Includes bibliographical reference (pages 279-294) and index.

Resolution: on the eve of a new year -- Temperance: please pass the peppermints -- Cleanliness: cleanliness and its caveats -- Silence: making space for conversation -- Courage: the truth of the land -- Pride: the pride of work, the work of pride -- Sloth: everything I need to know about sloth I learned from critters -- Industry: The hard work of staying still -- Listening: listening to the devil's trill -- Order: a pomegranate of impossible tasks -- Habit: some thoughts on in-habitation -- frugality: stepping off the hedonic treadmill -- Homecoming: rethinking nostalgia -- Governance: what George might say -- Sincerity: giving voice to untold stories -- Greed: is it greed or is it gravity? -- Empathy: the aftermath -- Justice: for the horses -- Wrath: coming back to ourselves -- Love: traveling at the speed of love -- Gluttony: a re-enchantment with food -- Chastity and lust: a psychology of sex -- Creativity: why we need art (and why we make it or we don't) -- Envy: envy and its discontents -- Resolution (and vanity): becoming Helenka -- Humility: the listener -- Jealousy (and other trials of love): Cupid, the soap opera -- Tranquility: introduction -- Tranquility: the long road, Terry Waite's story -- Tranquility: the long road, Brooke Hopkins's story -- Self-reliance: Ben Franklin, Ayn Rand, and the American spirit -- Curiosity: growing pains -- Procrastination: do it...next -- Grumpiness: the grouch settles in -- Stubbornness: holding on for dear life -- Trust: Will Rogers, where are you now? -- Defensiveness and faith: choosing our battles -- Gladness: the mysterious lightness of being -- Punctuality: the gift of time -- Gratitude: Thanksgiving, a Christmas story -- Forgiveness: the heroic choice -- Control (and faith): the green bean testament -- Balance: on the high wire -- Manners: the good hand -- Moderation: all I want for Christmas...is a truce in the war on Christmas.

Collects essays describing the author's attempts to live according to a list of traditional virtues compiled by Benjamin Franklin, one week at a time, and one virtue at a time.