“I wished to live without committing any fault at any time. So I conceived the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection.” — Ben Franklin (1730, age 24)
Happy Thanksgiving!
On this day of gratitude for our blessings, let me start with a story. Last Sunday, a brother stood up and made reference to Benjamin Franklin’s list of 13 virtues that he came up with in his “Autobiography.”
It is this list that caused historians to add another first to Franklin’s achievements: In addition to being the first scientific American, the country’s first diplomat, the first postmaster general and first governor of Pennsylvania, he is also known as America’s first self-help guru.
The church member said that he chose the virtue “compassion” as the one to concentrate on in 2025. He spent the year having compassion on the less fortunate by volunteering in charitable work.
Franklin’s List of 12 Virtues
What’s ironic about his choice is that “compassion” is not one of Franklin’s 13 virtues!
In 1730, at the tender age of 24, Franklin decided to make a list of virtues to live by, what he called his “plan of life.” The year 1730 was life-changing for the founding father. In 1729, he engaged in some risky business: He purchased the struggling newspaper the Pennsylvania Gazette, engaged in the “hard-to-govern passions” and sired an illegitimate child, William. A year later, he entered a common law marriage with Deborah Read, whose husband had abandoned her. Ben convinced his new wife to raise William as her own. And thus he dealt with the “errata” of his life.
It was time for Franklin — always ambitious — to seek repentance and decided to pursue “moral perfection.”
He came up with 12 virtues: temperance, silence, order, resolution, fruality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility and chastity.
Franklin had no problem with some of the virtues. He was famous for his silence, industry and thrift, but not for orderliness, temperance or chastity. He worked up a chart, a weekly system of improving his performance in overcoming his weaknesses. He found it almost impossible to break old habits.
His critics made their own list of Franklin peccadilloes: cunning, secretive, opportunistic, hedonist, religious heretic and above all, vain.
What’s interesting about his list is that they are all self-centered, something Ayn Rand would come up with.
He failed to mention the most famous Christian virtues: forgiveness, repentance, gratitude and charity — or compassion.
He also left off one of the trinity of virtues in his 1757 essay, “The Way to Wealth,” that is, “prudence” (along with industry and thrift).
Adding #13 to the List of Virtues
He showed the list of 12 virtues to a Quaker friend, who bluntly told him that he was generally thought to be proud, overbearing and insolent in conversation, a know-it-all.
To Franklin’s credit, he determined to change his manner. “I determined endeavouring to cure myself, if I could, of this vice or folly among the rest, and I added humility to my list.” He added number 13 to the list: “Humility: Imitate Jesus and Socrates.”
See chapter 73, “Franklin’s 13 Virtues,” in my book, “The Greatest American.”
Franklin on Inventions, Charity and Public Works
When Franklin retired at the age of 42 in 1748, his virtues changed again, and he focused on scientific experiments and practical inventions: the Franklin stove, the lightning rod, the bifocals, all useful to mankind.
He also pursued civil duties, engaging in voluntary organizations and raised funds to create the first public library, the first public hospital, the first Negro School, an orphanage and the University of Pennsylvania and run for the legislature.
He also contributed to various protestant churches, synagogues and Masonic lodges.
And at the end of his life, he served as a diplomat and member of the Continental Congress, signing the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Paris and the U.S. Constitution. What a man!
He once wrote to his mother, saying that when he died, he would “rather have it said, ‘He lived usefully,’ than, ‘He died rich’.”
‘A Man of Flesh, Not Marble’
Of all the founding fathers, Franklin is the most approachable, one you could sit down and have a beer with. He felt comfortable talking to either a janitor or the King of France, to a businessman or a scientist, to an athlete or a female model. He said, “I find I love company, a chat, a laugh, a glass and even a song, and relish the grave observations and wise sentences of old men’s conversations.”
Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine, says: “If I could go back in time and meet with any world historical figure, even more than Aristotle, Galileo, Newton, Jefferson or Darwin, I would love nothing more than spending an evening dining and drinking with Benjamin Franklin, one of the most intellectually diverse thinkers and doers of all time, and who did as much as anyone to create the modern world.”
Here are some other great Franklin quotes that we can all agree on.
On today’s trade war, he said, “Commerce among nations as well as between private persons should be fair and equitable, by equivalent exchanges and mutual supplies. The taking unfair advantage of a neighbor’s necessities, tho’ attended with a temporary success, always breeds ill blood.”
On racism, he said this: “I visited the Negro School in Philadelphia and was on the whole much pleased, and from what I then saw, have conceived a higher opinion of the natural capacities of the black race, than I had ever before entertained. Their apprehension seems as quick, their memory as strong and their docility in every respect equal to that of white children.”
Franklin was the first president of the Pennsylvania Society to abolish slavery.
