Benjamin Franklin and Humility

In his autobiography, Franklin explains his personal virtues, a set of beliefs that can be turned into action.  One he mentions often is humility.  While he has always tried to be humble in his writing, never using words such as "certainly" or "undoubtedly", he still struggled with his pride as a great writer.  His friends had great respect for him and his ideas, but reminded him of how sure he was of himself, and how that put them off.  In his list of virtues to practice, Franklin's last is humility and he suggests to "...imitate Jesus and Socrates" (Franklin 65).  It's interesting that he mentions these two people because as a Christian and a scientist, they were very important in his life.  However much he tried to be a humble man, he still struggled, as we all do.  He argues that he can try to control his pride, but it will surface from time to time and, "...even if [he] could conceive that [he] had completely overcome it, [he] should probably be proud of [his] humility" (Franklin 72).  Humility ties into his goal of self-improvement.  This means finding one's flaws and weaknesses, trying to improve upon them, and always accepting advice and help to become a better version of yourself.  Even though people can't reach true perfection, however one defines it, it is worth it to try because one becomes a better person who can make the world better too.