Benjamin Franklin — "In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue …"
In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride.
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More from Benjamin Franklin
"Many a man thinks he is buying pleasure, when he is only buying himself trouble."
"The only things certain in life are death and taxes."
"He that has a Trade, has an Office of Profit and Pleasure."
"The borrower is servant to the lender and the debtor to the creditor."
"Energy and persistence conquer all things."
About Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Polymath Founding Father, diplomat, and Poor Richard's Almanack author who helped draft the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Closely associated with John Adams (fellow Founder, Massachusetts statesman) and Thomas Jefferson (fellow Declaration drafter). For an intellectual contrast, see Thomas Hutchinson, last royal governor of colonial Massachusetts — Franklin leaked Hutchinson's loyalist correspondence to Boston in 1772 to inflame revolutionary sentiment — Hutchinson represented the colonial-aristocrat crown-loyalty that Franklin's revolution was organized to dismantle.
Details
From 'The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin', reflecting on his virtues.
Date: c. 1771-1790
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Understanding this quote
What it means
Pride is one of the hardest human impulses to control. Even when we try to appear humble, the desire for recognition and superiority lurks beneath the surface. We can suppress arrogance in words and behavior, but the internal feeling persists stubbornly, resisting our best efforts at self-improvement and genuine modesty.
Relevance to Benjamin Franklin
Franklin famously catalogued thirteen virtues he tried to master, listing humility last because he found it hardest. He admitted in his Autobiography that he could perform humble behaviors but never truly felt humble inside. As a celebrated inventor, diplomat, and writer, Franklin constantly battled personal vanity while publicly championing republican virtue and plain living.
The era
In colonial and revolutionary America, Puritan moral frameworks still emphasized conquering sinful pride as essential to Christian virtue. Enlightenment thinkers simultaneously promoted individual achievement and merit, creating tension between earned distinction and humility. Franklin navigated this contradiction personally, representing self-made success while republican ideology demanded citizens subordinate personal glory to collective civic virtue.
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