var PUpage="76001055"; var PUprop="geocities"; var thGetOv="http://themis.geocities.yahoo.com/themis/h.php"; var thCanURL="http://us.geocities.com/ucsb1990/virtues.html"; var thSpaceId="76001055"; var thIP="67.205.96.152"; var thTs="1223362901"; var thCs="59f937d447e6e3b5d50d139f6b6e0cd2";
Virtues
32 Essential Virtues
Growing up, I was fortunate enough to have a father and mother who placed an emphasis on doing what was right. Later, while I was at UCSB, I read Carl van Doren's excellent biography of Benjamin Franklin. I was intrigued by Franklin's list of 13 virtues which he prepared early in life. I printed that list on construction paper in large felt-tip letters, and put it on my wall along with the Beatitudes and the four noble truths and noble eightfold path of Buddhism. Here is Benjamin Franklin's list:1. Temperance: Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.2. Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.3. Order: Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.4. Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.5. Frugality: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.6. Industry: Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.7. Sincerity: Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.8. Justice: Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.9. Moderation: Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.10. Cleanliness: Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.11. Tranquillity: Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.12. Chastity: Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.13. Humility: Imitate Jesus and Socrates.To quote from van Doren's book: "Franklin arranged his virtues in this order because he thought he would have to take them up one at a time and that success in one ought to help him with the next. 'Temperance first, as it tends to procure that coolness and clearness of head which is so necessary where constant vigilance is to be kept up... This being acquired and established, Silence would be more easy; and my desire being to gain knowledge at the same time that I improved in virtue, and considering that in conversation it was obtained rather by the use of the ears than of the tongue, and therefore wishing to break a habit I was getting into of prattling, punning, and joking, which only made me acceptable to trifling company, I gave Silence the second place. This and the next, Order, I expected would allow me more time for attending to my project and my studies. Resolution, once become habitual, would keep me firm in my endeavours to obtain all the subsequent virtues; Frugality and Industry, freeing me from my remaining debt and producing affluence and independence, would make more easy the practice of Sincerity and Justice, etc.' (What other moralist since the Greeks has ever so cheerfully taken it for granted that affluence might make it easier to practise sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquillity, chastity, and humility?)" Franklin continued, "I determined to give a week's strict attention to each of the virtues successively... Proceeding thus to the last, I could go through a course complete in thirteen weeks, and four courses in a year." I soon used Franklin's list as a basis for my own list of virtues, which I've kept in my wallet for nearly 15 years now. My list is not as concise as Franklin's; some of the virtues overlap somewhat with others. On this page I'm adding some quotes and explanatory remarks. Of course, the folded index card I keep in my wallet has only the names of the virtues, though at the bottom I added the wonderful text of Philippians 4:8. Really, verses 4 through 8 all deserve to be reprinted here: Verses 4-7: "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Verse 8: "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things." I don't want to come across as sanctimonious. I believe in these virtues, but I'm no exemplar of righteousness. Part of the reason for that can be found in my notes on moderation. I basically try to be a decent person and to show God some appreciation for the good things I do have. With that said, here is my list:1. Attentiveness -- Pay attention to those people and things that need and deserve to be paid attention to. As I see it, attentiveness includes watchfulness and readiness. "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8) Verse 26 of the Dhammapada (a collection of Buddhist aphorisms) reads, "The man who lives in watchfulness considers it his greatest treasure."2. Compassion -- The importance of compassion is illustrated by the dozens of Bible verses that thank and praise God for his compassion. "The Lord is full of compassion and mercy." (James 5:11) "The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion." (Psalm 116:5) Likewise, we are commanded to be compassionate. In Matthew 7:12, we find the Golden Rule: "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." "Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man." (Psalm 112:4) "...Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." (Colossians 3:12) "If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered." (Proverbs 21:13)3. Contentment -- You shouldn't be so obsessed with what you don't have that you don't appreciate what you do have. Proverbs 14:30 -- "A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones." Hebrews 13:5 -- "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you, Never will I forsake you.'" (This verse is an injunction against greed and ingratitude; it doesn't mean that you should be oblivious to finances. After all, "If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." -- 1 Timothy 5:8) There is no shortage of poignant quotes about contentedness. In Act 4 of "The Merchant Of Venice", Shakespeare writes, "He is well paid that is well satisfied." Ben Franklin himself wrote, "The discontented man finds no easy chair." My uncle, James McManus, wrote, "Contentedness is basically not wanting something you can't have. It is the opposite of covetousness." Uncle Jim's files also contained this nugget: "If you don't get everything you want, think of the things you don't get that you don't want." In "The Gulag Archipelago", Solzhenitsyn wrote, "It is enough if you don't freeze in the cold, and if thirst and hunger don't claw at your insides. If your back isn't broken, if your feet can walk, if both arms can bend, if both eyes can see, and if both ears can hear, then whom should you envy? And why? Our envy of others devours us most of all. Rub your eyes and purify your heart and prize above all else in the world those who love you and who wish you well." In "The Theory Of Moral Sentiments", Adam Smith wrote, "The inscription upon the tomb-stone of the man who had endeavoured to mend a tolerable constitution by taking physic (medicine); 'I was well; I wished to be better; here I am'; may generally be applied with great justness to the distress of disappointed avarice and ambition." Vincent van Gogh, in a letter to his brother Theo, wrote, "I am doing very well, and it is a great pleasure for me to study London and the English way of living and the English people themselves; and then I have nature and art and poetry, and if that is not enough, what is enough?" Cicero expressed a similar sentiment nearly two thousand years earlier: "If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." An appreciation of nature goes a long way to developing contentedness. "God's gifts put man's best dreams to shame," said Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Her husband Robert Browning expressed the same feeling: "The year's at the spring, And day's at the morn; Morning's at seven; The hill-side's dew-pearled; The lark's on the wing; The snail's on the thorn: God's in His heaven -- All's right with the world!"4. Conviction -- You should give thought to that which you believe most deeply. The educator Robert M. Hutchins wrote, "America has developed a broad urbanity, an all-engulfing tolerance which finds it easy to be hospitable to everything except conviction -- and genuine conviction, which must not be confused with intolerance, is one of the crying needs of our age." Dr. Louis Evans wrote, "The most embarrassing question that I can ask a college senior is, 'What are you living for, man? Give me your philosophy of life.' A lot of them don't even know, in a day when others are dying for their convictions." Of course, people have always died (or risked death) for their convictions. Think of Martin Luther standing, sweating, before the Imperial Diet, being told to recant or to risk excommunication and hellfire: "I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen." President Lincoln phrased it eloquently on February 27, 1860: "Let us have faith that right makes might; and in that faith let us to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it."5. Courage -- "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong." (1 Corinthians 16:13) Physical and moral bravery have always been recognized as essential to maturity. Shakespeare expressed it perfectly: "Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once." Mark Twain wrote that "Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear -- not absence of fear. Except a creature be part coward it is not a compliment to say it is brave." Verse 112 of the Dhammapada reads, "Better than a hundred years lived in idleness and in weakness is a single day of life lived with courage and powerful striving." Samuel Johnson said, "Courage is a quality so necessary for maintaining virtue, that it is always respected, even when associated with vice." C.S. Lewis said that "Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point." D.H. Lawrence wrote, "Nothing matters but that strange flame, of inborn nobility that obliges men to be brave, and onward plunging." And Ernest Hemingway, who famously defined "guts" as "grace under pressure", put these words into the mouth of Robert Jordan, protagonist of "For Whom The Bell Tolls": "He was just a coward and that was the worst luck any man could have."6. Courtesy -- "When a courteous greeting is offered you, meet it with a greeting still more courteous, or at least of equal courtesy. God takes careful account of all things." -- Qur'an iv. 86. In the opinion of Francis Bacon, "If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world." Simple, common courtesy can grease the wheels of daily life so much. Whether it's motivated by inner goodness or just force of habit, the value of politeness should not be underestimated. Unfortunately, too many people share the opinion of a New York City cab driver (quoted a few years back in a Time magazine article asking, "If we're becoming a service-oriented society, then why is service so bad?") that courtesy is a sign of weakness. So much of pop culture teaches people that life is a zero-sum game: you get ahead by putting someone else down, and you gain respect by disrespecting others. It's not a new attitude; just watch "Rebel Without A Cause". But disrespecting others seems to be more prevalent and even expected than ever. You don't have to study the minutiae of the "Miss Manners" column to be polite; let common sense be your guide.7. Discretion -- At its most basic level, keeping to yourself what you shouldn't tell (or give) another. "Do not speak to a fool, for he will scorn the wisdom of your words." (Proverbs 23:9) Christ said, "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs." (Matthew 7:6) I interpret that to mean that you have to be selective about who you are generous to, whether you're sharing your wisdom, your time, or your money. We don't have to be gullible or indiscriminate to