The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

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10. CLEANLINESS. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths,
or habitation.

11. TRANQUILLITY. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents
common or unavoidable.

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.

13. HUMILITY. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

My intention being to acquire the habitude of all these virtues,
I judg'd it would be well not to distract my attention by attempting
the whole at once, but to fix it on one of them at a time; and, when I
should be master of that, then to proceed to another, and so on,
till I should have gone thro' the thirteen; and, as the previous
acquisition of some might facilitate the acquisition of certain others,
I arrang'd them with that view, as they stand above. Temperance first,
as it tends to procure that coolness and clearness of head, which is
so necessary where constant vigilance was to be kept up, and guard
maintained against the unremitting attraction of ancient habits,
and the force of perpetual temptations. This being acquir'd
and establish'd, Silence would be more easy; and my desire being
to gain knowledge at the same time that I improv'd in virtue,
and considering that in conversation it was obtain'd rather by the use
of the ears than of the tongue, and therefore wishing to break
a habit I was getting into of prattling, punning, and joking,
which only made me acceptable to trifling company, I gave Silence
the second place. This and the next, Order, I expected would
allow me more time for attending to my project and my studies.
Resolution, once become habitual, would keep me firm in my endeavors
to obtain all the subsequent virtues; Frugality and Industry freeing
me from my remaining debt, and producing affluence and independence,
would make more easy the practice of Sincerity and Justice, etc., etc.
Conceiving then, that, agreeably to the advice of Pythagoras
in his Golden Verses, daily examination would be necessary,
I contrived the following method for conducting that examination.

I made a little book, in which I allotted a page for each of the virtues.
I rul'd each page with red ink, so as to have seven columns,
one for each day of the week, marking each column with a letter
for the day. I cross'd these columns with thirteen red lines,
marking the beginning of each line with the first letter of one of
the virtues, on which line, and in its proper column, I might mark,
by a little black spot, every fault I found upon examination
to have been committed respecting that virtue upon that day.

Form of the pages.

+-------------------------------+
| TEMPERANCE. |
+-------------------------------+
| EAT NOT TO DULNESS; |
| DRINK NOT TO ELEVATION. |
+-------------------------------+
| | S.| M.| T.| W.| T.| F.| S.|
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| T.| | | | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| S.| * | * | | * | | * | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| O.| **| * | * | | * | * | * |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| R.| | | * | | | * | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| F.| | * | | | * | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| I.| | | * | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| S.| | | | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| J.| | | | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| M.| | | | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| C.| | | | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| T.| | | | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| C.| | | | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| H.| | | | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+

I determined to give a week's strict attention to each of
the virtues successively. Thus, in the first week, my great
guard was to avoid every the least offence against Temperance,
leaving the other virtues to their ordinary chance, only marking
every evening the faults of the day. Thus, if in the first week
I could keep my first line, marked T, clear of spots, I suppos'd
the habit of that virtue so much strengthen'd and its opposite
weaken'd, that I might venture extending my attention to include
the next, and for the following week keep both lines clear of spots.
Proceeding thus to the last, I could go thro' a course compleat
in thirteen weeks, and four courses in a year. And like him who,
having a garden to weed, does not attempt to eradicate all the bad
herbs at once, which would exceed his reach and his strength, but works
on one of the beds at a time, and, having accomplish'd the first,
proceeds to a second, so I should have, I hoped, the encouraging
pleasure of seeing on my pages the progress I made in virtue,
by clearing successively my lines of their spots, till in the end,
by a number of courses, I should he happy in viewing a clean book,
after a thirteen weeks' daily examination.

This my little book had for its motto these lines from Addison's Cato:

"Here will I hold. If there's a power above us
(And that there is all nature cries aloud
Thro' all her works), He must delight in virtue;
And that which he delights in must be happy."

Another from Cicero,

"O vitae Philosophia dux! O virtutum indagatrix
expultrixque vitiorum! Unus dies, bene et ex praeceptis
tuis actus, peccanti immortalitati est anteponendus."

Another from the Proverbs of Solomon, speaking of wisdom or virtue:

"Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand
riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
and all her paths are peace." iii. 16, 17.

And conceiving God to be the fountain of wisdom, I thought it
right and necessary to solicit his assistance for obtaining it;
to this end I formed the following little prayer, which was prefix'd
to my tables of examination, for daily use.

"O powerful Goodness! bountiful Father! merciful Guide!
increase in me that wisdom which discovers my truest interest.
strengthen my resolutions to perform what that wisdom dictates.
Accept my kind offices to thy other children as the only return
in my power for thy continual favors to me."

