如果你不想死後被人遺忘，那就寫一些值得人們讀的事，或者做一些值得人們寫的事吧！——本傑明·富蘭克林。

在《富蘭克林自傳》中，富蘭克林給出了一張清單，上面列出了13條美德（或是成功要素），所有的這些美德對我來說都是必要且可取的。（強烈建議大家讀讀這位偉人的自傳。）

這些美德及其戒律如下：

TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.

節制：食不過飽，飲不過量。

SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.

緘默：只說對人對己有益的話，避免閑聊。

ORDER. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.

秩序：物歸其位，事有定期。

RESOLUTION. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

決心：該做的事情一定要做，要做的事情一定做好。

FRUGALITY. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.

節儉：只為對人對己有益的事情買單，即不要浪費。

INDUSTRY. Lose no time; be always employ』d in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.

勤勉：不要浪費時間，只做有用的事情，戒除一切不必要的行為。

SINCERITY. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

誠懇：不要惡意欺騙人，思想純潔公正，講話也是如此。

JUSTICE. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

正義：不做傷害別人的事情，做有益的事情是你的責任。

MODERATION. Avoid extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

中庸：不走極端。對別人的傷害保持隱忍，將此視為應得之事。

CLEANLINESS. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.

清潔：身體、衣服及住所，力求整潔。

TRANQUILLITY. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

平靜：不要被瑣事、普通或者不可避免的事所擾。

CHASTITY. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another』s peace or reputation.

貞節：僅為健康或生育的目的進行房事。愛惜身體，不要損害自己或他人的安寧與名譽。

HUMILITY. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

謙虛：向蘇格拉底和耶穌學習。

對於如何獲得這些美德，富蘭克林的建議是：

My intention being to acquire the habitude of all these virtues, I judg』d it would be well not to distract my attention by attempting the whole at once, but to fix it on one of them at a time; and, when I should be master of that, then to proceed to another, and so on, till I should have gone thro』 the thirteen; and, as the previous acquisition of some might facilitate the acquisition of certain others, I arrang』d them with that view, as they stand above. Temperance first, as it tends to procure that coolness and clearness of head, which is so necessary where constant vigilance was to be kept up, and guard maintained against the unremitting attraction of ancient habits, and the force of perpetual temptations. This being acquir』d and establish』d, Silence would be more easy; and my desire being to gain knowledge at the same time that I improv』d in virtue, and considering that in conversation it was obtain』d rather by the use of the ears than of the tongue, and therefore wishing to break a habit I was getting into of prattling, punning, and joking, which only made me acceptable to trifling company, I gave Silence the second place.

我的目的是想養成這一切美德的習慣，所以我認為，為了不至於分散注意力，最好還是不要立刻全面去嘗試，而是在一段時期內集中精力於其中某一個。當我掌握了那項美德之後，接著再開始注意另外一項，如此這樣，直到我做到了13條為止。因為先獲得的一些美德可以方便其他美德的培養，所以我就按照這個主張把它們排列起來，就像上面的次序那樣。「節制」被我放在第一位，因為它可以使我保持頭腦冷靜和思想清楚。為了保持經常性的警惕，抵抗舊習慣不斷的吸引力和無窮無盡的誘惑力，這種冷靜的頭腦和清晰的思想是大有必要的。在獲得和養成了這項美德之後，養成「沉默」的美德就容易得多了。在改進品德的同時，我還想增進知識；而且我認為，在談話時與其用嘴，還不如用耳朵更能增進知識，因此我想打破我當時正在形成的喜歡喋喋不休、愛說俏皮話、喜歡開玩笑的習慣，這種習慣只能使我和輕浮的人為伍，因此我將「沉默」放在第二位。

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