  Modesty’s status as a virtue has been liminal for other figures too. Benjamin Franklin initially excluded humility when drawing up a list of virtues he wished to develop. He added it only after a Quaker friend mentioned that Franklin was often overbearing and insolent in conversation (1771/1982, 84). His description of humility reads simply: “Imitate Jesus and Socrates” (77). This anticipates contemporary discussion of intellectual humility and its role as both a moral and epistemic virtue.