Window or Mirror?

“Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or in habitation.”

1. The degree to which somebody keeps clean or a place is kept clean

More often than not, things and people are as they appear. - Malcolm Forbes

Cleanliness is the luxury of the poor - Mexican Proverb

What separates two people most profoundly is a different sense and degree of cleanliness. - Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Moral, like physical, cleanliness is not acquired once and for all: it can only be kept and renewed by a habit of constant watchfulness and discipline. - Victoria Ocampo

This was obviously a key character trait to the fastidious Franklin, but what can it possible mean to us today? Should we remain clean, with everything in good order, so that we can appear to the rest of humanity as people who are “sorted out”? What are my reasons for handing this “virtue status”?

There is a fair argument to be made that the habits and care necessary to keep everything in good repair, and good appearance, are skills that are the basis for future learning. This is one reason we so desperately try to pass the learning of this virtue on to our children at a young age. It also seems reasonable that the maintenance of cleanliness, as an eternal effort, is a proxy and preparation for life. Life’s learning also demands our attention, and continual effort; perhaps cleanliness is a natural preparation and stimulus for the larger process?

So, to me, cleanliness consist of these parts:

The processes whereby Order is maintained
As discussed, cleanliness is not an end state, it is a process. In order to keep your house clean, you must hang your coat properly – when you take it off. In order to keep your mind clean, you must moderate thoughts – on the way into your brain, and so on.

A method to practice continual improvement effort
There is no other area in life that provides us regular external stimulus to remind us of the need for maintenance and growth. Cleanliness requires minute-by-minute attention, and that is great exercise for the mind!

Consistent reminder that entropy exists
Beyond the practice in consistent effort, cleanliness offers us a view on the rest of life’s learning; order decreases. It takes a constant influx of energy to set things right again.

A source of self-esteem, when all else fails us
When you cannot be proud of anything else, be proud that your house, your clothes, and your mind are clean.