The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Then I walked up the street, gazing about till near the market-house I met a boy with bread. I had made many a meal on bread, and, inquiring where he got it, I went immediately to the baker's he directed me to... I had no sooner done so than he gave me three great puffy rolls. I was surprised at the quantity, but took it, and, having no room in my pockets, walked off with a roll under each arm, and eating the other.

17 岁少年怀揣一荷兰元走进费城的画面，任何读者一遍即记住——叙事先行、细节具体、无抽象概括，家书体的明白直接贯穿全书，故清晰度为 88。

...this I therefore reckon one of the first errata of my life... (关于私自挪用 Vernon 托付款项) ...were another great erratum of my life... (关于对 Miss Read 的失信)

富兰克林主动呈报人生"勘误表"（挪用款项、辜负未婚妻、与兄长决裂），自我批评真实存在；但每个 errata 的叙事框架都由他掌控——承认错误的同时定义错误的性质，读者须意识到这是精明的声誉管理，故准确性为 82。

(Part II 开篇，Twysford, 1784) I have been expecting and wishing that you would resume the continuation of your life... The first part, written when you were in England, I have received... I earnestly request you to finish it.

四部分跨 1771-1788 年断续写成，Part I 的家书连贯性在后三部让位于"应友人敦促的公共书写"——文体从内转向外，1790 年去世使 1757 年后 33 年（独立战争、出使法国、制宪）整体缺席，故结构为 78。

1. Temperance. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation... 13. Humility. Imitate Jesus and Socrates... I made a little book, in which I allotted a page for each of the virtues... I cross'd these columns with thirteen red lines, marking the day of the week in a black line at the head of each column, so that the offences of each virtue were mark'd by a little black spot.

十三德各自附一句操作定义（"节俭：不花于己于人无益之钱，即不浪费"），配上逐周打格的黑点进度表——把道德修养变成可视化数据追踪，是全书被引用最多的段落，例证的可操作性与记忆度俱佳，故为 95。

In truth, I found myself incorrigible with respect to Order; and now I am grown old, and my memory bad, I feel very sensibly the want of it. But, on the whole, tho' I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the endeavour, a better and a happier man than I otherwise should have been.

方法论的诚实罕见：承认"秩序"一项终生失败，却论证"追求本身即收益"（练字比喻：手虽不达刻本，终究变好看了）——给所有自我改进者一个可持续的失败处理框架，故实用性为 95。

I continu'd this method some few years, but I gradually left it, retaining only the habit of expressing myself in terms of modest diffidence; never using, when I advanced any thing that may possibly be disputed, the words certainly, undoubtedly, or any others that give the air of positiveness to an opinion.

从"诘问取胜"到"谦逊存疑"的修辞转向——富兰克林发现说服的本质不是赢辩论而是留余地，这是对人际权力机制的实操级洞察；但全书对内心生活（信仰动摇、婚姻、丧子）的沉默使深度止步于"方法论"，故为 80。

In order to secure my credit and character as a tradesman, I took care not only to be in reality industrious and frugal, but to avoid all appearances to the contrary. I drest plainly... and, to show that I was not above my business, I sometimes brought home the paper I purchas'd at the stores thro' the streets on a wheelbarrow.

"不仅勤勉，而且勤勉给人看"——声誉作为资产的自觉经营，是当代个人品牌、可见性劳动（visibility labor）话语的 18 世纪原型；习惯追踪、晨间惯例、复利成长等现代生产力概念皆可在此找到操作先例，故时效性为 90。

...and she, standing at the door, saw me, and thought I made a most awkward, ridiculous appearance, as I certainly did. (三个大面包、口袋里塞满衬衫袜子的少年，被未来的妻子隔着街道看见)

叙事者让未来的妻子作为旁观者见证自己最窘的时刻——自嘲、画面感、时间纵深感（多年后重逢成婚）三合一，是英文自传的标志性段落；全书幽默克制而不油滑，故文笔为 88。

(编者注) Compare Philippians iv, 8. (对十三德清单的出典标注) ...Professor McMaster tells us that when Franklin was American Agent in France, his lack of business order was a source of annoyance to his colleagues and friends. 'Strangers who came to see him were amazed to behold papers of the greatest importance scattered in the most careless way over the table and floor.'

Pine 编本（1915）附学术脚注（历史背景、出典、第三方证词）与年表，附录收 The Way to Wealth、Electrical Kite 等关键短文；但自述本身无对照信源，文本源流问题（1791 法译本先于英文原稿出版、部分回译污染）需在导言中辨明，故出处透明度为 75。