Reading Benjamin Franklin by Edmund S. Morgan, Yale University Press.

Some quotes from this most astounding individual:
“I would rather have it said (of myself), He lived usefully, than, He died rich.”
“Let all men know thee, but no man know thee thoroughly.”
“Halfwits talk much but say little.”
“Speak with contempt of none, from slave to king.”
“Tho Modesty is a Virtue, (excessive) Bashfulness is a Vice.”

That’s it for now. We don’t have to talk about art every day. Now off to swim laps, then deflate in a sauna with a bunch of Russians. Some fine woman’s also pestering me to take her to dinner tonight; well, she deserves it. I mean anyone who could tolerate me…