The Autobiography
by Benjamin Franklin
At age 65, Franklin wrote about the first 24 years of his life for his son, William.
It was about this time I thought of the bold and difficult project of arriving at moral perfection. I wished to live without committing any fault any time; I would conquer all that nature, habit or company might lead me to. As I knew, or thought I knew, what was right and wrong, I did not see why I might not always do the one and avoid the other. But I soon found I had undertaken a task more difficult than I had imagined. While I was carefully guarding against one fault, I was often surprised by another; habit took the advantage of inattention; nature was sometimes too strong for reason. I concluded at length that just because we wanted to be perfect was not enough to prevent our slipping; and that the bad habits must be broken and good ones acquired and established before we can depend on a steady, uniform conduct.
So I made a list of virtues that at that time I thought were necessary or desirable. My list of virtues contained at first but twelve, but a Quaker friend kindly informed me that I was generally thought proud. He said my pride showed itself frequently in conversation; I was not content with being in the right when discussing any point, but was overbearing, and rather insolent. He convinced me of this by mentioning several examples. I determined to try to cure myself, if I could, and I added Humility to my list.
In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases; it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself. You will see it, perhaps, often; for, even if I could think that I had completely overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility.
Adapted from Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography, 1771.
1
Select the correct answer.
Why does Franklin write down the virtues he wants to acquire?
A.
He thinks he'll be more likely to accomplish them.
B.
He wants his son to know what virtues are important.
C.
He wants to impress his friend with his humility.