be virtuous. Joseph Conrad wrote, "We oscillated between the desire of virtue and the fear of ridicule; we wished to save ourselves from the pain of remorse, but did not want to be made the contemptible dupes of our sentiment." I think that attitude is entirely reasonable. Verse 166 of the Dhammapada says (perhaps too bluntly), "Let no man endanger his duty, the good of his soul, for the good of another, however great. When he has seen the good of his soul, let him follow it with earnestness." "Discretion" replaces "Silence" on my list of virtues. Proverbs 17:28 states, "Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue" Great minds throughout history have recognized the importance of this virtue. Jean de La Fontaine wrote that "Nothing is more dangerous than a friend without discretion." In "Hamlet", Shakespeare advises, "Give every man thine ear but few thy voice. Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgement." Xenocrates recalled, "I have often repented speaking, but never of holding my tongue." Sir Walter Raleigh wrote, "Be advised what thou dost discourse of, and what thou maintainest whether touching religion, state, or vanity; for if thou err in the first, thou shalt be accounted profane; if in the second, dangerous; if in the third, indiscreet and foolish." And Lord Chesterfield wrote, "Be wiser than other people, if you can; but do not tell them so."8. Enthusiasm -- "Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." (Ralph Waldo Emerson) But the Buddha cautioned, "An excess of zeal leads to self-exaltation, and a lack of zeal leads to indolence: have an evenness of zeal, master your powers in harmony." Clearly, enthusiasm must be tempered by moderation and discretion; "It is not good to have zeal without knowledge." (Proverbs 19:2) On the other hand, Anatole France wrote, "I prefer the errors of enthusiasm to the indifference of wisdom." (In a similar vein, Nietzsche wrote that "The errors of great men are venerable, for they are more fruitful than the truths of little men.") Arnold Toynbee wrote that "Apathy can only be overcome by enthusiasm." And, seemingly throwing caution to the wind, the English statesman Benjamin Disraeli wrote, "Life is too short to be little. Man is never so manly as when he feels deeply, acts boldly, and expresses himself with frankness and with fervour."9. Expression -- If you know you ought to say something, don't keep it to yourself. Emerson wrote, "To-morrow a stranger will say with masterly good sense precisely what we have thought and felt all the time, and we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another." "Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." (Proverbs 16:24) Verse 408 of the Dhammapada praises those who speak "words that are peaceful and useful and true."10. Faith -- "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1) Christ said that "Everything is possible for him who believes." (Mark 9:23) Faith complements rather than negates our intellect. Blaise Pascal wisely wrote, "Faith certainly tells us what the senses do not, but not the contrary of what they see; it is above, not against them." Pascal, again: "It is the heart which perceives God and not the reason. That is what faith is: God perceived by the heart, not by the reason." John Donne wrote, "Reason is our soul's left hand, Faith her right, By these we reach divinity." Faith in God, of course, requires belief in God. Francis Bacon wrote, "They that deny a God destroy man's nobility; for certainly man is of kin to the beasts by his body; and, if he be not of kin to God by his spirit, he is a base and ignoble creature." Soren Kierkegaard wrote, "Faith is the highest passion in a human being. Many in every generation may not come that far, but none comes further." Werner Heisenberg wrote, "Faith obviously does not mean that we hold this or that to be true. To have faith always means: I decide to do it, I stake my existence on it..." Finally, Daniel Webster's wonderful epitaph: "Philosophic argument, especially that drawn from the vastness of the universe, in comparison with the apparent insignificance of this globe, has sometimes shaken my reason for the faith that is in me; but my heart has always assured and reassured me that the gospel of Jesus Christ must be Divine Reality. The Sermon on the Mount cannot be a mere human production. This belief enters into the very depth of my conscience. The whole history of man proves it."11. Flexibility -- Edmund Burke wrote, "Nothing in progression can rest on its original plan. We may as well think of rocking a grown man in the cradle of an infant." Roll with the punches, as they say; don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Flexibility and conviction can co-exist in the mind and heart. St. Ambrose wrote simply (and famously), "If you are at Rome live in the Roman style; if you are elsewhere live as they live elsewhere."12. Frugality -- To repeat Franklin's definition, "Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing." William Wordsworth wrote that "Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers." And Mother Teresa said, "There must be a reason why some people can afford to live well. They must have worked for it. I only feel angry when I see waste. When I see people throwing away things that we could use."13. Gentleness -- The importance of gentleness is emphasized repeatedly in the Scriptures. "Let your gentleness be evident to all." (Philippians 4:5) "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." (Proverbs 15:1) 1 Timothy 6:11 exhorts us to "pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness." Colossians 3:12 says to "clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." This doesn't mean weakness or passivity. My uncle James McManus wrote that "Gentleness is long-run compassion."14. Gratitude -- "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) The English poet George Herbert came up with a short, pithy prayer: "O God, Thou hast given so much to us, give one more thing -- a grateful heart. Amen." The French philosopher Jacques Maritain said that "Gratitude is the most exquisite form of courtesy." Some virtues are most noticeable in their absence; ingratitude is rightly and universally despised.15. Hope -- Once you reach a certain age, it's not easy to keep up hope. Lord Byron wrote dispiritedly, "But what is Hope? Nothing but the paint on the face of Existence; the least touch of truth rubs it off, and then we see what a hollow-cheeked harlot we have got hold of." Francis Bacon wrote that "Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper." And in "Measure For Measure", Shakespeare relates the sad truth that "The miserable have no other medicine / But only hope." But most people recognize that hope is a vital element in our soul. The Bible certainly confirms this. "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Romans 15:13) "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." (Romans 12:12) Proverbs 13:12 candidly states that "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." We're assured that "The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing." (Proverbs 10:28) In our own time, Václav Havel has spoken movingly of hope. "I am not an optimist," he said, "because I am not sure that everything ends well. Nor am I a pessimist, because I am not sure that everything ends badly. I just carry hope in my heart. Hope is a feeling that life and work have a meaning. You either have it or you don't, regardless of the state of the world that surrounds you. Life without hope is an empty, boring and useless life. I cannot imagine that I could strive for something if I did not carry hope in me. I am thankful to God for this gift. It is as big a gift as life itself." Anne Frank wrote movingly, "I don't think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains." Hope's edifying influence upon us is reflected in the words of Ouida: "Take hope from the heart of man and you make him a beast of prey."16. Humility -- Verses from Scripture are the obvious place to start here. "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom." (Proverbs 11:2) (Perhaps the word "pride" in that verse could be better translated as "hubris", the overbearing pride which the ancient Greeks saw as the prelude to disaster.) "Before his downfall a man's heart is proud, but humility comes before honor." (Proverbs 18:12) "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 14:11, and again at 18:14) "Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; someone else, and not your own lips." (Proverbs 27:2) "Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud." (Proverbs 16:19) Ascetics take humility to startling extremes. In "The Imitation Of Christ" (one of the most widely read books of all time), Thomas à Kempis wrote, "Study to do another's will rather than thine own. Choose ever to have less rather than more. Seek ever the lower place and to be subject to all; ever wish and pray that the will of God may be perfectly done in thee and in all. Behold, such a man enters the bounds of peace and calm." On a visit to the White House, Mother Teresa explained, "I never take food or drink in the homes of the rich or famous, so that when I visit the poor, they won't be embarrassed at having nothing to offer me." But being humble doesn't mean you have to bow so low that you only see your own navel (to take an example from Baudelaire). It also doesn't mean you have to be a shrinking violet, like Laura in "The Glass Menagerie". Winston Churchill gave a fine example of practical humility when he was asked, "Doesn't it thrill you to know that every time you make a speech, the hall is packed to overflowing?" Churchill replied, "It's quite flattering. But whenever I feel that way, I always remember that if instead of making a political speech I was being hanged, the crowd would be twice as big." Humility also involves being willing to learn from unconventional sources; Van Gogh wrote, "I sometimes have had a lesson from a hay-mower that was of more use to me than one in Greek." In "Pride And Prejudice", Jane Austen noted that, ironically, some people take pride in their humility: "Nothing is more deceitful than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast." (Coleridge likewise wrote, "And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin / Is pride that apes humility.") Samuel Butler wryly observed, "I really do not see much use in exalting the humble and meek; they do not remain humble and meek long when they are exalted." Joseph Addison advised, "Content thyself to be obscurely good. When vice prevails, and impious men bear sway, The post of honour is a private station."17. Industry -- Again, to quote Franklin: " Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions." Of course, some "unnecessary actions" may have more merit than it first appears; rest and recreation are reasonable uses of time. But you don't want to just waste time if you can help it. The Apostle Paul instructed believers to "respect those who work hard among you" (1 Thessalonians 5:12), adding, in 2 Thessalonians, "In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: 'If a man will not work, he shall not eat.'" "Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth." (Proverbs 10:4) "All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty." (Proverbs 14:23) In the Buddhist tradition, Verse 116 of the Dhammapada reads, "Make haste and do what is good; keep your mind away from evil. If a man is slow in doing good, his mind finds pleasure in evil." Verse 118 then reads: "If a man does something good, let him do it again and again. Let him find joy in his good work. Joyful is the