Benjamin Franklin was an outstanding leader who could turn the smallest project into a citywide success. One of such success stories was the establishment of the public library in Philadelphia. Being a desperate book lover, Franklin found it astounding that there was no bookstore in the city, as in the only bookseller’s store, “they sold only paper, etc., almanacs, ballads, and a few common school-books” (Franklin, p. 78). Because of it, he organized a book club in one of the little rooms of this store driven by the idea of sharing books with other citizens of Philadelphia. As all of the club members left their books in this little room, it came to Franklin that the club could become a library. Finding around fifty rich people, especially young tradesmen, he turned this dream into reality. As the library was opened, it became easier to find more willing contributors to finance the project. As a result, it contributed to the intellectual development of the local society, as “reading became fashionable” and “people became better acquainted with books … and more intelligent than people of the same rank generally are in other countries” (Franklin, p. 78). As for Franklin himself, establishing the first library in Philadelphia helped him to improve his knowledge and satisfy his only amusement at that time – reading (Franklin, p. 79).
Franklin’s strive for constant personal development became the foundation of his quest for moral perfection he began at the age of twenty-two (B. McKay and K. McKay, p. 231). It was based on the system of thirteen moral virtues. He made this list himself by reading as many authors and works on moral perfection as he could find. Therefore, he developed a unique system of values, which would drive him through the path of his life and make committing to these virtues a habit. The thirteen virtues are the following: temperance in eating and drinking; silence (speaking to benefit others); order in one’s place and business; resolution to performing all promises; frugality (wasting nothing); industry (losing no time for unnecessary actions); sincerity; justice; moderation (avoiding extremes); cleanliness (body, home, and clothes); tranquility (avoiding disturbances at trifles); chastity (using venery only for health and offspring); and humility (B. McKay and K. McKay, p. 231-232; Franklin, pp. 83-84).
Having developed the system of moral virtues, Franklin made a separate book for marking successes and failures. He spent one week turning one of the virtues at a time into a habit. Franklin had the schemes for each virtue. Keeping in mind that he had followed this path for more than fifty-five years, it can be said that the quest was another success. Still, there were some virtues he found challenging such as order because of being not accustomed to it and having a good memory that contradicted with the use of the scheme (Franklin, p. 88). He even said that “a speckled ax was best” (Franklin, p. 89), thus pointing to the inability of most people to reach perfection and give up effort facing challenges.
Still, giving up was not about Franklin. It can be said that religion, especially avoiding religious sects, helped him to succeed. Although he identified humility – “Imitate Jesus and Socrates” (Franklin, p. 84), – “there was in it [the system of virtues] no mark of any of the distinguishing tenets of any particular sect” (Franklin, p. 90). Therefore, it is evident that being a non-religious person helped him to develop a unique system of virtues, which “might be serviceable to people in all religions” (Franklin, p. 90) because it ignores the postulates of all of them.
Works Cited
Franklin, Benjamin. Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Edited by Charles Eliot, Gutenberg, 2016.
McKay, Brett, and Kate McKay. The Art of Manliness. How Books, 2014.