Because he was never satisfied, he kept driving hard:

"He became a printer and then he became an entrepreneur and then he created a library and then he created a university," recounts innovation expert Jeff DeGraff. "Then he created the original self-help group.  Then he became a diplomat.  Before he was a diplomat he became a great scientist and invented everything from the Franklin stove to the lightening rod to bifocals, which he didn’t patent because he thought everybody should be able to use them," DeGraff says.

The essential lesson here, is that when it comes to innovation, it’s never fully realized:

Let's say you developed a miracle drug. There’s always another miracle drug.  Let's say you developed a great restaurant, there’s always a second restaurant.  Let's say you developed a software solution to keep everybody safe. There’s always another software solution because there’s always someone else pushing back with an alternative so that you have to keep going. "So we never really fully arrive," DeGraff says. "But isn’t that the best thing in life?"