Read the excerpt from The Autobiography.
This article, therefore, cost me so much painful attention, and my faults in it vexed me so much, and I made so little progress in amendment and had such frequent relapses, that I was almost ready to give up the attempt, and content myself with a faulty character in that respect, like the man who, in buying an ax of a smith, my neighbor, desired to have the whole of its surface as bright as the edge. The smith consented to grind it bright for him if he would turn the wheel; he turned, while the Smith pressed the broad face of the ax hard and heavily on the stone, which made the turning of it very fatiguing. The man came every now and then from the wheel to see how the work went on, and at length would take his ax as it was, without farther grinding. “No,” said the smith, “turn on, turn on; we shall have it bright by and by; as yet, it is only speckled.” “Yes,” says the man, “but I think I like a speckled ax best.”
What is the main idea Franklin is trying to convey by telling the story of the smith?
A.Many people want to be perfect but others stand in their way.
B.Virtues are easy to develop if one simply works hard enough.
C.Most people will not ever attain perfection.
D.Virtue is gained in the same way that bad habits are formed.

The man wanted his ax bright but he wouldn't handle to turn on the wheel for long enough and he was impatient. He just wanted it ready with minimum effort. People like that won't attend perfection because perfection is something that needs both dedication and patience. It's not a story about others standing in one's way. It's about the one who isn't committed enough to doing what it takes to find perfection. Patience and dedication are hard to achieve virtues and you must fight through the problems to reach a level where you can attain perfection. It's not for everyone. It's for very few, in fact.