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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