accumulation of good work." Thomas Carlyle expressed the traditional view of work ennobling the worker: "A man perfects himself by working. Foul jungles are cleared away, fair seed-fields rise instead, and stately cities; and withal the man himself first ceases to be a jungle, and foul unwholesome desert thereby... The man is now a man." Sean O'Casey described work as "the one great sacrament of humanity from which all other things flow -- security, leisure, joy, art, literature, even divinity itself." Herman Melville wrote that "Toil is man's allotment; toil of brain, or toil of hands, or a grief that's more than either, the grief and sin of idleness." William Faulkner took a slightly different angle: "One of the saddest things is that the only thing that a man can do for eight hours a day, day after day, is work. You can't eat eight hours a day nor drink for eight hours a day nor make love for eight hours -- all you can do for eight hours is work. Which is the reason why man makes himself and everybody else so miserable and unhappy." John Kenneth Galbraith wrote, "Clearly the most unfortunate people are those who must do the same thing over and over again, every minute, or perhaps twenty to the minute." Aldous Huxley offered this description: "Industrial man - a sentient reciprocating engine having a fluctuating output, coupled to an iron wheel revolving with uniform velocity. And then we wonder why this should be the golden age of revolution and mental derangement." D.H. Lawrence bluntly adds, "You'll never succeed in idealizing hard work. Before you can dig mother earth you've got to take off your ideal jacket. The harder a man works, at brute labour, the thinner becomes his idealism, the darker his mind." Jean-Jacques Rousseau astutely stated that "It is too difficult to think nobly when one thinks only of earning a living." George Orwell had a unique way of viewing a neighborhood: "In every one of those little stucco boxes there's some poor bastard who's never free except when he's fast asleep and dreaming that he's got the boss down the bottom of a well and is bunging lumps of coal at him." And Belgian philosopher Raoul Vaneigem wrote of laborers "who are murdered slowly in the mechanized slaughterhouses of work." Obviously, some types of work are more edifying and satisfying than others. "In order that people may be happy in their work, these three things are needed: They must be fit for it: they must not do too much of it: and they must have a sense of success in it -- not a doubtful sense, such as needs some testimony of others for its confirmation, but a sure sense, or rather knowledge, that so much work has been done well, and fruitfully done, whatever the world may say or think about it." (W.H. Auden) Theodore Roosevelt felt that "Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "To fill the hour -- that is happiness." Ideally, "Work keeps us from three evils: boredom, vice and need." (Voltaire)18. Justice -- Justice is a virtue that can be possessed by individuals as well as by societies. Franklin said to "Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty." This definition clearly draws from Cicero: "Justice consists in doing no injury to men; decency in giving them no offence." The Commandment "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor" is an exhortation to justice. The Byzantine Emperor Justinian is quoted as having said that "Justice is the constant and perpetual wish to render to every one his due." This was presumably a restatement of Socrates' belief that "Justice is the having and doing what is one's own." In Plato's "Republic", Socrates says that "the just man does not permit the several elements within him (desire, emotion, and intellect) to interfere with one another, or any of them to do the work of others; he sets in order his own inner life..." Personal justice requires that the better, nobler qualities inside us rule over the lesser, baser qualities. Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote that "Those who clearly recognize the voice of their own conscience usually recognize also the voice of justice."19. Love -- "On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. 'Teacher,' he asked, 'what must I do to inherit eternal life?' 'What is written in the Law?' he replied. 'How do you read it?' He answered: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and, Love your neighbor as yourself.' 'You have answered correctly,' Jesus replied. 'Do this and you will live.'" (Luke 10:25-28) Again, in Matthew 22:37-40: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails... And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:1-8, 13) "God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him." (1 John 4:16) "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4:8) "Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred." (Proverbs 15:17) In "The Imitation Of Christ", Thomas à Kempis wrote that "Love feels no burden, regards not labors, strives toward more than it attains, argues not of impossibility, since it believes that it may and can do all things. Therefore it avails for all things, and fulfils and accomplishes much where one not a lover falls and lies helpless." Mother Teresa said, "I try to give to the poor people for love what the rich could get for money. No, I wouldn't touch a leper for a thousand pounds; yet I willingly cure him for the love of God." St. Augustine famously wrote "Ama et fac quod vis" -- "Love and do what you will." Francis Bacon echoed 1 Corinthians 13:1 when he wrote: "A crowd is not company, and faces are but a gallery of pictures, and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love." Robert Browning wrote, "For life, with all it yields of joy and woe, and hope and fear... is just a chance o' the prize of learning love." Similarly, Stendhal wrote that "True love