Maria Kalman, who so delightfully illustrated the Elements of Style, has given us a blog tribute to Benjamin Franklin’s inventiveness on the New York Times website.

Everything is invented.
Language. Childhood. Careers.
Relationships. Religion.
Philosophy. The Future.
They are not there for the plucking.
They don’t exist in some natural state.
They must be invented by people.
And that, of course, is a great thing.
Go invent something.
That is the American message.
Electricity. Flight. The telephone.
Television. Computers.
Walking on the moon. It never stops.