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A Glimpse Into Ben Franklin's Character |
Ben Franklin is one of the great heroes of the consumer advocacy movement. Jim
Guest, CEO of Consumers Union and publisher of Consumer
Reports Magazine, was asked who would make a great CEO of Consumers Union.
His answer? Ben Franklin! Guest praised him as an inventor and publisher who cared about
people enough to always publish the best possible advice for them.Franklin believed that we can all create a path to success, no matter what our lives are like at the moment. Unusually for his time, he discarded any preconception we are naturally bad or good people. He was simultaneously a great proponent of both personal freedom and ethical living. Biographer Ormond Seavey noted that "It was always natural for Franklin to be trying on a fresh identity, as if he were putting on new clothes." Franklin knew that self-help philosophy is all about the prospect of a fuller and more exciting life, not just striving to accumulate power, wealth or even knowledge. Franklin was only nineteen years old in 1726 when he embarked on a sea voyage home from London, intent on opening up his own little print shop to serve Philadelphia's newsmen and authors. At sea Franklin had time to think deeply about personal success and how to achieve prosperity. As he put it: "It was about this time I conceived the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection. I wished to live without committing any fault at any time; I would conquer all [faults] that either natural inclination, custom, or company might lead me into. 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 of more difficulty than I had imagined. While my care was employed in guarding against one fault, I was often surprised by another..."To reduce the confusion he felt, he distilled a list of thirteen virtues from his reading of philosophy, religion and history. Some of the details may seem antiquated, but for the most part they're still valid today. He defined these virtues this way:
He found it helpful to each morning simply ask himself "What good shall I do this day?" Before he went to bed he would ask "How well have I achieved what I set out to do?" He would regularly pick one virtue from his list and concentrate on it for an entire week, trying to get as good as possible at it. So how well did he do? In his autobiography he concluded "On the whole, though I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of attaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the endeavour, a better and happier man." To many people, this is the most appealing aspect of Franklin's advice: He was an admitted failure at his own plan, and yet he became a great success by resolving each new day to do his best as he saw fit. And that just might be his most inspirational message. To this day, it inspires many people to start reflecting on what is most fulfilling to their own lives, and then live their own chosen values. Sometimes a simple story like that is better than an entire self-help book that offers so much advice, it seems more unmanageable than the hectic schedules of the people it's supposed to help. | The Life of
Ben Franklin (1706 - 1990)
Franklin thought of all his accomplishments as just doing a little more good each day. He stayed humble through it all, always remembering to give credit to others, and signing his letters simply "B. Franklin, printer." |
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