The Daily Optimist
January 10  ·  Resilience

What Did Gandhi and Franklin Have in Common?

What principles did the great optimists share across time?
— Mahatma Gandhi
Cross-figure theme from the wall

Benjamin Franklin kept a small notebook with 13 virtues — things like Temperance, Order, Industry, Humility. Every week he picked one to focus on. He tracked his failures with a dot. He said he was 'aiming at moral perfection' and knew he would fall short. Gandhi did something similar: a daily schedule so consistent it was practically monastic. Both men understood something the rest of us resist: who you are is what you practice. Not what you intend. What you practice.

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