In his Autobiography, Benjamin Franklin recounts how he embarked on a self-prescribed course of moral perfection. He intended to work toward this goal by systematically attaining a set of virtues, or positive qualities; these were established in counter-distinction to faults. Franklin believes that such perfection is a reasonable goal for himself and for other human beings. He acknowledges, however, that perfection is almost certainly elusive because human nature is governed by passions and inclined toward having multiple impulses simultaneously. Nevertheless, there is a necessity for virtue because human beings should strive for self-improvement and they should avoid behaviors that could be harmful to others.

The appeal of virtue, for Franklin, lies primarily in its accomplishment as a step in his goal of being faultless:

I wished to live without committing any Fault at any time.

He began his project—which he also recorded step-by-step—by identifying the key virtues and arranging them into what seemed a logical order. He then set out to master each one in sequence. This proved to be much more difficult than he had been willing to admit. Accomplishing one often involved relapsing in regard to another. For example, “Habit took the Advantage of Inattention.” Just having the conviction that one should be virtuous was not “sufficient to prevent our slipping,” Franklin found. After establishing 13 virtues and trying his best to dedicate a week to each one, he ultimately accepted that imperfection was acceptable, and Humility should be added to his list.