Updating Benjamin Franklin

With independent careers as a diplomat, scientist, businessman, statesman, printer, and writer, Benjamin Franklin was the most versatile genius ever produced in North America.

He was also a wily old hypocrite.  His Autobiography—still very much worth reading today—reads like a collaboration between Andrew Carnegie and John Stuart Mill.

And yet.  There is something slithery about him, this wispy-haired little Benjamin.  One gets the feeling that he is trying to put something over on us.  Trying to rope us into his little Benjamin-esque corral.  So he can control us.  And take all the cookies from the jar for himself.

He even drew up a list of “virtues” which he claims to have aspired to and followed on a daily basis.  Maddening.  Benjamin wants to tap us on the head–tap, tap, tap–and send us out into the pitiless world armed with nothing but his “virtues”.  Well, noli me tangere, Benjamin.  I loathe your little checklist.  Here is what he says:

Temperance:  Eat not to fullness; 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 as much as you think they deserve.

Cleanliness:  Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.

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

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

Humility:  Imitate Jesus and Socrates.”

astronomer

So there we have it.  Benjamin’s little list.  And with it, he pats us on the cheeks and relegates us to slavery, while he himself does what he likes.  Uns tapinhas nas bochechas, Quintusinho. 

One could just cringe.  Because this is the same man who fled to Philadelphia from Boston at the age of fifteen to escape his brother’s tyranny, and became a fugitive in the process.  The same man who, at the court of the French king at Versailles, slept with every girl he could lay his hands on; the same man who played the role of the American rube in Europe, with his affected bear-skin cap; who hoarded money and titles like an Oriental satrap; and the same man who had several illegitimate children kept safely in the background.

But I don’t resent him for this, really.  I resent him for sending me out into the world with “virtues” that leave me naked, and ill-prepared for the hurly-burly, the stink, the sweat, and the eye-gouging gristle of life.

But, you see, that’s the game after all, isn’t it?  He wants us sniffling into a wet hanky, like Paul Elam.  Bemoaning your lot while doing nothing to improve it.  And then going back to Benjamin and Poor Richard and whomever else for precious guidance.  Long ago I broke free of you, Benjamin, and your ruinous morality.

So with my life and blood-experiences, I remedied little Benjamin.  With my own list of virtues.  My own code.  My own creed.  Nothing is so boring as metaphysics, and nothing is so important.  And so here you have it:

Temperance:  Be suspicious of any man who doesn’t drink.  He’s usually concealing something.  A great many things have been solved in this world with a good cocktail.

Silence:  I shall remain silent about silence.

Order:  Too much order, too much pedantic organizing, often creates only a dead mechanism.  I am not a mechanism.  I am not a slithery Benjamin.  I am a man.  I contain a universe within myself.  My soul–yours also–is the Axis of the World, the qutb  of  the mystics Ibn Arabi and Hallaj, around which the universe revolves.

Resolution, Frugality, Industry:  These are the sign-posts on your journey towards your ultimate purpose.  Your hunting down of your essential Blood-Spirit.  Hunt it down and harpoon it, like a white whale, until it spouts black blood.  Your mission in life is to learn your purpose, your innermost Blood-Spirit.  Nothing was ever achieved without brutal struggle and sacrifice.  Success comes when you realize no one is going to help you.

Sincerity:  You owe no duty of honesty to a scoundrel.  As Ernest Borgnine said in the 1969 film The Wild Bunch, “It’s not your word that’s important…it’s who you give it to.”

Justice:  True justice is the knowledge that my woman cannot complete me.  We are each separate, and must remain so.  There are no perfect relationships.  My friend cannot complete me.  I must complete myself.  I am the artisan of my soul.  Beware any woman who wishes to “complete” you, for she harbors the unconscious desire to dethrone you and see you roll in the mud.

Soul.  I am attracted to the Neoplatonism of Plotinus.  My soul is part of the World-Soul.  From the One emanates Intellect, which itself emanates the World Soul.  My body does not contain my soul, but rather my body was generated by my soul, which preexisted the body.  I am awash in the World-Soul.  Because I am part of the World-Soul, my own individual soul, my essence, is eternal and indestructible.  All three levels of being reside within me, and within us.  You and I.  My highest purpose is to rise up, by a study of virtue and philosophic truth, through the levels of being from Soul, through Intellect, to the One.  To achieve union with the One, we must become that complete man, that universal man, by a regimen of disciplined study and right conduct.  The greatest journey is the voyage within.  This is the ultimate Good.  To know that this world, and everything in it, is nothing but shadow, and illusion.

rembrandt-aristotle

Chastity:  Do not practice chastity.  Passion is always a virtue as long as it is sincere.  If it is insincere, it is not.  Venery is good.  Debauchery is not.  Learn the difference.

