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I did a fair amount of online searching, but found no sign Franklin had written it. I think a separate interesting question is why quotes are attributed to founding fathers, Lincoln, etc. It seems to me that a valid point/observation/comment, if it is reasonable and supported by solid evidence, should be able to stand on its own, in effect. John Cunningham On Wed, Oct 23, 2013 at 8:36 AM, John Saillant <oieahc@yahoo.com> wrote: > > 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/ --
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