The 13 Virtues

Franklin’s 13 Virtues as Community Practice

Franklin’s virtue system (begun ca. 1726) is usually presented as private self-improvement. But five of the thirteen virtues are explicitly about behavior toward others — making them a community operating system, not just a personal checklist.

The Complete List

#	Virtue	Precept
1	Temperance	Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
2	Silence	Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
3	Order	Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
4	Resolution	Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
5	Frugality	Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
6	Industry	Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
7	Sincerity	Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and if you speak, speak accordingly.
8	Justice	Wrong none by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
9	Moderation	Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
10	Cleanliness	Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.
11	Tranquillity	Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
12	Chastity	Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation.
13	Humility	Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

Five virtues map directly to community behavior:

Silence (2): “Speak not but what may benefit others” — this is the anti-dogmatism norm in personal form. It maps directly to the Junto rule against idle dispute.
Sincerity (7): “Use no hurtful deceit” — the foundation of trust in any group.
Justice (8): “Wrong none by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your duty” — note the second clause. Justice includes what you fail to do for others.
Moderation (9): “Forbear resenting injuries” — the emotional discipline for conflict resolution.
Humility (13): “Imitate Jesus and Socrates” — for Franklin, this meant the practice of modest inquiry, not religious devotion. Both figures taught through questions, not declarations.

The Practice Method

Franklin didn’t just list virtues — he built a tracking system:

A small book with one page per virtue
A grid: 7 columns (days of the week), 13 rows (virtues)
Each fault marked with a black dot
Focus on one virtue per week, cycling through all 13 four times per year
Erasable ivory tablets so the cycle could restart

Franklin admitted he never achieved perfection:

“I was surpriz’d to find myself so much fuller of faults than I had imagined.”

But he reframed failure as progress — the process was useful even when imperfect. This is a pre-modern version of what we now call a growth mindset.

Using the Virtues in a Junto Group

Option 1: Personal practice with group accountability

Each member keeps their own virtue journal. At monthly check-ins, share which virtue you focused on and what you noticed — without requiring disclosure of specific faults.

Option 2: Group virtue of the month

The group selects one virtue per month as a shared focus. Meeting discussions reference it. “How does Moderation apply to the conflict we discussed last week?”

Option 3: Adapted for community leaders

Rewrite the precepts for your community’s context:

Virtue	Community Leader’s Precept
Silence	Facilitate more than you speak. Ask questions before making statements.
Resolution	Follow through on every commitment made in meetings.
Sincerity	Give honest feedback, even when it’s uncomfortable.
Justice	Ensure every member has equal voice, not just the loudest or most senior.
Moderation	When someone frustrates you, respond to their best possible intent.
Humility	Lead through questions. Admit when you’re wrong — publicly.

Why This Matters for Communities

Most communities have a code of conduct — rules about unacceptable behavior. Few have a practice protocol — a system for actively developing good behavior.

Franklin’s virtues fill that gap. They’re not aspirational ideals — they’re specific, observable behaviors with a built-in tracking method. A community that practices even three of them (Silence, Justice, Humility) will be materially different from one that merely prohibits bad behavior.