Serenity:  Moderation, tranquility, and humility will come from our knowledge of the universe within us.  Seek the gods within you.  Know, O my brother, that your soul is immortal, and you will never fear for anything, and you will carry all before you.  How to show the immortality of the soul?  Soul moves itself and matter, but it is not moved; and soul is indivisible.  As the poet Richard Watson Dixon said:

There is a soul above the soul of each,
A mightier soul, which yet to each belongs;
There is a sound made of all human speech,
And numerous as the concourse of all songs:
And in that soul lives each, in each that soul,
Tho’ all the ages are its life-time vast;
Each soul that dies, in its most sacred whole
Receiveth life that shall for ever last.

So this is my response to wispy-haired Benjamin.  Make your virtues a pulse-pounding interplay, not a dead grocery-list.    I pat you on the cheeks, Benjamin, and send you on your way.  Agora vai receber uns tapinhas nas bochechas, Benjamininho. 

Read More:  Top 14 Quotes From Robert Greene’s Mastery

28 thoughts on “Updating Benjamin Franklin”

  1. Do some reasearch, man. There’s no evidence behind the claims that he was a womanizer in France or fathered hosts of illegitimate children. He definitely had one named William who he acknowledged and then raised.
    One idiot publishes nonsense and the rest follow suit. You’re only hurting this website by spreading rumors. It was a great idea, starting the site, but too many of the writers are ridiculous hacks

    1. In 1730, while in his 20s, Franklin publicly acknowledged an illegitimate son. The mother has never been identified.
      Franklin was, by all accounts, an extremely charismatic man and an inveterate flirt. He was closely associated with many ladies, from teenage Catherine Shipley in England to Madame Helvetius in France.
      In the lusty age in which he lived, most men of wealth and property had relatively free reign for their sexual impulses: maids, servants, slaves, etc. Even a cursory review of the lives of Jefferson and Washington demonstrate this. It was a prerogative of the times, in which men had much more status and power than they do now. If you need further confirmation of this, read Samuel Pepys’s diary, in which he chronicles in detail all his amorous exploits. Men of means and power had much, much more power then than today.
      Franklin was assigned to the court of the French king for many months as an ambassador. Knowing his personality, the natural impulses of man, the mores of the times, and his prestige, it is entirely reasonable and proper to assume he had many amours. To say otherwise is folly.
      Finally, I think you missed the entire point of the article. My purpose is not to write a biographical piece on Franklin. I am simply using his list of “virtues” as a way to make a philosophical and ethical point.

        1. That was done in many times. For example, in the Roman Emperor Justinian time of rule, the Apostate, many would be doctors carved up the dead for research purposes. A nasty, smelly business to be sure.
          For Benjamin Franklin, I could care less if he womanized, and occasionally had a bastard fooled into making his social guinea pig experiments a fictional success in his own mind.
          I liken this to what old age does to us all, we get wiser as we experience. If you are God, you need no introduction. Nor do you need a guidepost to find your way. You know it, and possess both locations simultaneously at once.
          For the rest of us, our morality, intellectual endeavors, physical pursuits of youth, and the wisdom (or lack thereof) we fail or succeed in is correlated in the physics of the universe. Written in the unseen fabric of time, for all time.
          If Ben Franklin screwed around, and changed his way as he got older, what difference does it make? For what is a man who is too timid to find his limitations, but to afraid to let go of his wilder inhibitions that destroy him anything other than weak?!
          To judge him, is to judge any other man for the same thing. Hypocrisy is best judged by fellow hypocrites; for one can not easily con a con man. He knows all too well your machinations, and will call you on it for he has done so himself.
          If you perceive Franklin a liar, congratulations, it is because you recognize his traits in yourself!
          Whether he be a misunderstood saint from sinner, or hidden apostate casonova creatant extraordinaire; our country could use a few million more like him. For whether it was bedding many women from France to Virgina, or inventing and printing everything under the sun; he was not idle. Far more than I could say of most of our youth today.
          Rich, poor, or professional welfare addict.

