- I will someday put my own history timeline on here with explanations of the period or event. The project is auspicious thus I cannot tell you when it will be completed but I have great plans.

1/17/08 Read Benjamin Franklins autobiography

The biography of Benjamin Franklin in his own words , is a wonderful read. A self taught man , he enriched himself by devouring books in all his spare waking moments. He started intellectual societies , where he met with other intellectuals to discuss and dispute any and all subjects in the spirit of self-enrichment and learning. He founded a library and other public projects for the same reasons. His writing , some anonymously , in the paper he produced were put forth to inform and persuade the public. In fact ,, almost every public endeavor he wrought , began with a written argument , paving the way to whatever particular project he felt necessary or beneficial.

His own curiosity and intelligence demanded him to become a scientist, an inventor, a statesman, a printer, a philosopher, a musician, and an economist. Of course he is also considered a founding father of our nation.

I consider him a renaissance man in his own time , just like Da Vinci was in his. When I grow up , I wanna be just like him (ha ha) - But really , this biography definitely lends impetus to my own pursuit of self-education. I may not have started as young as he did , nor may I produce any everlasting legacy , but to enjoy this world and enjoy this life , should include the understanding of it. The brain , barring disease , is not a bone that will break nor a muscle that will wither in time ; Properly exercised it can be productive and enriched throughout a lifetime . Like these various quotes suggests : We are standing on the shoulders of giants -Those who do not understand history are doomed to repeat it - An unexamined life is not worth living , and so on. We have 3500 + years of intellectual history to gnaw on and I plan on taking a sizeable nibble.

Read this book

Kevin Beary