Benjamin Franklin Speckled Axe Research Paper
Benjamin Franklin is known for many things. Being the face of the hundred dollar bill, a writer, signing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, or even as an inventor. What many people don’t know, is that Benjamin Franklin had created what he called ‘his plan’. He followed this plan until he was 79 years old. It was at 79 that we wrote about his life. One of the stories he tells is the speckled axe. I think that the speckled axe can provide guidance to any teenager.
Benjamin Franklin's plan was for him to be the best person that he could be, by achieving moral perfection. His plan was made up of 13 different virtues; temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, chastity, tranquility and humility. These were all things that he tried to live his life by. Franklin would evaluate himself everyday, and each week he had a different virtue that he would focus on. When he had wrote about his life, a story he told was about a speckled axe. …show more content…
Order is when you let all things have their place, and let each part of your business have its time. In his book, Franklin had said this is what he struggled with the most out of all the virtues. The book said “I made so little progress in amendment, and had such frequent relapses, that I was almost ready to give up the attempt…” Franklin then told a story about his neighbor, who had wanted to buy an axe that had its surface as bright as the edge. Normally, an ax is only bright on the very edge because that is where it is the sharpest. Working on the ax is a hard job. The blacksmith wanted the axe to be everything that it could be, but the other guy was getting tired. He said “but I think that I like a speckled axe best.” When an axe is still speckled it means it is not finished yet. So the guy was saying that he likes the axe unfinished better than how the ‘perfect’ axe would have
Benjamin Franklin's plan was for him to be the best person that he could be, by achieving moral perfection. His plan was made up of 13 different virtues; temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, chastity, tranquility and humility. These were all things that he tried to live his life by. Franklin would evaluate himself everyday, and each week he had a different virtue that he would focus on. When he had wrote about his life, a story he told was about a speckled axe. …show more content…
Order is when you let all things have their place, and let each part of your business have its time. In his book, Franklin had said this is what he struggled with the most out of all the virtues. The book said “I made so little progress in amendment, and had such frequent relapses, that I was almost ready to give up the attempt…” Franklin then told a story about his neighbor, who had wanted to buy an axe that had its surface as bright as the edge. Normally, an ax is only bright on the very edge because that is where it is the sharpest. Working on the ax is a hard job. The blacksmith wanted the axe to be everything that it could be, but the other guy was getting tired. He said “but I think that I like a speckled axe best.” When an axe is still speckled it means it is not finished yet. So the guy was saying that he likes the axe unfinished better than how the ‘perfect’ axe would have