Benjamin was a man of extraordinary culture. The United States as such exists thanks to people like him. During his life he invented a lot of things like Musical instruments, lightning rods, bifocal lenses, fins, etc. He was an entrepreneur: he ran mail and newspapers.

He was in charge of creating the US currency. He managed peace between America, England and France. He helped make America independent and organized states and government. He founded the University of Pennsylvania. In The Way to Wealth Summary you can have the best idea of his understanding of the wealth.

He was a practical person. He saw things from the point of view of “what can this useful thing do? How can it be useful to people?” He saw science for practical purposes. He had in mind the goal of making science useful.

Pragmatism, no astral philosophies

He knew how to combine scientific theories, with technical inventions, with experiments and practical utility.

The Way to Wealth Summary

As a scientist he appreciated the mechanics of how the world works and had little appreciation for abstract theories or the sublime. He was a great experimenter and an intelligent inventor with an emphasis on useful things. But he had neither the temperament nor the training for deep conceptualization.

Focus on finding facts and putting them to use.

One thing he said and struck me for his humility and importance: People will be more easily led to admire your work if you are able to make them feel jealous of you.

Maybe it will be for this fact and for this ted talk

Benjamin has found that people are recruiting to bear the goal of a project, which can elevate someone’s reputation. He gave the credits to someone else. The temporary sacrifice of vanity will be amply rewarded in the future.

  • He had a fundamental moral belief that actions should be judged by how much benefit they bring to the common good.
  • The best way to serve God is to do good work and help others.
  • We should not repress the virtues and opinion of our common people.
  • He believed in the power of reasoning and in the reality of virtues.
  • It led to the foundation of pragmatism.

He endorsed individuals who created their way to wealth through diligence and talent, but on the other hand did not believe in giving special privileges to people based on their birth.

  • This was reflected in his view of society. A society where the value of a man is given by good to other people.
  • He was yes for individualism and capitalism but for the common good.
  • Individualism and capitalism aimed at solving other people’s problems.
  • Combined public service and private profit.

The laws that encourage hard work are good, but not because they lead to large amounts of private wealth. They are good because they improve the total well-being of a community and the dignity of every aspiring individual. People accumulate more wealth than they need to have the duty to help others and to create civic institutions that promote the success of others. His idea was of a prosperous middle class whose members lived simple lives of democratic equality. People who lack virtue, who fail to carry their weight, cannot expect good from society.