Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
Benjamin Franklin Autobiography, Chapter IX (1791)
Source checked by an editor
When and why it was written
- When
- From Franklin's Autobiography, describing his plan for moral perfection, begun around 1728.
- Why
- This is the sixth of his thirteen virtues, Industry, which he tracked daily in a small book.
What it means
Franklin kept a notebook with a column for each virtue and marked his failures each day. This line is the rule for Industry.
His method is an early form of the daily review: write it down, look at it, try again tomorrow.
Our reading of the passage cited above, not a quotation from a commentary.
Read the source
Autobiography, 1791
Your turn
What does this bring up for you?
Saved to this device only. Nothing is sent to a server.
Continue transfers only this reflection. Review your account before saving. Your original browser copy stays here.