The Society of Virtue
by
Timothy Yordy
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The Society of Virtue
Timothy Yordy
Copyright 2012 by Timothy Yordy
Smashwords Edition
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The Society of Virtue
INTRODUCTION
Have you been feeling as if something is missing in society today? When you look around and see nothing but greed, corruption, dishonesty, and perversions, does it make you wonder if things were always this way and if things could be different? What is missing for so many alive today is a strong work ethic, a good moral foundation, and a personal character molded by strong virtues.
There are of course many opposing views on what has brought our society to a place of moral degradation and economic decline. Some would say that the two are related to each other. While it may be helpful to know the course of history and how we have arrived in the place we are today, simply knowing what got you there won't always help you move on to where you could be.
The fact is that you bear the responsibility for your actions and the consequences of those actions. You can't control what other people do, not even your own children, so don't try. What you can do though is try to live a virtuous life. One that is built on honesty and integrity. A life that honors hard work and deals fairly with all that you come in contact with. A life lived in such a way can have not only a tremendous impact on your own life but on the lives of those around you. It is with this in mind that I wrote Society of Virtue. I cannot however take full credit for this work.
Benjamin Franklin wrote in his auto-biography that he at one time tried to live his life according to a list of 13 virtues. Pursuing one virtue per week until he had gone through all 13 of them and then starting over at the beginning. It was his goal to try and perfect his character. Ultimately he realized that perfection of character was not possible but that he was a better man for having pursued it.
Having seen the positive influence upon his own life, Franklin envisioned creating a secret society based around his list of virtues and so spread the idea to others. While Hollywood has gotten into a trend of portraying all secret societies as power hungry manipulators of world events, Franklin's vision was far different. His dream was a secret society built on improving individual lives and helping one another. He never got the chance to create his secret society however. His political responsibilities only increased with age due to the American colonies being in a bitter fight for independence from the British Empire.
What I have done is try to pick up where Ben Franklin left off. I have taken his list of thirteen virtues and created a thirteen week training course available here in this book. I have written this for anyone who would choose to pursue it. The easiest thing in life is to do nothing. Our modern way of living has ensured that. Likewise, those who would choose to approach this without any amount of commitment to stick with the course through its entirety will find that any impact on their life will be negligible.
It should also be stated that the Society of Virtue is in no way meant to idolize the memory of Ben Franklin. He was an ordinary man like everyone else. His life was full of both goodness and mistakes, as all of our lives are. What made him extraordinary was how he chose to live his life. He tried to keep public attention off of him even as his actions were shaping early American society. The Society of Virtue training course however is based on his list of thirteen virtues and so necessarily Franklin is mentioned numerous times throughout the thirteen weeks. It would be good to view his life as an example of what yours could be rather than dwell on how great he was.