I used also sometimes a little prayer which I took from Thomson's Poems,
viz.:

"Father of light and life, thou Good Supreme!
O teach me what is good; teach me Thyself!
Save me from folly, vanity, and vice,
From every low pursuit; and fill my soul
With knowledge, conscious peace, and virtue pure;
Sacred, substantial, never-fading bliss!"

The precept of Order requiring that every part of my business should
have its allotted time, one page in my little book contain'd the
following scheme of employment for the twenty-four hours of a natural day:

THE MORNING. { 5 } Rise, wash, and address
{ } Powerful Goodness! Contrive
Question. What good shall { 6 } day's business, and take the
I do this day? { } resolution of the day; prose-
{ 7 } cute the present study, and
{ } breakfast.
8 }
9 } Work.
10 }
11 }

NOON. { 12 } Read, or overlook my ac-
{ 1 } counts, and dine.
2 }
3 } Work.
4 }
5 }

EVENING. { 6 } Put things in their places.
{ 7 } Supper. Music or diversion,
Question. What good have { 8 } or conversation. Examination
I done to-day? { 9 } of the day.
{ 10 }
{ 11 }
{ 12 }

NIGHT. { 1 } Sleep.
{ 2 }
{ 3 }
{ 4 }

I enter'd upon the execution of this plan for self-examination,
and continu'd it with occasional intermissions for some time.
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.
To avoid the trouble of renewing now and then my little book, which,
by scraping out the marks on the paper of old faults to make room
for new ones in a new course, became full of holes, I transferr'd
my tables and precepts to the ivory leaves of a memorandum book,
on which the lines were drawn with red ink, that made a durable stain,
and on those lines I mark'd my faults with a black-lead pencil,
which marks I could easily wipe out with a wet sponge. After a
while I went thro' one course only in a year, and afterward only
one in several years, till at length I omitted them entirely,
being employ'd in voyages and business abroad, with a multiplicity
of affairs that interfered; but I always carried my little book
with me.

My scheme of ORDER gave me the most trouble; and I found that, tho'
it might be practicable where a man's business was such as to leave
him the disposition of his time, that of a journeyman printer,
for instance, it was not possible to be exactly observed by a master,
who must mix with the world, and often receive people of business
at their own hours. Order, too, with regard to places for things,
papers, etc., I found extreamly difficult to acquire. I had not
been early accustomed to it, and, having an exceeding good memory,
I was not so sensible of the inconvenience attending want of method.
This article, therefore, cost me so much painful attention, and my faults
in it vexed me so much, and I made so little progress in amendment,
and had such frequent relapses, that I was almost ready to give up
the attempt, and content myself with a faulty character in that respect,
like the man who, in buying an ax of a smith, my neighbour,
desired to have the whole of its surface as bright as the edge.
The smith consented to grind it bright for him if he would turn
the wheel; he turn'd, while the smith press'd the broad face of
the ax hard and heavily on the stone, which made the turning of it
very fatiguing. The man came every now and then from the wheel to see
how the work went on, and at length would take his ax as it was,
without farther grinding. "No," said the smith, "turn on, turn on;
we shall have it bright by-and-by; as yet, it is only speckled."
"Yes," said the man, "but I think I like a speckled ax best."
And I believe this may have been the case with many, who, having,
for want of some such means as I employ'd, found the difficulty
of obtaining good and breaking bad habits in other points of vice
and virtue, have given up the struggle, and concluded that "a
speckled ax was best"; for something, that pretended to be reason,
was every now and then suggesting to me that such extream nicety as I
exacted of myself might be a kind of foppery in morals, which, if it
were known, would make me ridiculous; that a perfect character
might be attended with the inconvenience of being envied and hated;
and that a benevolent man should allow a few faults in himself,
to keep his friends in countenance.

In truth, I found myself incorrigible with respect to Order;
and now I am grown old, and my memory bad, I feel very sensibly
the want of it. But, on the whole, 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 a happier
man than I otherwise should have been if I had not attempted it;
as those who aim at perfect writing by imitating the engraved copies,
tho' they never reach the wish'd-for excellence of those copies,
their hand is mended by the endeavor, and is tolerable while it
continues fair and legible.

It may be well my posterity should be informed that to this
little artifice, with the blessing of God, their ancestor ow'd the
constant felicity of his life, down to his 79th year, in which this
is written. What reverses may attend the remainder is in the hand
of Providence; but, if they arrive, the reflection on past happiness
enjoy'd ought to help his bearing them with more resignation.
To Temperance he ascribes his long-continued health, and what is
still left to him of a good constitution; to Industry and Frugality,
the early easiness of his circumstances and acquisition of his fortune,
with all that knowledge that enabled him to be a useful citizen,
and obtained for him some degree of reputation among the learned;
to Sincerity and Justice, the confidence of his country,
and the honorable employs it conferred upon him; and to the joint
influence of the whole mass of the virtues, even in the imperfect
state he was able to acquire them, all that evenness of temper,
and that cheerfulness in conversation, which makes his company
still sought for, and agreeable even to his younger acquaintance.
I hope, therefore, that some of my descendants may follow the example
and reap the benefit.