On religion, who would not agree with this view: “Doubtlessly, faith has its use in the world; I do not desire to see it diminished, nor would I endeavor to lessen it in any man. But I wish it were more productive of good works than I have generally seen: I mean real good works, works of kindness, charity, mercy and public spirit; not holiday-keeping, sermon-reading or hearing, performing church ceremonies or making long prayers, filled with flatteries and compliments, despised even by wise men and much less capable of pleasing the Deity.”
Amen!
My book is unique. It’s not a typical biography, but 80 short chapters on how you can apply Franklin’s life and works to today’s hot issues — personal finance, investing, business, dealing with enemies, how to win friends and influence people and what Franklin would think of war, trade, inflation, taxes, discrimination and even sex!
Here Is My ‘Coffee Table’ Proposal
So here’s my proposal: Buy my book and display it on the coffee table in your living room! My wife has done this, and it’s a perfect symbol of the greatness of America.
Encourage your friends and relatives to do the same, and see how visitors react to the book. I’m sure they will nod in agreement that Ben Franklin is somebody we can all be proud of.
Buy My New Book and Get a Free, Rare Franklin Stamp!
The U.S. Post Office has issued more Franklin stamps than any other, with the possible exception of George Washington. In 1847, the Post office issued its first paper stamp, the five-cent Franklin stamp. In 1947, it issued a stamp with both Washington and Franklin together, a true rarity.
Over the years I’ve collected a large number of Franklin stamps, including the famous ½ cent! See below inside “The Compleated Autiography.”
Each autographed copy of THE GREATEST AMERICAN will include a rare Franklin stamp, making my book a collectible!
All book orders received today will be autographed and dated “Thanksgiving 2025.”
Order your copy today at a discount of $24 each ($19 for additional copies) at www.skousenbooks.com. I autograph every copy, will include a rare Franklin stamp with each book and will be dated “Thanksgiving 2025.” All books are mailed free of charge inside the United States.
Plan on Coming to the World’s Fair of Liberty This July!
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. While visiting family, consider making plans to attend next year’s FreedomFest. It will be most memorable!
Special Announcement: We have completely revamped our FreedomFest website to introduce the most exciting, revolutionary FreedomFest ever. We’re calling it THE WORLD’S FAIR OF LIBERTY! Reserve the dates now: July 8-11, 2026, at Caesars Forum Convention Center in Las Vegas, in celebration of the 250th anniversary of two major events: Thomas Jefferson‘s declaration of political independence (July 4, 1776) and the publication of “The Wealth of Nations,” Adam Smith’s declaration of economic independence. Check out our new website here: http://www.freedomfest.com. The first 400 to register pay our lowest price ever, but it won’t last for long. Our keynote speakers are lining up already: Steve Forbes, John Mackey, Kennedy of Fox News… and more than 200 speakers, 300 exhibits and over 2,000 attendees. Even George Washington, Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson are expected to appear…! A brand new Anthem film festival, three-day financial freedom conference, special pavilions of the major freedom organizations and think tanks, the comedy show and an unforgettable Saturday night celebration on July 11 in Vegas. The most memorable FreedomFest ever!
If you’ve never been to FreedomFest and always wanted to come, this is the one to attend. As Steve Forbes says, “I changed my schedule to attend all four days!” See you in Vegas!
Good investing, AEIOU,
Mark Skousen
You Nailed it! — Celebrating America’s Divine Destiny
by Mark Skousen
“A republic, if you can keep it.” — Ben Franklin
Last Sunday, my wife Jo Ann and I participated in a Sunday fireside in Queen Creek, Arizona, celebrating “America’s Divine Destiny.”
Around 300 patriotic Americans showed up to show appreciation for America as the promised land and the American Dream. Jo Ann and I talked about our book, “There Were Giants in the Land: Episodes in the Life of W. Cleon Skousen.” Afterwards, we sold 50 copies of the Giants book, and a number of people bought multiple copies. Cleon was a popular speaker in Arizona back in the 1980s and 1990s.
The event was sponsored by the National Center for Constitutional Studies, formerly the Freemen Institute that my uncle organized. It was held at the Heritage Academy auditorium.
I requested that the Heritage Academy student choir sing the 4th verse of our national anthem. Have you ever heard it? It’s the only verse that includes the words “In God we trust.” Here it is:
O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their lov’d home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with vict’ry and peace may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the power that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto – “In God is our trust,”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Congressman Andy Biggs was our keynote speaker. He is running for the next governor of Arizona.
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The program ended with a panel on the topic, “Is the Constitution hanging by a thread?” Members of the panel included attorney Shane Krauser (also our superb MC), Earl Taylor (president of NCCS), Congressman Andy Biggs and Jo Ann Skousen. All agreed that the Constitution is under attack, but still has many features that has kept America free, especially the Bill of Rights.
Afterwards, many attendees expressed excitement about next year’s FreedomFest and attending “The World’s Fair of Liberty.” Hope to see you there: http://www.freedomfest.com.
