Journal #14

If I was Benjamin Franklin's apprentice I would have had an extraordinary life. One thing I would assume that I would have learned would have been all of Franklin's virtues of temperance, or not being a glutton, silence, or only talking when required, order, or being extremely obsessive compulsive about everything, Resolution, or making goals and achieving them, Frugality, or not doing something unless it benefits someone, industry, or making use of all the time given to you, sincerity, or being polite and not speaking out of line, justice, or doing what is right, moderation, or not being excessive all the time, cleanliness, or being clean, tranquility, or not freaking out over every small detail, chastity, or only for health or reproduction, or humility, or simply being like all the great religious icons. Having all these virtues implanted in me whilst being Franklin's apprentice, I would probably be some sort of virtue filled child with a strange knack for telling everyone about the virtues that I would know so well. I might be quite obnoxious to anyone I did this to which would contradict the virtue of silence, but remaining silent would contradict the virtue of frugality. It is a strange system that is nearly impossible to master, and I would probably fail at comprehending and doing all the virtues all the time, meaning that I would be a horrible apprentice. Another thing I would gain is that I would probably become a decent author as Franklin did his fair share of writing, or I would just be horrid at writing anything and fail at everything he tried to teach me. Lets assume that I succeeded at becoming a superb author and after my apprenticeship I wrote some wonderful novel or something that was so good people would continue to nit pick my writing style for all eternity. And that is why I will never become an author, for I fear people analyzing my unique life style that would probably be perfect if I was whats his face's apprentice.