It will be remark'd that, tho' my scheme was not wholly without religion,
there was in it no mark of any of the distinguishing tenets of any
particular sect. I had purposely avoided them; for, being fully
persuaded of the utility and excellency of my method, and that it
might be serviceable to people in all religions, and intending
some time or other to publish it, I would not have any thing
in it that should prejudice any one, of any sect, against it.
I purposed writing a little comment on each virtue, in which I
would have shown the advantages of possessing it, and the mischiefs
attending its opposite vice; and I should have called my book THE
ART OF VIRTUE,<7> because it would have shown the means and manner
of obtaining virtue, which would have distinguished it from the mere
exhortation to be good, that does not instruct and indicate the means,
but is like the apostle's man of verbal charity, who only without
showing to the naked and hungry how or where they might get clothes
or victuals, exhorted them to be fed and clothed.--James ii. 15, 16.

<7> Nothing so likely to make a man's fortune as virtue.
--[Marg. note.]

But it so happened that my intention of writing and publishing this
comment was never fulfilled. I did, indeed, from time to time,
put down short hints of the sentiments, reasonings, etc., to be made
use of in it, some of which I have still by me; but the necessary
close attention to private business in the earlier part of thy life,
and public business since, have occasioned my postponing it; for,
it being connected in my mind with a great and extensive project,
that required the whole man to execute, and which an unforeseen
succession of employs prevented my attending to, it has hitherto
remain'd unfinish'd.

In this piece it was my design to explain and enforce this doctrine,
that vicious actions are not hurtful because they are forbidden,
but forbidden because they are hurtful, the nature of man
alone considered; that it was, therefore, every one's interest to be
virtuous who wish'd to be happy even in this world; and I should,
from this circumstance (there being always in the world a number
of rich merchants, nobility, states, and princes, who have need
of honest instruments for the management of their affairs,
and such being so rare), have endeavored to convince young persons
that no qualities were so likely to make a poor man's fortune
as those of probity and integrity.

My list of virtues contain'd at first but twelve; but a Quaker
friend having kindly informed me that I was generally thought proud;
that my pride show'd itself frequently in conversation; that I
was not content with being in the right when discussing any point,
but was overbearing, and rather insolent, of which he convinc'd
me by mentioning several instances; I determined endeavouring
to cure myself, if I could, of this vice or folly among the rest,
and I added Humility to my list, giving an extensive meaning to
the word.

I cannot boast of much success in acquiring the reality of this virtue,
but I had a good deal with regard to the appearance of it.
I made it a rule to forbear all direct contradiction to the
sentiments of others, and all positive assertion of my own.
I even forbid myself, agreeably to the old laws of our Junto,
the use of every word or expression in the language that imported
a fix'd opinion, such as certainly, undoubtedly, etc., and I adopted,
instead of them, I conceive, I apprehend, or I imagine a thing to be
so or so; or it so appears to me at present. When another asserted
something that I thought an error, I deny'd myself the pleasure
of contradicting him abruptly, and of showing immediately some
absurdity in his proposition; and in answering I began by observing
that in certain cases or circumstances his opinion would be right,
but in the present case there appear'd or seem'd to me some difference,
etc. I soon found the advantage of this change in my manner;
the conversations I engag'd in went on more pleasantly. The modest
way in which I propos'd my opinions procur'd them a readier reception
and less contradiction; I had less mortification when I was found
to be in the wrong, and I more easily prevail'd with others to give
up their mistakes and join with me when I happened to be in the right.

And this mode, which I at first put on with some violence to
natural inclination, became at length so easy, and so habitual
to me, that perhaps for these fifty years past no one has ever
heard a dogmatical expression escape me. And to this habit (after
my character of integrity) I think it principally owing that I
had early so much weight with my fellow-citizens when I proposed
new institutions, or alterations in the old, and so much influence
in public councils when I became a member; for I was but a bad speaker,
never eloquent, subject to much hesitation in my choice of words,
hardly correct in language, and yet I generally carried my points.

In reality, there is, perhaps, no 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;
you will see it, perhaps, often in this history; for, even if I
could conceive that I had compleatly overcome it, I should probably
be proud of my humility.

[Thus far written at Passy, 1784.]

["I am now about to write at home, August, 1788, but can not have
the help expected from my papers, many of them being lost in the war.
I have, however, found the following."]<8>

<8>This is a marginal memorandum.--B.

