In his Autobiography, Franklin explains that he felt he needed to be a more moral person, so he set up a self-improvement plan based on thirteen virtues of moral perfection. He practiced one virtue for a week and then moved on to the next. Franklin created a little virtue book for himself in which he took notes on his progress and evaluated his success. He reports that he gave up on the plan after a time, but carried the little book with him for many years. to Wit and Wisdom: Self-improvement