The list of virtues that Franklin draws up suggests that he was thoughtful and systematic. He demonstrates a desire for clarity and organization in his approach to moral virtues, seeking to encapsulate a comprehensive view while keeping his definitions clear and concise. This methodical consideration reflects a reflective and reasoned mindset rather than any of the negative traits listed.
Read this passage from The Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin. The list of virtues that Franklin draws up suggests that he was _____.
“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.”
distracted and preoccupied
impulsive and unpredictable
cynical and mistr
1 answer