Moral Perfection Takes PracticeIt was about this time that I conceiv'd the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection. I wish'd to live without committing any fault at any time.
Quite a project! And he really does it. First, he arrives upon 13 virtues that he wishes to instill in himself:
1. Temperance
2. Silence
3. Order
4. Resolution
5. Frugality
6. Industry
7. Sincerity
8. Justice
9. Moderation
10. Cleanliness
11. Tranquility
12. Chastity
13. Humility
He would concentrate on each of these for a week at a time, so every 13 weeks he would make it through his list. After that, he would start over; and he did this for several years. This book is worth reading just for this section alone.
tho' I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the endeavour, a better and happier man than I otherwise should have been if I had not attempted it
It is truly refreshing to hear a man speak of virtue; that he attributes not only his success, but his happiness to it. Our modern times seem to be devoid of any moral guidance. Franklin mentions that at one time in his life he wanted to write a book called The Art of Virtue, but he never got around to it. He says it does absolutely no good for a man to state that he wishes to be "good":
I should have called my book The Art of Virtue because it would have shown the means and manner of obtaining virtue, which would have distinguished it it from the mere exhortation to be good, that does not instruct and indicate the means
I have often thought this about the "Golden Rule". It is so simple a rule, but very hard to follow or even to understand. For example: Do you want people to think bad things about you? Well, then you shouldn't think bad things about others. Yet, we almost instinctively do this all the time, without even realizing it. Do you want people to be genuinely interested in what you have to say? Well, then doesn't that mean you should be genuinely interested in everything that they say?
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