How Ancient Ethics Shaped the American Mind

It’s the early 1700s in Philadelphia, and Benjamin Franklin is doing something scandalous: he’s not at church.

Instead, he’s in his study with a notebook, reflecting on his personal behavior and silently repeating ancient maxims to himself:

“Control anger.” “Do not speak ill of others.” “Honor the gods and your parents.”

They’re not from the Bible. They’re from Pythagoras.

The Golden Verses

Franklin, in his Autobiography, openly credited Pythagoras for inspiring his own system of self-discipline. The Golden Verses of Pythagoras, a collection of ethical precepts written in poetic form.  

The verses taught simplicity, self-control, integrity, and reverence for harmony, not only between humans, but with the universe itself.

Franklin developed his own version: the now-famous “13 Virtues,” which include: temperance, silence, order, frugality, and humility.

Each week, he focused on one, tracking his failures with a dot system. The goal? Inner harmony. The method? Ancient.

He even wrote:

“Imitate Jesus and Socrates.”

But it was Pythagoras who gave him the blueprint.

An American Vegetarian

Pythagorean influence ran deeper than philosophy for Franklin; it also shaped what he ate. He became a vegetarian, partly out of ethical commitment and partly because it was cheaper (and allowed him to buy more books).

Vegetarianism, practiced by Pythagoras and likely tied to beliefs in reincarnation and compassion, was radical in ancient Greece. Imagine in colonial America? Yet here was Franklin, centuries later, embodying the same idea: that what we consume affects not just our bodies, but our souls.

Beyond Greece: The Buddhist Connection

Modern scholars have uncovered fascinating overlaps between Pythagorean philosophy and early Buddhism, including the emphasis on discipline, detachment from worldly desires, belief in the transmigration of the soul, and the path to inner peace (or harmony).

Buddhist monks were the first evangelists in the world and traveled westward to teach the Buddhist path and Nirvana.  They may have influenced Pythagorean communities.

The ethical and spiritual roots of American philosophy, via Franklin, Jefferson, and others, may stretch back not only to ancient Greece but to ancient India and the East.

Why It Matters

Pythagoras has long been known for his triangle. But triangles don’t build nations; ideas do.

Franklin, probably more than any of the other Founders, drew from reason and the soul. His belief in daily self-reflection, harmony, and virtue wasn’t just Enlightenment ideals. They were Pythagorean principles.

So when you imagine the American Revolution, don’t just picture muskets and powdered wigs.
Picture a man with a candlelit journal, writing quietly, applying the Golden Verses of an ancient philosopher and shaping a new world, one virtue at a time, with Buddha whispering in the background.