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Comparison Of Benjamin Franklin And John Woolman

Decent Essays

As F. Scott Fitzgerald states, “It’s never too late to be whoever you want to be. I hope you live a life you’re proud of...” Benjamin Franklin and John Woolman, both reflective, conscious thinkers of their time, embody this quote as they regularly pursued self-awareness and endeavoured to achieve their own valued principles. The similar themes of hyperawareness of morals and vanity, the impression of religion, wealth, and inner-outer consciousness pronounced by these two figures’ autobiography and journal are striking and, as well as the contrasting elements, merit thorough examination and explanation. The affliction of vanity appears regularly throughout both pieces of work by Franklin and Woolman. The two men seem to be hampered by this vice of pride and wishing to possess humility. Benjamin Franklin addresses this burden of appearing vain as an issue and aims to improve himself with his constituted principles. He lists “Humility” as his last virtue he aspires to develop so as to “Imitate Jesus and Socrates” (Franklin, 79). How ironic of Franklin to want to be humble, yet strive for moral perfection! Franklin so much as prides himself on this list of virtues that heavily influences his life. However, he accordingly considers pride to be one of the most difficult to overcome considering one can “disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself...” (Franklin,

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