Benjamin Franklin's 13 Virtues – The Guide to Self-Improvement | Hacker News Reader

Benjamin Franklin's 13 Virtues – The Guide to Self-Improvement

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Pretty sure Franklin's effort to cultivate these virtues in himself lasted like a couple weeks. These articles never mention that.

It is hard to imagine one could become so prominent, accomplished, and well respected without having good habits and virtues. It would be odd he would share virtues that were not attributable to his personal success.

It's interesting that there are so many people accuse Benjamin Franklin of being a man who lacked moral values, but the evidence they provide doesn't really seem to support their conclusions about the man.

I know my comment was ambiguous, but I didn't mean it as a slam on Ben Franklin. It makes me like him more. Most relatable founding father ever.

He did admit in his writings that living up to those virtues, especially humility, was very difficult for him, as it would be for any of us.

Reference?

His autobiography.

Yeah I think this part is what I was remembering: http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/autobiography/page41.htm

Where he says:

* I spent all this time making this spreadsheet to record all my moral failings

* The plan was to focus on 1 virtue a week, over and over, til I had no marks on my spreadsheet

* But I basically just did it once the first year, then once over the next few years then said screw it.

Then he concludes that the whole scheme might've been "moral foppery" (lol) and "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". Just thought it was funny. And also counter to all these "be your best self/be more productive/get blood transfusions" self-helpy blogposts.

I've done quite a bit of research on who Benjamin Franklin was and whether he was ultimately a moral character. His youth was documented as being tainted by sexual misconduct, but all the evidence I've seen shows that he intentionally matured morally as he aged.

Is there anyone who has more than hearsay regarding Benjamin Franklin being sexually permissive while he served as an ambassador or in other settings? I haven't seen anything more than opinionated reading into his letters and intentional character assassinations.

> being sexually permissive while he served as an ambassador or in other settings

Who cares if he dated around? Seriously, he was a human being. Human beings are, by nature, sexual creatures. Stop treating this like it's some illegal, shameful thing. (note: if he abused women, then that's something entirely different)

If Benjamin Franklin were unfaithful to his wife (he claimed near the end of his life that he wasn't), it would make him a hypocrite and dishonest.

Sexual promiscuity was a serious thing in the United States until the 1960s. The lack of regard modern society has for being faithful doesn't diminish the importance of Benjamin Franklin being faithful to his wife.

I think the focus should be less on the specific virtues that Franklin held - and mo0re that he had them in the first place.

defining your virtues or your values like that, helps you make decisions. If/when in doubt, what do your values say?

Here are mine:

1. Social

2. health

3. Creativity

4. Leadership

5. Strength

6. Nature

7. Thoughtfulness

8. Love

9. Science

each of these have sub values that are umbrella'd under the broader category; and some overlap.

But while these are my values, they are not absolute. I still eat ice cream, for example. That doesn't change health as a value of mine - but it is an opportunity for reflection.

#12 Chastity

Ben Franklin was a notorious ladies man who couldn't keep his pants zipped, even as an old codger.

https://www.biography.com/news/benjamin-franklin-ladies-man-...

The biographical sketch you linked to references Benjamin Franklin's wife's name as Rebecca more than once. His wife was named Deborah.

Is it possible this biographer (and lots of others more concerned about gossip than reality) missed some other important facts about the man?

This kind of character bashing is not unique to Benjamin Franklin. Ty Cobb is another example that comes to mind: https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/who-was-ty-cobb-the-history-w...

Frankly if you were to ask anyone their virtues what often comes to mind is their personal aspirations not necessarily the habits they mastered.

I think my comment is being misinterpreted. I am not saying Franklin lacked virtues. I am suggesting he wrote this list down and it persists because of his fame, but should not be presumed to be an accurate reflection of his actual lifestyle.

The character of Benjamin Franklin is actually something that has some significance for me and my family. I named one of my boys after him. As a Latter-day Saint who believes that having a high commitment to sexual morality is integral to one's character, when my wife and I picked the name for our son, we were concerned about rumors we'd heard about the character of Benjamin Franklin, so we did extensive research.

I read through dozens of articles that had reached with confidence the conclusion that Benjamin Franklin was a ladies' man and sexually promiscuous, but I didn't find anything in his (nor among his contemporaries) letters and other communication with women in France or elsewhere that would lead to that conclusion except when authors made big leaps logically and inserted lots of their own bias.

One of quotes I found as I was researching Benjamin Franklin was this one from Ezra Taft Benson:

When one casts doubt about the character of these noble sons of God, I believe he or she will have to answer to the God of heaven for it.

Here is the whole speech for context: https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/ezra-taft-benson_gods-hand-na...

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