038.Benjamin Franklin's Way Respected and Practiced

Franklin made great contribution to the formation of the United States of America. Especially, his effort at cultivating his virtue and promoting others to enhance their morals has left us a permanent legacy, which really reflected in the attitudes of the community of Virginia Tech towards Seung-Hui Cho. I read the report in today's New York Times, the community built a memorial for Seung-Hui Cho, the gunman who killed himself after shooting 32 students and teachers to death. (Christine Hauser, Virginia Tech Sets Out to Preserve Objects of Grief, Love and Forgiveness, New York Times, April 25, 2007, A19) Tolerance and forgiveness were the spirits Franklin constantly worked hard to possess and work hard to promote. Franklin talked about the importance of tolerance in his life. He said when he was in London, he was "among strangers, remote from the eyes of my father" The tolerance had significantly helped him "tho' this dangerous of time." He stated that "I had therefore a tolerable character to begin the world with, I valued it properly , and determined to preserve it."