Ben Franklin: An Autobiography
...o highly values. The passage was basically a confession by Franklin that he sometimes loses humility and his pride occasionally “peep[s] out and show[s] itself”. He also continues on to even make a joke about it saying that he had “completely overcome [his humility], [he] should probably be proud of [his] humility” which is a complete irony since being proud of your humility isn’t humble. The way that I looked at this was that the meaning of this passage was Franklin stating that it was not possible for someone to be completely humble. The temptation to be prideful is so powerful that even when it appears to be gone it will still exist within the person. importance in all people. However an irony throughout most of the book is that many of the things which he states about his wealth or about his accomplishments seem to digress from the humility he so highly values. The passage was basically a confession by Franklin that he sometimes loses humility and his pride occasionally “peep[s] out and show[s] ...