Whistle E-book
Author: Benjamin Franklin
Genre: History / Biography, Literature
Franklin, Benjamin (1706-1790) A preeminent American statesman,
author, inventor, printer and scientist, he is sometimes call the
"wisest American." After working for a time as a printer's apprentice
to his brother James, Franklin ran away to Pennsylvania in 1723 and
went on to become Philadelphia's chief citizen. There, among other
things, Franklin ran his own newspaper, published "Poor Richard's
Almanac," and became the city's postmaster.
The Whistle (1779) An excerpt from a letter to Madame Brillon.
Franklin tells the story of how, as a child, he paid too much money
for a whistle. He then relates how people often "give too much for
their whistles." "In short," he writes, "I conceive that great part of
the miseries of mankind are brought upon them by the false estimates
they have made of the value of things."
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