Benjamin Franklin was a smarty pants.

I think Benjamin Franklin's plan to arrive at moral perfection is a good example of why he was a good rationalist. Not only was his method of doing this very reasonable, it also had nothing to do with God. A Puritan would not have thought he could reach moral perfection because of the concept of original sin. It would most likely be considered blasphemous in Puritan culture to try and achieve moral perfection; only God is perfect. Benjamin Franklin, though, thinks he can attain perfection all by himself, with a well thought out plan. "It was about this time that I conceived the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection. I wished to live without committing any fault at any time ..." He goes on to explain his method of doing this, "My intention being to acquire the habitude of all these virtues, I judged it would be well not to distract my attention by attempting the whole at once, but to fix it on one of them at a time, and when I should be master of that , then to proceed to another..." It's all very reasonable, except I don't think anybody can ever be truly faultless. everybody screws up. We're all flawed. I admire Mr. Franklin for trying though.