Ben Franklin Virtues

There are some things that you admire anybody for doing.  Benjamin Franklin started a task and than finished that task.  His task was not a one minute, one hour, or even one day task, his task was around a year.  It took him so long to finish what he was trying to do but he focused and finished the job.  His task to me sounded pretty boring too.  Sitting there and working on thirteen virtues each day for who knows how many hours does not sound fun to me.  Franklin worked so hard to figure out how he should treat each virtue and how that related to God and his daily life.  For that I respect him.  You see so many people start a job and never finish it.  I fall under this category, we all probably do, and our tasks are probably easier and more fun, but Ben Franklin perservered through the difficulties and finished the task on hand.
"Its fame, however, had become so thoroughly identified with American institutions and life, that an artistic memorial is far more important as a tribute of gratitude and reverence, than as a method of keeping his example before our minds or his image in our hearts. Yet it is, on all accounts, a subject of congratulation, that at length we have, in the city of Franklin's birth, and from the hands of one of her own sons, a statue of the patriot and philospher worthy of the man and the place" (Tuckerman 1).  Tuckerman right here shows his feelings for Franklin.  He really enjoyed reading what Franklin had to say. The thirteen virtues were really cool to see.  You got to see how an intelligent man viewed each one and you got to see ways to relate that to how you live your life.  The thirteen virtues are temperance, silence, resolution, order, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and humility (Franklin 149).  I do not know if he put any in front of the other, but there are some that I think may be a little more important to me than some of the others. Resolution: "Resolution is the firm determination to accomplish what you set out to do. In this post, we looked at the story of Alexander the Great conquering the island of Tyre as an example of manly resolution. From Alexander’s conquest at Tyre, we extracted four ways to help improve your resolve in life" (Mckay).  I like this one because it basically says do what you have set out to do.  This also goes, with Franklin because he set out to make the thirteen virtues and he did.  It applies to myself with this blog.  I really do not want to do it, but I set out to do it so I must finish.
The next one that probably is my favorit is frugality: "American’s savings rate is negative. That’s right, Americans are spending more than they’re saving. With the sluggish economy and soaring gas prices, practicing frugality is quickly coming back into style. While there are countless blogs that go into detail about how to live frugally, it all comes down to one principle: spend less than you earn."  People are spending money on things that they do not need, and it is especially bad time to do this in this economy, but people do it.  They are so worried that they will not be cool if they do not have the newest and hottest item, that it forces them to spend money on something they really do not need.  Sometimes I do this, but I try not to.  People need to be happy with what they have!  There are more that I like but those are my two favorite.

Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Henry Altemus, 1895. Print.

"Being Virtuous: Benjamin Franklin’s 13 Virtues of Life | The Art of Manliness." The Art of Manliness | Men’s Interests and Lifestyle. Web. 02 Nov. 2011. <http://artofmanliness.com/2008/06/01/the-virtuous-life-wrap-up/>.

Tuckerman, Henry T. "The Character of Franklin." Facts on File. Web. 30 Oct. 2011.