"Either write things worth reading or do things worth writing."
Lately I've been looking for new quotes related to writing or reading to stamp on my handmade copper bookmarks. The quote above caught my attention, but not in an entirely good way. It has a "my way or the highway" type of attitude that gets under my skin.
I found the quote on Goodreads with Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) listed as the source. Benjamin Franklin was considered one of the founding fathers of the United States. He's known for his experiments with electricity, his printing and publication work, his work with France, and his many accomplishments that are too numerous to list here.
I know that quotations can morph over time, so I did a little digging to see if I could find the original. Did Benjamin Franklin really say that?
On the Trail of the Original Quotation
The version of the quote on BrainyQuote was slightly longer than the one I found at Goodreads:
"If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write something worth reading or do things worth writing."
That bit about not being forgotten was striking, considering here it is 2015 and we're still talking about Benjamin Franklin.
I found a few more variations online and then went to a good, old-fashioned paper source, my old copy of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations that I've had since a teenager. There I found this version which was formatted more like a poem:
If you would not be forgotten,
As soon as you are dead and rotten,
Either write things worthy reading,
Or do things worth the writing.
The source was listed as Poor Richard's Almanac, May 1738. With that information, I found the full text of the book at archive.org. (The online version lists the title as Poor Richard's Alamanack with the "k" at the end and no capitals at the beginning of each line.) Poor Richard's is a pamphlet of short bits of wisdom. It was an early bestseller with print runs of 10,000 copies a year. That is astonishing! For comparison, according to Beyond the Margins, the average U.S. book now sells fewer than 250 copies a year. In other words, if Benjamin Franklin has advice about writing or publishing, it's probably still worth hearing.
Is Benjamin Franklin's Advice Still Relevant for Today's Writers?
The modern, Twitter-worthy version of Benjamin Franklin's advice is "write something." I've heard this advice repeatedly given to those thinking about starting a blog. I always cringe when I read that advice because I know that if you set out to just "write something" without any goal or plan in mind, you're likely to give up writing fairly soon. The same thing would happen if you resolved to "exercise more" or "eat better." Your reason to blog doesn't have to be huge and groundbreaking. You can write to practice meeting deadlines, to find other like-minded Pez collectors, or to share your ideas on global warming. No matter what your reason for blogging, you're likely to stick with it longer if you have one.
Although it's rarely mentioned in current advice, Benjamin Franklin is right to include "worth reading" in his admonition. Sure, some people may read whatever you write just because you wrote it. (We call those people "friends.") But most people want to get something from your blog post. The "something" doesn't have to be a detailed tutorial for a complicated new design using a revolutionary technique; it could be a funny thing your kid said or a few photos and notes about the types of flowers you like to grow in your garden. Most of your readers are likely looking for a laugh, a connection to another person, pretty pictures, an interesting fact, an inspiring story, or tips on how to do something better/faster/cheaper ... just like you are when you seek out other blogs to read.
The Finished Bookmark
After all my research, I ended up using the abbreviated version of the quote on the finished bookmark; there's no way I could fit the formatted 4 lines on such a narrow piece of metal. (Of course, if you're reading this and would like a bookmark with the full original quotation, I'd be happy to make a larger custom version just for you.) I'm occasionally asked how long something took me to make and this is a great example of a piece that took me hours before I even started working with the actual piece of metal. I'm happy I did that extra digging on the background of the quote; that's the kind of work that always makes a finished piece more meaningful to me.
If you have favorite quotes about writing or reading, I'd love to hear them. In the meantime, write on!