10 November 2009

Benjamin Franklin's 13 steps to perfection

I have been reading the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. It is very interesting and entertaining. At one point in his life he set out to be morally perfect and he really thought that he could accomplish this. He set up a system where he would perfect one at a time a list of 13 virtues. He, obviously, never became perfect and he wrote that "I was surpris'd to find myself so much fuller of faults than I had imagined;but I had the satisfaction of seeing them diminish." I too have, upon serious examination, found myself "so much fuller of faults than I had imagined" but I have yet to see many of them diminish significantly. I have made progress, but still have a long way to go. I wanted to list his 13 virtues and his explanations as a list that I too would sometime like to perfect, or see improvement in my life.
  1. TEMPERANCE: Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
  2. SILENCE: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation (I should probably start here).
  3. ORDER: Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
  4. RESOLUTION: Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
  5. FRUGALITY: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
  6. INDUSTRY: Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
  7. SINCERITY: Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
  8. JUSTICE: Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
  9. MODERATION: Avoid extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
  10. CLEANLINESS: Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.
  11. TRANQUILLITY: Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.(I need to work on this second)
  12. CHASTITY: Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation. (ignoring this council every now and then would be ok, right?)
  13. HUMILITY: Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

I love what he wrote about humility:

In reality, there is, perhaps not one of our natural passions so hard to subdue
as pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as
much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and
show itself; ... even if I could conceive that I had compleatly overcome it, I
should probably be proud of my humility.

I would probably do the same and so I feel it is probably best to just not worry about this virtue, right?