Published in The Pennsylvania Gazette, May 27, 1731
Being frequently censur'd and condemn'd by different Persons for printing Things which they say ought not to be printed, I have sometimes thought it might be necessary to make a standing Apology for my self, and publish it once a Year, to be read upon all Occasions of that Nature...

I request all who are angry with me on the Account of printing things they don't like, calmly to consider these following Particulars

1. That the Opinions of Men are almost as various as their Faces...

2. That the Business of Printing has chiefly to do with Mens Opinions; most things that are printed tending to promote some, or oppose others...

4. That it is as unreasonable in any one Man or Set of Men to expect to be pleas'd with every thing that is printed...

5. Printers are educated in the Belief, that when Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick; and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter...

8. That if all Printers were determin'd not to print any thing till they were sure it would offend no body, there would be very little printed.
Dr. Benjamin Franklin, Editor, The Pennsylvania Gazette, 1729-1748