makes the thought of death frequent, easy, without terrors; it merely becomes the standard of comparison, the price one would pay for many things." Tolstoy writes in "War And Peace", "Love is life. All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is, everything exists, only because I love. Everything is united by it alone. Love is God, and to die means that I, a particle of love, shall return to the general and eternal source." In "Persuasion", Jane Austen wrote, "All the privilege I claim for my own sex... is that of loving longest, when existence or when hope is gone." Van Gogh wrote his brother, "I always think that the best way to know God is to love many things... That leads to God; that leads to unwavering faith." Also by van Gogh: "It is good to love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is well done!" And: "No woman is old. That does not mean that there are no old women, but that a woman is not old as long as she loves and is loved." Adam Smith wrote in "The Theory of Moral Sentiments" that "the chief part of human happiness arises from the consciousness of being beloved."20. Loyalty -- We can see how highly loyalty is valued by seeing how often God is praised for His faithfulness in the Bible. Love and loyalty clearly go hand in hand. Unfortunately, loyalty among people in this world is hard to find. "If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength!" (Proverbs 24:10) Proverbs 28:20 assures us that "A faithful man will be richly blessed", but 20:6 laments, "Many a man claims to have unfailing love, but a faithful man who can find?" Sadly, Alexander Pope observed that "Histories are more full of examples of the fidelity of dogs than of friends." Lord Byron was also skeptical: "Constancy... that small change of love, which people exact so rigidly, receive in such counterfeit coin, and repay in baser metal." Like many virtues, loyalty is esteemed all the more because of its scarcity.21. Moderation -- The ancients wisely believed in the golden mean. On the temple of Apollo at Delphi was engraved the motto "meden agan" -- "Nothing in excess". The Roman sage Seneca bewailed, "That moderation which nature prescribes, which limits our desires by resources restricted to our needs, has abandoned the field; it has now come to this -- that to want only what is enough is a sign both of boorishness and of utter destitution." The Buddha also taught the middle path between self-denial and self-indulgence. Moderation is a crucial virtue. It enables compassion without martyrdom, contentment without indolence, conviction without fanaticism, and self-respect without narcissism. It is the yeast that allows other virtues to rise. The importance of moderation in the pursuit of virtue can be found in this quote from Carl Jung: "I cannot love anyone if I hate myself. That is the reason why we feel so extremely uncomfortable in the presence of people who are noted for their special virtuousness, for they radiate an atmosphere of the torture they inflict on themselves. That is not a virtue but a vice." I think Samuel Butler was on to something when he said, "When the righteous man turneth away from his righteousness that he hath committed and doeth that which is neither quite lawful nor quite right, he will generally be found to have gained in amiability what he has lost in holiness." Machiavelli frankly wrote, "The fact is that a man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous."22. Order -- Franklin: "Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time." The Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth that "everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way." However, Edmund Burke may have slightly overstated the case when he said that "Good order is the foundation of all good things." The fact is, order just isn't a very exciting virtue. But it's certainly a good habit.23. Patience -- "A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly." (Proverbs 14:29) "Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city." (Proverbs 16:32) "Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared." (Proverbs 22:24-5) "And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone." (1 Thessalonians 5:14) W.H. Auden wrote, "Perhaps there is only one cardinal sin: impatience. Because of impatience we were driven out of Paradise, because of impatience we cannot return."24. Resolution -- Franklin: "Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve." Christ said, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:62) Verse 313 of the Dhammapada tells us that "When a man has something to do, let him do it with all his might." Verse 276 reminds us, "It is you who must make the effort. The great of the past only show the way." In the Hindu Upanishads we read, "A man comes with his actions to the end of his determination." Epictetus wrote, "Know that there is nothing more easy to handle than the human soul. It needs but to will, and the thing is done: the soul is on the right path. On the contrary, it needs but to nod and all is lost. For ruin or recovery are from within." Abraham Lincoln said to "Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing." He also said that "Having thus chosen our course, without guile and with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God, and go forward without fear and with manly hearts." Dag Hammarskjöld, though, reminds us that we should not undertake resolutions lightly: "The myths have always condemned those who 'looked back.' Condemned them, whatever the paradise may have been which they were leaving. Hence this shadow over each departure from your decision." And Francis Bacon advised that "A man ought warily to begin charges which once begun will continue."25. Reverence -- Show proper respect to that which deserves respect. Above all, respect and revere