Two things really struck me from this book:
I was impressed with how interested Franklin's father was in getting him into a profession that he was good at as well as suited for (enjoyed, to some degree at least). There were a lot of false starts, but Franklin was literally being asked and prodded from a very young age (8) to pick his profession. He started in grammar school, then transitioned to chandler and soap boiler, spent several years observing trades with his father (his father was worried that otherwise he would run off to sea), and finally became a printer. That is just wild. Imagine walking a 8-12 year old around trying to get them a job somewhere, asking them if they like this or that, or if they find this or that interesting and might want to master it? It just seems so antithetical to modern life; the idea that you need 12 years of education before you can even begin to specialize in "your calling". I don't know, I am not saying anything profound here, but I am just imagining the opportunity for agency, for familiarity with the way and the working of the world, that a young person must gather considering how early in their life they became a member of society. It's just so foreign that it is hard to visualize.
I also noticed that wherever Franklin went, he was always forming communities. The most famous one was his sorta secret philosophical society (and their less but still sorta secret chapters). It seemed like the man basically knew and regularly interacted with everyone of import. How did he do this? I have tried dinner parties and things like that and I'll be damned if they aren't incredibly difficult things to get going. You spend a huge amount of energy and the thing just does not seem self sustaining. Was it just the times? That people valued each others company so much that they would constantly seek each other? I think some large part of his success can be attributed to the fact that he literally just knew and brought together everyone. Selfish, but understanding this part of his life (and likely success) would probably be the most beneficial to me.