A Ben Franklin quotation?

[Joel S. Berson]

 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."  It appeared recently on something sent by
>one of my university administrators, and I couldn't help but think
>it smelled fishy.  The way it uses "growth," "achievement," and
>"meaning" seem to belong more to the twenty-first than the
>eighteenth century.  I spent the better part of an hour following
>its online trail, and despite many, many hits, especially on
>websites belonging to motivational speakers, no one bothered to cite
>its source.  Nor could I find it Franklin's autobiography.

If the quote-hunters here come up with anything, I'll pass it
on.  (Or, copy both H-OIEAHC and ADS-L.)

Joel

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org