franklins account of his life is divided into four parts reflecting the different periods at which he wrote them. There are actual breaks in the narrative between the first three parts but Part Threes narrative continues into Part Four without an authorial break. In the Introduction of the 1916 publication of the Autobiography editor F. W. Pine wrote that Franklins biography provided the most remarkable of all the remarkable histories of our self-made men with Franklin as the greatest exemplar. Though an unfinished record this work continues to remain the most influential autobiography ever written.