HAVING mentioned a great and extensive project which I had
conceiv'd, it seems proper that some account should be here
given of that project and its object. Its first rise in my
mind appears in the following little paper, accidentally preserv'd, viz.:

Observations on my reading history, in Library, May 19th, 1731.

"That the great affairs of the world, the wars, revolutions,
etc., are carried on and affected by parties.

"That the view of these parties is their present general interest,
or what they take to be such.

"That the different views of these different parties occasion
all confusion.

"That while a party is carrying on a general design, each man has
his particular private interest in view.

"That as soon as a party has gain'd its general point, each member
becomes intent upon his particular interest; which, thwarting others,
breaks that party into divisions, and occasions more confusion.

"That few in public affairs act from a meer view of the good of
their country, whatever they may pretend; and, tho' their actings
bring real good to their country, yet men primarily considered
that their own and their country's interest was united, and did
not act from a principle of benevolence.

"That fewer still, in public affairs, act with a view to the good
of mankind.

"There seems to me at present to be great occasion for raising
a United Party for Virtue, by forming the virtuous and good men
of all nations into a regular body, to be govern'd by suitable
good and wise rules, which good and wise men may probably be more
unanimous in their obedience to, than common people are to common laws.

"I at present think that whoever attempts this aright, and is
well qualified, can not fail of pleasing God, and of meeting
with success. B. F."

Revolving this project in my mind, as to be undertaken hereafter,
when my circumstances should afford me the necessary leisure,
I put down from time to time, on pieces of paper, such thoughts
as occurr'd to me respecting it. Most of these are lost; but I find
one purporting to be the substance of an intended creed, containing,
as I thought, the essentials of every known religion, and being free
of every thing that might shock the professors of any religion.
It is express'd in these words, viz.:

"That there is one God, who made all things.

"That he governs the world by his providence.

"That he ought to be worshiped by adoration, prayer, and thanksgiving.

"But that the most acceptable service of God is doing good to man.

"That the soul is immortal.

"And that God will certainly reward virtue and punish vice either
here or hereafter."<9>

<9> In the Middle Ages, Franklin, if such a phenomenon as
Franklin were possible in the Middle Ages, would
probably have been the founder of a monastic order.--B.

My ideas at that time were, that the sect should be begun and
spread at first among young and single men only; that each person
to be initiated should not only declare his assent to such creed,
but should have exercised himself with the thirteen weeks'
examination and practice of the virtues, as in the before-mention'd model;
that the existence of such a society should he kept a secret,
till it was become considerable, to prevent solicitations
for the admission of improper persons, but that the members
should each of them search among his acquaintance for ingenuous,
well-disposed youths, to whom, with prudent caution, the scheme
should be gradually communicated; that the members should engage
to afford their advice, assistance, and support to each other
in promoting one another's interests, business, and advancement
in life; that, for distinction, we should be call'd The Society of
the Free and Easy: free, as being, by the general practice and habit
of the virtues, free from the dominion of vice; and particularly
by the practice of industry and frugality, free from debt, which
exposes a man to confinement, and a species of slavery to his creditors.

This is as much as I can now recollect of the project,
except that I communicated it in part to two young men, who adopted
it with some enthusiasm; but my then narrow circumstances,
and the necessity I was under of sticking close to my business,
occasion'd my postponing the further prosecution of it at that time;
and my multifarious occupations, public and private, induc'd me
to continue postponing, so that it has been omitted till I have no
longer strength or activity left sufficient for such an enterprise;
tho' I am still of opinion that it was a practicable scheme,
and might have been very useful, by forming a great number of
good citizens; and I was not discourag'd by the seeming magnitude
of the undertaking, as I have always thought that one man of tolerable
abilities may work great changes, and accomplish great affairs
among mankind, if he first forms a good plan, and, cutting off all
amusements or other employments that would divert his attention,
makes the execution of that same plan his sole study and business.

In 1732 I first publish'd my Almanack, under the name of Richard Saunders;
it was continu'd by me about twenty-five years, commonly call'd
Poor Richard's Almanac. I endeavor'd to make it both entertaining
and useful, and it accordingly came to be in such demand, that I reap'd
considerable profit from it, vending annually near ten thousand.
And observing that it was generally read, scarce any neighborhood
in the province being without it, I consider'd it as a proper vehicle
for conveying instruction among the common people, who bought scarcely
any other books; I therefore filled all the little spaces that occurr'd
between the remarkable days in the calendar with proverbial sentences,
chiefly such as inculcated industry and frugality, as the means
of procuring wealth, and thereby securing virtue; it being more
difficult for a man in want, to act always honestly, as, to use
here one of those proverbs, it is hard for an empty sack to stand up-right.

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