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| Foreword | |
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| Introduction: The Founding Father of American Business | |
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| The Making of an Entrepreneur | |
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| Why Bother Writing Your Own Story? | |
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| Franklin Means Freedom | |
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| Credit to Whom Credit Is Due | |
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| The Enduring Legacy of Moral Instruction | |
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| Early Employments and My Introduction to Various Trades | |
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| First Attempts at Self-Improvement | |
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| Experimenting with Vegetarianism | |
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| Where We Learned to "Win Friends and Influence People" | |
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| The Yearning for Independence | |
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| Breaking Loose to Freedom | |
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| Testing My Determination | |
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| My Unlikely Beginning in Philadelphia | |
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| My First Job | |
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| Big Promises from a Fancy Politician | |
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| Returning Home to Boston | |
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| More Mistakes and Bigger Promises | |
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| The Art of Upward Influence | |
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| My Friends and Pastimes | |
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| Departing for London | |
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| Making the Best of It in London | |
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| Another Friendship Ends | |
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| Beer and Productivity | |
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| More Tales of My Frugality | |
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| The End of the London Adventure | |
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| The Rise of an Entrepreneur | |
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| Setting a Course and Staying Flexible | |
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| The Junto-A Club for Mutual Self-Improvement | |
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| Breaking with Keimer and Making My Own Plans | |
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| Reflecting on My Morals | |
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| Getting Started | |
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| A Strategic Response to a Competitive Betrayal | |
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| Setting Up My Own Shop at Last | |
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| The Power of a Good Reputation | |
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| Getting Married | |
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| Founding the First Library in Philadelphia | |
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| Proverbs and Productivity | |
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| Thoughts on Religion | |
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| My Plan to Achieve Moral Perfection | |
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| Reflections on the Pursuit of Moral Perfection | |
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| Additional Thoughts on Humility | |
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| Some Counsel on Grand Undertakings | |
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| Poor Richard's Almanac Introduced | |
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| Franchising Across the Continent | |
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| Learning Languages | |
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| Fighting the Good Fight | |
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| Family Matters | |
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| Update on the Junto | |
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| Advice on Changing Someone's Opinion of You | |
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| How to Displease Your Superiors | |
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| Building a Better Community | |
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| Founding the First Fire Department | |
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| The Reverend George Whitefield | |
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| Franklin the Inventor | |
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| On Partnerships | |
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| Proposing a College, Establishing a Militia | |
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| The Politics of Fortification | |
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| On Managing Dilemmas | |
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| Founding the University of Pennsylvania | |
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| Retiring from My Business | |
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| The Legacy of an Entrepreneur | |
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| The Power of Contingent Contracts | |
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| Good Advice for Fundraising | |
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| Negotiating Peace with the American Indians | |
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| It's the Little Things | |
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| The Reluctant Revolutionary | |
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| How to Get Off to a Bad Start | |
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| Death and Taxes | |
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| How to Gain Cooperation | |
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| How to Get Off to a Great Start | |
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| Guarding Against Overconfidence | |
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| Sizing Up the British | |
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| Calling in Debts, Old and New | |
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| Negotiating with Coalitions | |
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| Benjamin Franklin, Soldier | |
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| Managing Morale | |
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| Reward or Punish? | |
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| A Hero's Return | |
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| Enemies Accumulate | |
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| My Life as a Scientist | |
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| Holding Fast to Principle | |
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| The Impact of Indecisive Leadership | |
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| More on Poor Leadership | |
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| The Slowest Ship | |
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| No Substitute for Integrity | |
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| Afterword: The Rest of the Story | |
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| Acknowledgments | |
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| Index | |