from The Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin (Summary)

Franklin's The Autobiography talks about how Benjamin Franklin proposed the idea of becoming the perfect individual. He feels the need to strive for perfection and to rid himself from any flaws as he goes about daily life. He says that in order for people to break bad habits, new and better ones must be formed. However, Franklin did not realize how difficult it was going to be to accomplish this project. His idea came from part of his reading in which it discussed many virtues. People came up with a such a plethora of definitions for one virtue, that it became impossible to understand the virtue clearly. Franklin then decided that he would take thirteen virtues and apply one, specific definition to each of them that fully explained what the virtue was. He was then to follow those virtues and become the perfect individual.

Franklin took a small notebook and in it he wrote one of the thirteen virtues on each page. Then he decided to work on one virtue each week, keeping track of all his faults on that virtue by marking a black dot in the related column. By doing this, he felt that if he accomplished one, he could add the next virtue and so on. During his first week, he finally realized the number of faults he made each day and hoped that over the course of time, those faults would diminish. Franklin also created a schedule for himself as to what he was going to do during the day.

Order was the one virtue that caused Franklin so much stress. He tried really hard to master this virtue, but he continued to struggle while trying to accomplish it. His memory was good so therefore, he was use to the system he already had in place.  Because of his unwillingness to change, his continued to struggle and time was lost that could have been used more effectively if he had just changed the method he used for order. He really didn't want to change that method, but yet he wasn't satisfied with just doing o.k. He wanted to do his absolute best without giving up like other people had done if they couldn't accomplish something.

 Eventually, Franklin never really achieved the virtue of order in the way that he had hoped to and he never really became the perfect individual he hoped he would be. However, he was satisfied that he tried to at least follow these virtues the best that he could. His main purpose for this project was to leave behind a legacy for all to see. He wanted people to look back at his live and say that it was used to the best of his ability by trying to follow these thirteen virtues that he had created.

The Thirteen Virtues:
1. Temperance- Do not eat or drink too much
2. Silence- Only speak whenever it's necessary and useful; don't make pointless conversations
3. Order- Know that everything has a time and a place
4. Resolution- Always do what you need to do and complete it
5. Frugality- Always do for others and waste nothing
6. Industry- Do not waste time; always be involved in doing something useful and not useless
7. Sincerity- Do not say anything that may be hurtful; always think about what you're going to say
8. Justice- Do what it is you are supposed to do without hurting anyone else
9. Moderation- Do things at a reasonable stance and don't try to over do them, causing injury
10. Cleanliness- Keep you house, your clothes, and yourself clean
11. Tranquility- Do not get upset at little things that cannot be changed or avoided
12. Chastity- Show innocence and purity
13. Humility- Show humbleness similar to Jesus or Socrates

(The American Experience pg. 142-147)

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