Reflection: Franklin's System of Virtues

In my opinion, Benjamin Franklin was becoming a better person with his system of virtues. Dictionary.com defines virtue as "moral excellence, goodness, or rightousness" or as a "good or admirable trait in a person" (Virtue). I think he was successful at being a better person.

Franklin came up with thirteen different values that he was going to follow to become a better person. Knowing that a person just can not change over night, he came up with a plan to slowly get him to where he wanted to be(Franklin 15). His plan would take thirteen weeks, and each week he would add a new virtue. If he failed one of the weeks, which he did not think he would, he would place a check mark by it. If he was successful in not putting any checks for a whole week, he would move on to the next. It turned out that he was not as successful as he thought. He realized that he was even harder to change than he thought. He realized that it was going to take him longer than he thought to be successful. Some were harder and some were easier. For example, he had a very hard time with silence, but did not have a hard time with temperance (Franklin 15).

When Benjamin Franklin first had this idea, I am sure that he thought it was brilliant. On paper, I think it is a good idea, too. But reality is that changing is hard for people. Even dropping a bad habit takes a lot of time and self motivation, so actually changing would be even harder. To put it into perspective, think of a diet. There are millions of diets out there that only work for a small amount of the population who uses them because they do not want to change. They think they want to change and they do for awhile, but after a certain amount of time they just want to go back to their own ways.

Benjamin Franklin seemed like a very smart man. Not only did he seem like one, but he actually was one. He came up with a lot of new insights and ideas. He was always aware of the things around him. Since he kept a small journal with his plan with him all the time, he was definitely trying to complete his goal. I bet he did better with the plan than I could have. I do not have a lot of self motivation. Benjamin Franklin, who was an incredibly smart man, could not even complete his plan, so there is no way that I could even come close to being successful with it.

Even though Benjamin Franklin did not succeed, I am sure he became a much better person. His plan was made with all good intentions. He was definitely successful with becoming a better person even if he could not finish his plan. In Tuckerman's criticism, he talked about how Benjamin Franklin was a very smart man who could make amazing plans that would be awesome if people could follow through with (Bloom, Harold). He was concerned with small details that could make him a better person. Tuckerman explained how Franklin believed that small details in a person could make all the difference.

Works Cited

"Virtue | Define Virtue at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 31 Oct. 2011.

Bloom, Harold, ed. "The Character of Franklin." Benjamin Franklin, Classic Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Franklin, Benjamin. Autobiography. Harvard University, 1895. Print.