Compare And Contrast Marcus Aurelius And Benjamin Franklin

Marcus Aurelius and Benjamin Franklin are two men who during their time were dedicated to improving themselves. Though these two men lived in different time periods under different circumstances, it can be seen that they both endeavored to cultivate virtues within themselves. Additionally, the pair shared many virtues as well as the belief that everything one does should be virtuous and one should always use their reason. Along with the knowledge that no one is perfect and one can never actually achieve perfection. All in all, they both offer a set of virtues that they lived by to try and better themselves in order to live happier lives and what sets them apart is the way they implemented their virtues. Marcus Aurelius was a Roman†¦show more content†¦His method for implementing these virtues is by continuously subjecting himself to a mental interrogation where he asks himself what he is doing with his life, in order to know what kind of person he is becoming inside. Overall , Aurelius uses his journal to reflect as well as, giving himself a list of characteristics that he wants to live up to. Benjamin Franklin a founding father, inventor, and author among many other things wrote an autobiography for his son to give an account of his intriguing life. In his autobiography, Franklin made a list of thirteen virtues for his son and others to live by with the purpose of helping them to become a better person and to live a happier life. This list was in a particular order causing him to be mindful of his thoughts and emotions and create careful deliberation before each of his decisions. It should be noted, that he did not attempt to master each virtue at once, but rather, master one in the span of a week and move on to the next. It is through his virtues that he focused on self-development, he was able to laugh at himself and accept the fact that he would never be perfect, because, no one is. His method for implementing his virtues consisted of a daily routin e of asking â€Å"what good will I do today† along with â€Å"what good have I done today.† As a result, he made a