“Would you persuade, speak of interest, not of reason.”

Poor Richard once said, “Would you persuade, speak of interest, not of reason.” In the context of Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography, my interpretation of this quote is that you should persuade people by attempting to convince them that your suggestion is in your best interest as well as the best interest of the person you are trying to persuade. Many attempt to persuade others by reason or by trying to convince the other person that they are wrong. Franklin believed that attempting to persuade by reason only creates enemies, and he gave personal examples of both methods and the outcomes in his autobiography.