Ben Franklin's 13 Virtues

  1. Temperance - Eat not to dulness. Drink not to elevation.
  2. Silence - Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself. Avoid trifling conversation.
  3. Order - Let all your things have their places. Let each part of your business have its time.
  4. Resolution - Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve.
  5. Frugality - Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself. i.e., waste nothing.
  6. Industry - Lose no time. Be always employed in something useful. Cut off all unnecessary actions.
  7. Sincerity - Use no hurtful deceit. Think innocently and justly; and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
  8. Justice - Wrong none by doing unjuries or omittting benefites that are your duty.
  9. Moderation - Aviod extremes. Forbear resening injuries so much as you think they deserve.
  10. Cleanliness - Tolerate no uncleannesss in body, clothes or habitation.
  11. Tranquillity - Be not disturbed at trifles or at accidents common or unavoidable.
  12. Chastity - Rarely use venery, but for health or offspring - never to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.
  13. Humility - Imitate Jesus and Socrates. Forbear all direct contradiction to the sentiments of others and all positive assertion of my own. I even forbade myself agreeable to... the use of every word or expression in the language that implied a fixed opinion, such as "certainly," "undoubtdly," etc., and I adopted instead of them, "I conceive," "I apprehended," or "I imagine" a thing tobe so or so, or "It so appears to me at present."