A Ben Franklin quotation?

[Dan Goncharoff]

I would point out that Google tracks the phrase "improvement, achievement,
and success" back to 1976, which feels about right.

DanG


On Thu, Oct 24, 2013 at 10:41 AM, ADSGarson O'Toole <
adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: A Ben Franklin quotation?
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Thanks Ken. The result of the search I performed yesterday was
> similar. The earliest matches were in 1999 and 2000.
>
> [ref] Date: 1999 November 22, Usenet discussion message, Newsgroup:
> alt.quotations, From: techn... at webtv.net (Marci Wolcott), Subject: Re:
> (OT)  Daniel's Razor, Was Re: Please Help ME, (Google Groups Search;
> Accessed Ocotber 23, 2013)[/ref]
>
> https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.quotations/me_4updshP0/3BgnvKA8o3MJ
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> "Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement,
> achievement and success have no meaning."
>                  Benjamin Franklin
> [End excerpt]
>
>
> Below is the same 2000 document Ken found. The link goes to fdlp.gov
> which is the website of the Federal Depository Library Program, the
> organization that created the newsletter.
>
> [ref] Date of Newsletter: 2000 March 15,
> Periodical Title: Administrative Notes: Newsletter of the Federal
> Depository Library Program,
> Volume: 21, Number: 5,
> Article Title: The Role of the Government "Printing" Office in the
> Digital Millennium; Remarks by Francis J. Buckley, Jr., Superintendent
> of Documents, Before the National Federation of Abstracting and
> Indexing Societies on February 21, 2000
> Publisher: U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.[/ref]
>
>
> http://fdlp.gov/home/repository/doc_view/969-administrative-notes-vol-21-no-05
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> The GPO staff members who are working on Ben’s page are quite immersed
> in the life and times of Mr. Franklin. In fact, they have taken to
> sharing a number of his quotations with me – one that is rather
> appropriate for speechmaking is: “Speak little, do much,” from Poor
> Richard’s Almanack (1755). Let me take Mr. Franklin’s advice; I will
> speak for a short time today while bringing you up-to-speed on how
> much we are doing in GPO in this electronic era.
>
> Another quote from Mr. Franklin goes: "Without continual growth and
> progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no
> meaning."
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson O'Toole
>
>
> On Thu, Oct 24, 2013 at 7:13 AM, Ken Hirsch <kenhirsch at ftml.net> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Ken Hirsch <kenhirsch at FTML.NET>
> > Subject:      Re: A Ben Franklin quotation?
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > On Wed, Oct 23, 2013 at 11:24 AM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
> >
> >> From the H-OIEAHC at H-NET.MSU.EDU (Early America) list:
> >>
> >>  Along these lines, I wonder if anyone can identify the source of
> >>> this curious quote attributed to Ben Franklin: "Without continual
> >>> growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and
> >>> success have no meaning."
> >>
> >>
> >
> > All of Franklin's writings are searchable at franklinpapers.org
> >
> > http://franklinpapers.org/franklin/framedVolumes.jsp
> >
> > I can't find anything similar to the alleged quote in that database.
> >
> > It doesn't sound 18th century to me, either.
> >
> > The earliest I have found it are (unverified) 1999 and 2000.
> >
> > http://www.valicenti.com/files/999.pdf#page=5 This PDF was created in
> 2004,
> > but it was evidently written in 1999.
> >
> > From February 2000:
> >
> http://www-personal.umich.edu/~graceyor/govdocs/adnotes/2000/210500/an2105g.txt
> >
> > Ken Hirsch
> >
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