Richard Hollerman

Have you heard of Ben Franklin’s listing of “virtues” and his attempt to apply them to his life.

We may remember this industrious politician in many ways. We know him as the one who began the postal system in the colonies (the fledging United States). I think that it was also Franklin who began or had much to do with the library system in the country (if he could only know the wickedness that pervades in the system now). As a “founding father” of America, we also know that he was a printer at the beginning and promoted the reading that was so important to him and others.

When I was of a younger age, I decided to read Franklin’s autobiography and thereby learned of his listing of virtues. We may know that he was an ambassador to France and committed adultery much, but he also pursued virtue that we can learn something of this. Although it was a sizeable volume, we know that it did have helpfulness on the pages. Actually, it was recommended by a religious leader and early in my life I chose to read the book, page by page.

We know that the Bible does refer to many different qualities or virtues (we have presented an article on this that you may want to find on our website): www.Truediscipleship.com. We know that God’s Word doesn’t limit the virtues to a mere 13, but continues on and on. We may wonder why such a strange number was chosen by Franklin.

This is what we have found on one website entitles “Thirteen Virtues” dot com.

In 1726, at the age of 20, Benjamin Franklin created a system to develop his character. In his autobiography, Franklin listed his thirteen virtues as:

Temperance. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.

Silence. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.

Order. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.

Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

Frugality. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.

Industry. Lose no time; be always employ’d in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.

Sincerity. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

Justice. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

Moderation. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

Cleanliness. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.

Tranquillity. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

Chastity. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation.

Humility. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

If you wish to learn more, I would recommend: Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, Benjamin Franklin: An American LifetpThe Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. This politician, inventor, and writer, said:

“I propos’d to myself, for the sake of clearness, to use rather more names, with fewer ideas annex’d to each, than a few names with more ideas; and I included under thirteen names of virtues all that at that time occurr’d to me as necessary or desirable, and annexed to each a short precept, which fully express’d the extent I gave to its meaning.”

We realize that this outdated vocabulary says one thing but we think that the reader will get the point that Franklin wanted to make. Each of the “virtues” would say and mean one thing and are intended to be applied to our lives. Although Franklin lived in the 1700s (the18th century) he has a meaning to us today. Although this admirable man (regardless of his sexual immorality and his many faults) who lived and wrote two and a half to three centuries day, wrote about these virtues and we can learn about them today.

We might be interested in reading these words from David Allan about Franklin and his famous list:

Ben Franklin considered various virtues that, if mastered, would lead him to perfection.

Of the many inventions (bifocals, odometer), accomplishments (US postal system, Constitution) and experiments (that kite in a lightning storm) credited to Benjamin Franklin, none of his contributions to humanity, in my opinion, outshines his brilliantly simple method for self-improvement.

“A bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection” is how America’s least controversial and most industrious statesman described his method of personal betterment in his autobiography

How it works

Franklin started by taking a critical look at his behavior, and he found that too often he traveled down unvirtuous roads that “natural inclination, custom or company might lead me into,” as he put it.

He fell short of his ideal in more than a dozen areas of his life, he concluded. He ate and drank too much. He talked too much, especially about himself. He spent more money than he should. He didn’t finish all his goals. And so on. In other words, he wrestled with the very same human urges, flaws and proclivities that now fuel our New Year’s resolutions and the ever-booming market of self-help books.

Drawing upon your own life experiments

Then he considered various virtues that, if mastered, would counteract his unwanted behavior. His list of 13: Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquility, Chastity and Humility.

Thirteen wasn’t a nod to the original colonies, nor was it random. He chose 13 because that number fits neatly into a calendar. Multiply it by four, and you get 52, the number of weeks in a year.

Franklin would take a single virtue at a time, work on it for a week and then move on to the next. Trying to fix everything that’s wrong with you all at once is overwhelming, he decided. The virtuous path needs to be broken down to give each area some concentrated time of intention and effort. Every 13 weeks, the cycle repeats itself.

He accounted for his progress on a chart and shared his scheme with others. Modern social science has since proved that tracking and accountability are two key components of successful habit formation. He was also hundreds of years ahead of the curve for the fun and addictive trend of gamification.

Although we might wonder about both the present day author (above) as well as Franklin himself, this modern author does describe it well. I eliminated parts of his description to be fair with Franklin and his “experiment” with virtues. In the case of the Scriptures, we know that there are dozens of qualities listed and described therein. We are to apply them with the help of the Holy Spirit, according to the wisdom of God. Our lives are to be transformed and remade according to the image of Jesus. (See our website and type in “Fruit”.)

Instead of an “experiment” that knows an end, in reality the qualities of God’s Word goes on and on! Instead of seeking to find a transformation for a week, and then going on to another for the next week, we know that instead of 13 weeks, we are made like Jesus forever. Instead of thirteen virtues, we have many more. God’s ways are best, as we know, and the truly transform us by His power into a Christlikeness that will go on eternally.