"For as people say when they are angry: "If he strikes me, I'll strike him again'; I sometimes think it might be right to say: "If he flatters me, I'll flatter him again," (p. 271). Franklin describing how to handle his nemesis, Lord Hillsborough, in 1772.

"Stoop, young man, stoop—as you go through this world—and you'll miss many hard thumps," (p. 41). Cotton Mather to Franklin, reminding him about humility.

"[Franklin] cared more about public behavior than inner piety, and he was more interested in building the City of Man than the City of God," (p. 102). The author explaining Franklin's early interests.

"Social mobility was not very common in the eighteenth century. But Franklin proudly made it his mission—indeed, helped it become part of America's mission—that a tradesman could rise in the world and stand before kings," (p. 106). The author on Franklin's contributions...