Franklin's Virtues

A bold and arduous project

In 1733, at 27, Benjamin Franklin set out to make himself a better man by method. Half a century later he told the story in the part of his Autobiography he wrote at Passy, near Paris, in 1784:

It was about this time I conceived the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection. I wish'd to live without committing any fault at any time; I would conquer all that either natural inclination, custom, or company might lead me into.

Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography, written in 1784, in Frank Woodworth Pine's edition (1916)

The little book

He chose thirteen virtues, from Temperance to Humility, and gave each a short rule. The idea of examining himself every day he took from the Golden Verses of Pythagoras, the same lines the Stoic Evening Review comes from. Then he made a chart:

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.

Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography, written in 1784, in Frank Woodworth Pine's edition (1916)

Did it work?

He gave each week to one virtue, watching it closely while the others took their chance, so one course took thirteen weeks and four courses filled a year. It did not make him perfect, and he said so:

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...

Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography, written in 1784, in Frank Woodworth Pine's edition (1916)

How the module works

Thirteen rows, one for each virtue, in Franklin's order and his spelling, and a column for each day of the week. Mark a spot for each fault, as he did, and give the week to one virtue.

The chart outlived him. In 1808, Menachem Mendel Lefin adapted it into Cheshbon HaNefesh, the method the Mussar Trait module follows.