Benjamin Franklin was an ingenious man. Credited with the invention of
the stove, the library, and many more influential inventions of the time. He also was an important political figure that affected
the Constitution and was the oldest signer of the Declaration of
Independence. Ben Franklin also was a great writer. Poor Richard's Almanac
and articles in newspapers appeared every where in
colonial America. With all of those praises, you would think
the man would have some major short comings or some sort of character
flaw. Franklin had none.
He actually tried to better his character into something that he could
be more proud of. Franklin knew that he could improve himself and become
a better person and have better qualities. Those characteristics or
virtues became the basis idea behind his System of Thirteen Virtues
(Franklin 149-150).
The thirteen virtues that Franklin selected
not only are things that he personally needed to work on, but things
that he believed every man should exhibit. The thirteen virtues were
temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity,
justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and humility.
Humility was the virtue that Franklin added in later as his "Quaker
friend" pointed out to him that he was a very proud man and that
Franklin's pride "showed itself frequently in conversation" (Franklin
162). By realizing the problem and understanding that to fix it, he had
to put in hard work, Franklin slowly chipped away at his pride until he
could have a conversation with someone without it showing or demeaning
someone (Tuckerman 1). The other twelve virtues consisted of things that Franklin knew
were the success to a happy, successful, likeable life.
Franklin
was successful in making himself a better person for two reasons. The
first is that he went through his Virtue System religiously and for
several years, and the other is that they actually improved his life. To
actually follow through with that large and complex plan is a testament
to Ben Franklin's character. Not everyone finishes what they start out
to do, let alone continue it for years. The thirteen virtues aided out Franklin with
than just character; the quality of his lifestyle was increased. The virtue of order gave Franklin the most
trouble, but also brought the best reward (Franklin 157). Franklin's
definition of order was "Let all your things have their place; let each
part of your business have its time" which means that his goal was to
separate out his day so business and pleasure did not mix (Franklin
149). To aid in that quest, Franklin created an hour by hour schedule of
his day to ensure that not only every minute was productive, his
activities were ordered so that his priorities were straight. Keeping to
that schedule proved difficult as Franklin realized that it was hard to
end all work at a certain time as sometimes events happen at different
parts of the day and someone might bring in something to get published
or have something for Franklin to do after the allotted work hours were
over (Franklin 150). He did improve on all of the virtues as the cycles were completed.
Tuckerman, Henry T. "The Character of Franklin." Benjamin Franklin,
Classic Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2008.
Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web 31. Oct.
2011.
Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Henry Altemus, 1895. Print.
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