        2. That was done in many times. For example, in the Roman Emperor Justinian time of rule, the Apostate, many would be doctors carved up the dead for research purposes. A nasty, smelly business to be sure.
          For Benjamin Franklin, I could care less if he womanized, and occasionally had a bastard fooled into making his social guinea pig experiments a fictional success in his own mind.
          I liken this to what old age does to us all, we get wiser as we experience. If you are God, you need no introduction. Nor do you need a guidepost to find your way. You know it, and possess both locations simultaneously at once.
          For the rest of us, our morality, intellectual endeavors, physical pursuits of youth, and the wisdom (or lack thereof) we fail or succeed in is correlated in the physics of the universe. Written in the unseen fabric of time, for all time.
          If Ben Franklin screwed around, and changed his way as he got older, what difference does it make? For what is a man who is too timid to find his limitations, but to afraid to let go of his wilder inhibitions that destroy him anything other than weak?!
          To judge him, is to judge any other man for the same thing. Hypocrisy is best judged by fellow hypocrites; for one can not easily con a con man. He knows all too well your machinations, and will call you on it for he has done so himself.
          If you perceive Franklin a liar, congratulations, it is because you recognize his traits in yourself!
          Whether he be a misunderstood saint from sinner, or hidden apostate casonova creatant extraordinaire; our country could use a few million more like him. For whether it was bedding many women from France to Virgina, or inventing and printing everything under the sun; he was not idle. Far more than I could say of most of our youth today.
          Rich, poor, or professional welfare addict.

        3. like you said, it was all to make a philosophical point. I am not going to be so anal as to make sure that all historical facts are accurate. The message is the point. If someone wants a history lesson, they can watch documentaries, and even these are often inaccurate. So no complaints from me, bro. Thanks for your interesting articles. I admire Franklin for the most part but it’s always interesting to hear a more critical opinion.

        4. You warmed my heart today, Joe. Thanks much. You get it, and you hit the nail on the head. It’s nice for the sake of variety to venture into esoteric or mystical literary waters. Here at ROK, we aim high…!

        5. you’re welcome. I too think there’s a LOT to learn from history. And almost always there’s more than one perspective. Nothing is ever just black or white, everything has a shade of grey. Peace

    2. realmatt, stop being a little whining bitch. You don’t have to like all the article, and I don’t agree with all of it, but Quintus offered some insights too. He lost me at the Soul part and to me some of these concepts are too abstract, but some of it are very usable, e.g. the fact that we are all separate people. There’s always something to learn. Only a moaning bitch criticizes something but acknowledges nothing good. Really, grow up. You can disagree with someone’s opinion, but this place should be a club for men, not a club for men-bitches.

  2. I believe the late Christopher Hithchens read the Benjamin Franklin autobiography as a book of satire, meant to be taken almost the opposite way. The list, included. I tried it for myself and while one could read the book in all seriousness, reading it as a giant joke is even better.
    I do believe daylight saving time is also a part of the practical joke.

    1. You do believe some ridiculous stupid shit, Franklin wasn’t a schmuck as you believe

  3. I once saw a funny graphic of Ben doing a handstand while urinating as he prescribed this as a workaround for swollen prostate.

  4. “Do as I say, not as I do” Is a Freemason mantra… Oh wait, he was a Freemason, how typical. Great post, more please.

  5. Franklin’s virtues work in a world where everyone follows them. Once upon a time, America was like that. You’re just committing the leftist crime of looking on the past with modern eyes and failing to see that anything could have been different back then.

  6. The man’s journey to find his ‘blood-spirit’ piques my interest. Could you share your historical references regarding this? Google seach for blood-spirit brings up pages and pages of World of Warcraft.

    1. Good question, man. Don’t really have any references. I sort of coined the word myself. It is meant to connote that inner, mystical force that is so deep within you, that it is in your “blood”. Think of it as a spirit force that pulses through your veins like blood. That’s what I mean.
      Glad to see someone out there gets it.

  7. ”Passion is always a virtue as long as it is sincere” I’m going to use this line. It is absolutely brilliant. Wonderful post!

    1. Thanks, brother. I hope you feel inspired to read a few of the philosophers mentioned.

    1. I’ve been thinking something similar since I first became aware of the “manosphere”. All this stuff reminds me an awful lot of Might Is Right.

  8. Is it me or is Franklin a classic case of:
    Eliminate competition by giving false advise, spread self-doubt and fear.
    Business owners give you advice on being a great worker, don’t lose your job, don’t think, don’t try to innovate, just shut up and be a good slave. Doing something different might hurt your CV.
    In this case, great advice on being beta, the more betas in this world the more puss for me, so I try to spread beta ideals.
    Great piece.

  9. I’m going through the archives of ROK and came across this. My response will probably get no traffic. Mine don’t get all that much in current articles either. In any case, I’m here to learn and this essay by QC is a grand slam home run. On many levels. Whether or not Franklin was or wasn’t a reprobate concerning women. I’ve never read anything anywhere at any time that comes so close to my philosophy for lack of a better word. I’ve tried and probably failed in my attempts to explain my view of the “soul” and it is nice to know that at least one other man on the planet views it close to the way I do. In the meantime I try in my own stumbling way to live up to the ideals elicited here. Never giving up. QC is one of the very best on this or any other Manosphere site.

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