In Arriving at Perfection, an excerpt from his Autobiography, Benjamin Franklin lays out a plan for his own self-improvement.

Franklin was a conscious and conscientious perfectionist. His little essay on self-improvement reflects the enlightenment ideals of his time with their emphasis on reason and progress. But it also reflects an older tendency in American culture: the tendency toward self-examination and self-correction, a meditative cast of mind Franklin inherited from his Puritan ancestors. Franklin weds these two tendencies toward self-examination and toward selfimprovement, toward the moral and the practical. Franklins goal for what he calls this bold and arduous Project is to live each day without committing any faults. As a rationalist, he sees no reason why he shouldnt be able to live according to a standard of moral propriety. He comes to realize, however, that there are many ways he can lapse from his high standard through habit, carelessness, inclination, and bad example

It was about this time I conceiv'd the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection. I wish'd to live without committing any fault at any time; I would conquer all 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 bad imagined. While my care was employ'd in guarding against one fault, I was often surprised by another; habit took the advantage of inattention; inclination was sometimes too strong for reason. I concluded, at length, that the mere speculative conviction that it was our interest to be completely virtuous, was not sufficient to prevent our slipping; and that the contrary habits must be broken, and good ones acquired and established, before we can have any dependence on a steady, uniform rectitude of conduct. For this purpose I therefore contrived the following method. In the various enumerations of the moral virtues I had met with in my reading, I found the catalogue more or less numerous, as different writers included more or fewer ideas under the same name. Temperance, for example, was by some confined to eating and drinking, while by others it was extended to mean the moderating every other pleasure, appetite, inclination, or passion, bodily or mental, even to our avarice and ambition. I propos'd to myself, for the sake of clearness, to use rather more names, with fewer ideas annex'd to each, than a few names with more ideas; and I included under thirteen names of virtues all that at that time occurr'd to me as necessary or desirable, and annexed to each a short precept, which fully express'd the extent I gave to its meaning.

These names of virtues, with their precepts, were 1. Temperance. Eat not to dullness; 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 employ'd 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 injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty. 9. Moderation. Avoid extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve. 10. Cleanliness. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation. 11. Tranquility. 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.
Analysis Franklin's plan to attain perfection astonishes the modern reader for many reasons, among them the assumptions on which such a plan was based. For our author assumed not only that man is perfectible but also that the perfecting can be completed fairly quickly. Franklin assumed that man is reasonable, that through his reason he can control himself, and that he can resolve, at a given moment, to unlearn "bad habits" of thought and action and substitute good ones. He also assumed that what one should do in any given situation, the kind of action "good habits" would dictate, would be easy to identify. Franklin's view of man lacks the complexity one acknowledges in a post-Freudian world. But if he appears at points in-tolerably optimistic about human nature, he also acknowledges his failure to attain perfection with a modern, ironic sense of humor that still makes him likable. Having seen that perfection would never be his, he decided that such a condition "might be a Kind of Foppery in Morals, which if it were known would make me ridiculous; that a perfect Character might be attended with the Inconvenience of being envied and hated; and that a benevolent Man should allow a few Faults in himself, to keep his Friends in Countenance."

Franklin always assumed that virtue was worth pursuing because of its practical benefits, not because of some abstract worth. Order, resolution, and industry, for example, he felt would lead to affluence and independence. And once these last two qualities were achieved, sincerity and justice would be easier to afford. His approach to specific virtues was therefore a practical one. In learning silence, he allowed himself to speak what would benefit him, and in learning frugality, to incur expense that would do him good. It is not surprising, when the spirit behind this list is understood, that the original group of twelve virtues includes both temperance and moderation. For Franklin obviously believed that even one's virtues should be cultivated within moderate bounds, in order to foster happiness, and never as ends in themselves. His questionable worldview put aside, Franklin's list impresses on a purely literary level. His explanatory maxims are models of well-turned phrases: pointed, concise, clear, and memorable as balanced aphorisms. If the list suggests why Franklin is no longer consulted as a philosopher, it also illustrates why he is still admired as a prose stylist.
Continually obsessed with self-betterment, Franklin consents "to the bold and arduous project of arriving at Moral Perfection." He creates a list of 13 virtues that are, in order: Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquility, Chastity, and Humility. He sets about creating a weekly plan by which he will develop one virtue per week, eventually perfecting them all. He focuses on one virtue per week, keeping track of his successes and failures in a small book he keeps with him at all times. He also develops a daily planner to help him acquire Order. Franklin finds many faults at first, but over time he manages to correct most of them. He finds that Order is the most difficult for him to acquire, partly because Franklin's good memory makes Order not as necessary. However, Franklin ends up being pleased with his inability to perfect all his virtues, deciding, "a speckled axe is best....A benevolent man should allow a few faults in himself, to keep his friends in countenance." Franklin writes that although he never became perfect, he did become happier. He writes about his hope that all his descendants who read his Autobiography will derive the same enjoyment and benefits from acquiring these virtues. Franklin adds that the list of virtues are likely to appeal to people of all religions. They are not geared specifically at any one particular faith because Franklin stresses their utilitarian benefits rather than their moral benefits. He mentions that Humility was added last when his friends started to complain that he was too arrogant. To make himself seem more humble, he used such phrases as "I conceive" or "I apprehend" rather than "certainly, undoubtedly," etc. Franklin writes that he afterwards started enjoying conversations more. However, he found his pride impossible to vanquish. In fact, he sardonically mentions that he became so humble so as to be proud of his own humility.