God. "Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him." (Psalm 33:8) Some people are also worthy of profound respect. "If month after month with a thousand offerings for a hundred years one should sacrifice; and another only for a moment paid reverence to a self-conquering man, this moment would have greater value than a hundred years of offerings." (Dhammapada verse 106) "And whosoever honors in reverence those who are old in virtue and holiness, he indeed conquers four treasures: long life, and health, and power and joy." (Verse 109)26. Self-discipline -- "Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control." (Proverbs 25:28) "So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled." (1 Thessalonians 5:6) Verse 248 of the Dhammapada states that "lack of self-control means wrongdoing." "A man should control his words and mind and should not do any harm with his body. If these ways of action are pure he can make progress on the path of the wise." (Verse 281) "If a man should conquer in battle a thousand and a thousand more, and another man should conquer himself, his would be the greater victory, because the greatest of victories is the victory over oneself." (Verses 103-104) Charles Darwin felt that "The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that we ought to control our thoughts." And Goethe wrote, "Whatever liberates our spirit without giving us self-control is disastrous."27. Self-knowledge -- "Know thyself," the Greeks said, for "the unexamined life is not worth living." In the "Tao-te-ching" we read, "He who knows others is clever; He who knows himself has discernment." Seneca tells us that "On him does death lie heavily who, but too well known to all, dies to himself unknown." Elias Canetti (who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1981) believed that "The self-explorer, whether he wants to or not, becomes the explorer of everything else. He learns to see himself, but suddenly, provided he was honest, all the rest appears, and it is as rich as he was, and, as a final crowning, richer." Henry David Thoreau exhorts each of us to "be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you, opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought. Every man is the lord of a realm beside which the earthly empire of the Czar is but a petty state, a hummock left by the ice."28. Self-respect -- The awareness that you deserve love and respect, coupled with the desire to be a person worthy of love and respect. Adam Smith wrote, "What so great happiness as to be beloved, and to know that we deserve to be beloved?" He adds, "Man naturally desires, not only to be loved, but to be lovely; or to be that thing which is the natural and proper object of love... He desires, not only praise, but praiseworthiness; or to be that thing which, though it should be praised by nobody, is, however, the natural and proper object of praise." Carl Jung believed that "A little less hypocrisy and a little more tolerance towards oneself can only have good results in respect for our neighbor; for we are all too prone to transfer to our fellows the injustice and violence we inflict upon our own natures." Eric Hoffer expressed it thus: "The remarkable thing is that we really love our neighbor as ourselves: we do unto others as we do unto ourselves. We hate others when we hate ourselves. We are tolerant toward others when we tolerate ourselves. We forgive others when we forgive ourselves. It is not love of self but hatred of self which is at the root of the troubles that afflict our world." Henry David Thoreau wrote, "Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion. What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate."29. Sincerity -- "A lying tongue hates those it hurts, and a flattering mouth works ruin." (Proverbs 26:28) Franklin: "Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly." Franklin does not say that sincerity requires complete honesty at all times, however. Honesty and sincerity should be tempered by discretion, and that is one of the great balancing acts of our daily lives. Ralph Waldo Emerson realistically observed that "Sincerity is the luxury allowed, like diadems and authority, only to the highest rank... Every man alone is sincere. At the entrance of a second person, hypocrisy begins." Indeed, sincerity is rare enough that "Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing." (Emerson again) Our faith in God, of course, must be sincere: "The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." (1 Timothy 1:5)30. Timeliness -- "If a man loudly blesses his neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse." (Proverbs 27:14) "A man finds joy in giving an apt reply -- and how good is a timely word!" (Proverbs 15:23) "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven." (Ecclesiastes 3:1) The proper timing can make all the difference. A character in Sinclair Lewis' novel "Elmer Gantry" criticizes the Sermon on the Mount, since in one verse it commands that "when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret", but in another verse we are told to "let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." The response to this criticism is written plainly in Ecclesiastes: there is a time for each. There are times to do the right thing privately and inconspicuously, and there are times to set an example openly for others. The Buddha defined "right words" as "words at the right time, true, profitable and kindly."31. Toleration -- In Exodus 22:21, God gives this command to the Hebrews: "Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt." Christ said, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Matthew 7:1,2) And, of course, there is John 8:7: "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Verse 6 of the Dhammapada reads, "Many do not know that we are here in the world to live