He proved that lightning was made up of electricity. He designed the medical device called a urinary catheter, to save his brother. He invented the Franklin Stove and the lightning rod. He got tired of changing his glasses, so he invented the first bifocal lenses. He designed the odometer to figure out how far his carriage had traveled. He loved music and invented the Armonica. And on and on. He was the first great American scientist and inventor. (And you can add to that diplomat, statesman, and Founding Father.)
Category Archives: Founding Fathers
Well, here it is –Easter Sunday, and I’ve still got a few good quotes for you from someone you’ve never heard of. But for Easter that’s OK!
Angels, roll the rock away;
Death yield up thy mighty prey;
See, He rises from the tonb,
Glaring with immortal bloom.
Al-le-lu-ia! Al-le-lu-ia!
Christ the Lord is risen today!
–Thomas Scott
“Today one grave is open, and from it has risen a sun that will never be obscured, that will never set, a sun that creates new life, This new sun is the crucified one, the Son of God.” –Jean Marie Vianney
I haven’t been to the bookstore to pick up new quote book yet. As I told you yesterday, the quote books I have did not have any quotes about Good Friday. Only one had some quotes about Easter, and those quotes are from people you won’t quickly recognize.
But here are a few more of the Easter quotes:
“The story of Easter is the story of God’s wonderful window of divine surprise.” –Carl Knudsen
“The great day does not merely arrive like a date on the calendar; it explodes!”
It used to anyway. I read in a paper this morning that less than half of those who proclaim to be Christian, in their survey, knew or believed that Easter recognizes the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Less than half! And this used to be a Christian nation.
I can remember in detail a story which was told to me several years ago. A good friend had a son, Ken, who was working for a large grocery store in his area. He was a good high school student as well as worker. One evening my friend was waiting in his car to give his son a ride home after work. The store manager appeared at his car window. He rolled it down. The manager introduced himself and asked if her were Ken’s dad.
He readily admitted he was, not quite knowing what to expect. The manager thrust his hand into the car and shaking hands said: “Congratulations for having such a fine son and such an exceptional worker.
Many years ago our former President, Calvin Coolidge, said this: “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common that unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and dedication alone are all powerful.”
In addition, I believe that persistence must be accompanied by distress or discomfort of some sort. If one has experienced setbacks or trials, when you combine those tribulations with persistence then you get success. You overcome. You truly learn something about your own character.
One day a tall gentleman was hastening down the sidewalk when just then out of a doorway came another man, also in a hurry. The two men collided with great impact. The tall man fell to the sidewalk.
The shorter one of them was beside himself with anger and burst into a cascade of abusive anger.
The tall noble man shook the dirt off his clothes, smiled in a pleasant fashion, and with a smile announced: “My friend, I don’t know which of us was at fault for this encounter, but I am in too great of a hurry to investigate. If I ran into you, I beg your pardon; if you ran into me, don’t mention it.” And then with a smile on his face he went his way.
There was a naturalist named William Beebe and he was a friend of President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt, of course, was a great friend of nature, as we know. He began the now very extensive National Park system.
One evening the two of them were at Teddy’s home at Sagamore Hill. They walked together around the beautiful gardens and spreading lawn. They took turns identifying the stars and constellations in the night sky.
One of them said: “That is the spiral galaxy of Andromeda. It is as large as our Milky Way. It is one of a hundred million galaxies. It is 800,000 light years away from ours. And that galaxy consists of one hundred billion suns, each larger than our own sun.”
Benjamin Franklin was one of the most successful diplomats in our nations early history. He was so good at making friends, and helping them to agree on lending money to the colonies that we won the Revolutionary War.
He made few speeches at the Constitutional Convention, but those he did make led to the approval of the final document. He learned to make friends even out of those who would want to argue.
He once put it this way: “The way to convince another is to state your case moderately and accurately. Then scratch your head, or shake it a little and say that is the way it seems to you, but of course you may be mistaken about it. This causes your listener to receive what you have to say, and as like as not turn about and try to convince you of it since you are in doubt. But if you go at him in a tone of positiveness and arrogance, you only make an opponent of him.”
I received a letter a few days ago asking me some questions about my book “The Illegal Trial of Christ.” I politely responded and answered the questions asked of me.
Then today I received a phone call from this same person, with a couple of more questions. We had a nice chat and it was apparent that this person had done a great deal of reading and research about the death of Christ and what led up to it.
This man said he was a neurologist and he is writing his own book about the medical reasons of Christ’s death. Basically the premise of his book is that Christ actually died from a loss of blood. The crown of thorns was really the cause of loss of more blood that had previously been attributed to it. That he was in reality the sacrificial lamb, and it was the time of year for that major sacrifice. He fulfilled his purpose in coming to Earth.
Most people who have a little interest in American history have read Benjamin Franklin’s words which seemed to bring about a final consensus and agreement on the basics of our Constitution. I believe I have even repeated them here on this blog at some time or another. (If you can’t remember them or want to have them again go to the book “FoundingFathers–Uncommon Heroes”. What Ben said is there on page 33. If you don’t have the book yet, for heaven sakes, get it right now. Click here.)