Introducing Books, Routines, and Habits: The Founders' Guide to Self-Improvement from The Art of Manliness. Follow the show: The Art of Manliness A lot of self-improvement advice and content feels empty. And there's a reason for that. It often offers routines and habits to practice, but doesn't offer a strong, overarching reason to practice them. That's why the self-improvement advice of the Founding Fathers is particularly compelling. Though they were imperfect men, they had a clear why for trying to become better than they were. For the Founders, life was about the pursuit of happiness, and they equated happiness with excellence and virtue — a state that wasn't about feeling good, but being good. The Founders pursued happiness not only for the personal benefit in satisfaction and tranquility it conferred, but for the way the attainment of virtue would benefit society as a whole; they believed that political self-government required personal self-government. Today on the show, Jeffrey Rosen, a professor of law, the president of the National Constitution Center, and the author of The Pursuit of Happiness, shares the book the Founders read that particularly influenced their idea of happiness as virtue and self-mastery. We talk about the schedules and routines the Founders kept, the self-examination practices they did to improve their character, and how they worked on their flaws, believing that, while moral perfection was ultimately an impossible goal to obtain, it was still something worth striving for. Resources Related to the PodcastAoM's series on Benjamin Franklin's 13 VirtuesBen Franklin Virtues Journal available in the AoM StoreAoM Article: Young Benjamin Franklin’s Plan of ConductAoM Article: Thomas Jefferson’s 10 Rules for LifeAoM Article: The Libraries of Famous Men — Thomas Jefferson’s Recommended ReadingAoM Article: The Best John Adams QuotesAoM Article: George Washington’s Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and ConversationAoM Podcast #366: Teach Yourself Like George WashingtonAoM Article: The Spiritual Disciplines — Study and Self-ExaminationTusculan Disputations by Marcus Tullius CiceroThe Golden Verses of Pythagoras Connect With Jeffrey RosenThe National Constitution Center website We the People podcastJeffrey's faculty pageJeffrey on X DISCLAIMER: Please note, this is an independent podcast episode not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in conjunction with the host podcast feed or any of its media entities. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are solely those of the creators and guests. For any concerns, please reach out to [email protected].