Chapter 3

We Assume Asking for Help Makes Us Less Likable

Founding Father Benjamin Franklin was, among other things, a very observant fellow. Some of his observations led to remarkable inventions, like the lightning rod, bifocals, the Franklin stove, the catheter, and swim fins. (Yes, swim fins. Really. You can look it up.) He was also a keen observer of his fellow man, identifying and extolling what he believed to be the thirteen core character virtues that would lead, once mastered, to “moral perfection, ” including temperance, order, frugality, and moderation. (He recorded his successes and failures at mastering each virtue in a daily journal and noted that he was “surprised to find myself so much fuller of faults than I had imagined.” You ...

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