Virtues: Good Habits to Form

Virtues are Habits of the Heart. They point me to the "good life" where genuine happiness is the ultimate end. We definitely need virtues to make a comeback today. As a young man, Benjamin Franklin picked 13 virtues he believed would help him mature and be responsible. He made a list and practiced these virtues daily.

The 13 virtues and his objectives were:

TEMPERANCE: Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation

SILENCE: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.

ORDER: Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.

RESOLUTION: Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

FRUGALITY: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.

INDUSTRY: Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.

SINCERITY: Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

JUSTICE: Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

MODERATION: Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

CLEANLINESS: Tolerate no un-cleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.

TRANQUILLITY: Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

CHASTITY: Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.

HUMILITY: Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

A few years ago I decided to pull a "Benjamin Franklin" and devise my own lists of virtues. The virtues I picked helped me with some troubling areas of my life that I needed balance. One area that needed balance was between "joking around" too much and being "sober minded." I needed to practice keeping quiet and so "Silence" and "Moderation" became a couple of the virtues I picked to practice.

Once a habit is formed, it becomes embedded in your character and then it pre-disposes you to act accordingly. Virtues, as habits, govern your "mind", your "will", and your "soul". This is why virtues are good habits to form.

So pull a "Benjamin Franklin" yourself: find a list of virtues and pick a few that you can practice daily. Give yourself 3 months practicing these few virtues and see how your life is different.