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Along these lines, I wonder if anyone can identify the source of this curious quote attributed to Ben Franklin: "Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning." It appeared recently on something sent by one of my university administrators, and I couldn't help but think it smelled fishy. The way it uses "growth," "achievement," and "meaning" seem to belong more to the twenty-first than the eighteenth century. I spent the better part of an hour following its online trail, and despite many, many hits, especially on websites belonging to motivational speakers, no one bothered to cite its source. Nor could I find it Franklin's autobiography. In my own, admittedly hyper-sensitive context, this quote is used to support the current rage over "continuous improvement," assessment, and accountability in higher education. I'm not sure that Franklin would disagree with this trend, but that's a separate issue. Does anyone know if this is an authentic Franklin quote? Best, Peter Peter N. Moore Associate Professor of History Chair, Department of Humanities Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi 6300 Ocean Dr., Unit 5814 Corpus Christi, TX 78412-5814 Office: Faculty Center 279 (361) 825-3495 (361) 825-5844 (fax) peter.moore@tamucc.edu http://cla.tamucc.edu/history/ --
 Humanities & Social Sciences Online 
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