"By my rambling digressions I perceive myself to be grown old. I us'd to write more methodically. But one does not dress for private company as for a public ball" (11) (Metaphor)
This metaphor shows us Franklin's understanding that one's style of writing differs based on if the audience is private or if it is public. Franklin knows that he is more apt to be florid when writing privately.
"And like him who, having a garden to weed, does not attempt to eradicate all the bad herbs at once, which would exceed his reach and his strength, but works on one of the beds at a time, and, having accomplish'd the first, proceeds to a second, so I should have, I hoped, the encouraging pleasure of seeing on my pages the progress I made in virtue, by clearing successively my lines of their spots, till in the end, by a number of courses, I should be happy in viewing a clean book, after a thirteen weeks' daily examination" (86) (Simile)
Here, Franklin uses a simile to explain how he only worked on perfecting one virtue at a time. In this way, like gardening, a seemingly insurmountable task is broken down into manageable, logical subtasks: mastering a single virtue at a time.
"It is true that, if you can clamber and get to the top of a staircase without using the steps, you will more easily gain them in descending; but certainly, if you begin with the lowest you will with more ease ascend to the top; and I would therefore offer it to the consideration of those who superintend the education of our youth, whether, since many of those who begin with the Latin quit the same after spending some years without having made any great proficiency, and what they have learnt becomes almost useless, so that their time has been lost, it would not have been better to have begun with the French, proceeding to the Italian, etc.; for, tho', after spending the same time, they should quit the study of languages and never arrive at the Latin, they would, however, have acquired another tongue or two, that, being in modern use, might be serviceable to them in common life" (100) (Metaphor)
In order to explain how he learned the more difficult language of Latin after having mastered French, Italian, and Spanish, Franklin uses a metaphor of slowly ascending a staircase from the bottom. Reaching Latin by way of learning other foreign languages provides students with a solid foundation of languages that will be useful later in life, like a steady ascension of stairs.
"...like a man traveling in foggy weather, those at some distance before him on the road he sees wrapped up in the fog, as well as those behind him, and also the people in the fields on each side, but near him all appears clear, tho' in truth he is as much in the fog as any of them" (117) (Simile)
Franklin lauds the Dunkers for being more self-aware than other sects about how they cannot know all things, comparing most sects to those in the fog: they think they alone are clear and the others are obfuscated, but in reality they are actually in the fog as well.
"...if you teach a poor young man to shave himself, and keep his razor in order, you may contribute more to the happiness of his life than in giving him a thousand guineas. The money may be soon spent, the regret only remaining of having foolishly consumed it; but in the other case, he escapes the frequent vexation of waiting for barbers, and of their sometimes dirty fingers, offensive breaths, and dull razors; he shaves when most convenient to him, and enjoys daily the pleasure of its being done with a good instrument" (129) (Metaphor)
In order to show how a man can and should be content when he can ably master day-to-day things, Franklin uses a typical down-to-earth, relatable metaphor of a man keeping his simple razor in order, deriving pleasure from simple daily maintenance.
