We are more thoroughly an enlightened people, with respect to our

Hear, O heirs of liberty, the voice of Benjamin Franklin, sage and statesman, who declared: “We are more thoroughly an enlightened people, with respect to our political interests, than perhaps any other under heaven. Every man among us reads, and is so easy in his circumstances as to have leisure for conversations of improvement and for acquiring information.” These words, spoken in the dawn of the American experiment, are not only a reflection of his age but a guiding star for all generations that follow.

In Franklin’s time, the soil of the New World was freshly sown with the seeds of independence. The colonies were not merely a people of toil, but a people who read, discussed, and debated. Franklin marveled at this phenomenon: that ordinary men, not kings nor nobles, but farmers, merchants, craftsmen, and sailors, were engaged in political conversation and self-improvement. This was no common state of mankind, for in most of the world, the masses were kept in ignorance while only the few claimed wisdom. Yet in America, knowledge flowed like a river through the streets, filling even the humblest homes.

The enlightenment Franklin spoke of was not only of books and pamphlets but of spirit. It was the recognition that a free people must be informed people. He believed that liberty cannot survive without literacy, nor can self-government endure without self-improvement. Where others saw peasants, Franklin saw citizens—men and women who would read, question, and converse until they understood not only their rights but their duties. This was the bedrock upon which the American republic was laid: a nation of thinkers as well as workers, of readers as well as fighters.

History offers us testimony to the truth of Franklin’s words. Consider the taverns and meeting houses of the Revolution, where farmers debated Locke and Paine as earnestly as generals discussed tactics. The Federalist Papers, printed in common newspapers, were read not only by scholars but by blacksmiths and bakers, who then gathered to argue the merits of union or independence. In this habit of conversation and improvement, the young republic distinguished itself from empires of old, where knowledge was a luxury of the few. America’s strength was that every man among us reads.

Yet Franklin’s words are not only praise—they are warning. For should a people neglect reading, should they abandon the pursuit of improvement, their liberty will wither. Rome itself, once great, fell when its citizens ceased to engage in the affairs of state, leaving the burden to emperors and elites. A republic without informed citizens becomes a hollow shell, easily corrupted, swiftly destroyed. Thus Franklin’s declaration calls to us still: to read, to converse, to engage, lest we lose what was so dearly bought.

What then is the lesson for us, who live in an age overflowing with information? It is this: do not let abundance breed apathy. The tools of knowledge are at our fingertips, but they are worthless if we do not use them with diligence and discernment. To be enlightened is not merely to consume words, but to wrestle with them, to test them in the furnace of conversation, and to carry them into action. Every citizen must take upon themselves the sacred duty to understand the times they live in, to speak with wisdom, and to act with courage.

Therefore, O listeners, let your practice be clear: read daily, not only for pleasure but for growth. Seek conversations that sharpen your mind, not merely flatter your comfort. Discuss matters of justice, liberty, and duty with family, friends, and neighbors, as Franklin and his fellows once did. In this way, you become not only heirs of freedom but guardians of it. For Franklin’s vision is not past—it is a living challenge. To be an enlightened people is not a gift once given, but a fire that must be tended anew in every generation.

Thus remember: liberty and enlightenment walk hand in hand. If one falters, so does the other. As Franklin rejoiced in the reading citizens of his day, so let future generations rejoice in us, if we too prove worthy—if we too read, converse, improve, and rise as guardians of truth and freedom. Every man among us reads—let this be not only a memory of the past, but a vow for the future.