in harmony. Those who know this do not fight against each other." Verse 257 adds, "A wise man calmly considers what is right and what is wrong, and faces different opinions with truth, non-violence and peace. This man is guarded by truth and is a guardian of truth. He is righteous and he is wise." In defense of religious tolerance, Thomas More wrote that in Utopia "no man shall be blamed for reasoning in the maintenance of his own religion." Sir Thomas Browne wrote, "I could never divide my self from any man upon the difference of an opinion, or be angry with his judgment for not agreeing with me in that, from which perhaps within a few days I should dissent my self." Helen Keller felt that "Toleration is the greatest gift of the mind; it requires the same effort of the brain that it takes to balance oneself on a bicycle." Here's a fine quote from Clint Eastwood: "The less secure a man is, the more likely he is to have extreme prejudices." Tolerance is not the most glamorous virtue, as E.M. Forster observed: "Tolerance is a very dull virtue. It is boring. Unlike love, it has always had a bad press. It is negative. It merely means putting up with people, being able to stand things." Nonetheless, it is what makes life bearable in a sea of diversity. Tolerance may be dull, but the sins of intolerance are vicious and appalling.32. Tranquillity -- Franklin: "Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable." Ecclesiastes 4:6 tells us, "Better one handful with tranquillity than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind." "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7) Perfect tranquillity, of course, may not be attainable (or even desirable) in this world; it's not virtuous to be unmoved by suffering or injustice. Who could meet the standard set forth in the "Odes" of Horace: "Should the whole frame of nature round him break, in ruin and confusion hurled, he, unconcerned, would hear the mighty crack, and stand secure amidst a falling world." In "Leviathan", Thomas Hobbes stated that "There is no such thing as perpetual tranquillity of mind while we live here; because life itself is but motion, and can never be without desire, nor without fear, no more than without sense." But at least we can have interludes of sublime tranquillity, which are essential to a well-adjusted soul. In "The Theory of Moral Sentiments", Adam Smith wrote, "Happiness consists in tranquillity and enjoyment. Without tranquillity there can be no enjoyment; and where there is perfect tranquillity there is scarce any thing which is not capable of amusing." Smith continues, "In every permanent situation, where there is no expectation of change, the mind of every man, in a longer or shorter time, returns to its natural and usual state of tranquillity... In the confinement and solitude of the Bastille, the fashionable and frivolous Count de Lauzun recovered tranquillity enough to be capable of amusing himself with feeding a spider... The great source of both the misery and disorders of human life, seems to arise from over-rating the difference between one permanent situation and another. Avarice over-rates the difference between poverty and riches: ambition, that between a private and a public station: vain-glory, that between obscurity and extensive reputation. The person under the influence of any of those extravagant passions, is not only miserable in his actual situation, but is often disposed to disturb the peace of society, in order to arrive at that which he so foolishly admires. The slightest observation, however, might satisfy him, that, in all the ordinary situations of human life, a well-disposed mind may be equally calm, equally cheerful, and equally contented. Some of those situations may, no doubt, deserve to be preferred to others: but none of them can be pursued with that passionate ardour which drives us to violate the rules either of prudence or of justice; or to corrupt the future tranquillity of our minds, either by shame from the remembrance of our own folly, or by remorse from the horror of our own injustice... In the most glittering and exalted situation that our idle fancy can hold out to us, the pleasures from which we propose to derive our real happiness, are almost always the same with those which, in our actual, though humble station, we have at all times at hand, and in our power... (except) the frivolous pleasures of vanity and superiority... (which) are seldom consistent with perfect tranquillity, the principle and foundation of all real and satisfactory enjoyment. Neither is it always certain that, in the splendid situation which we aim at, those real and satisfactory pleasures can be enjoyed with the same security as in the humble one which we are so very eager to abandon." The second chapter of Ecclesiastes tell us, "A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?"________________________________________________________________________________In case anyone is wondering why "wisdom" isn't on this list: It is through the practice of virtue that we acquire wisdom."Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed. By wisdom the Lord laid the earth's foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place; by his knowledge the deeps were divided, and the clouds let drop the dew." -- Proverbs 3:13-20"The fear of the Lord -- that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding." -- Job 28:28"Wisdom is knowledge put to the test and practiced." -- James McManusI left "temperance" off my list. That's because temperance, in my opinion, falls under the category of moderation. Also, to me, temperance is something of a lesser virtue. After all, we all know outstanding, admirable people who are overweight. I don't really feel that their excess weight constitutes a moral failing. Moderation in alcohol intake, on the other hand, is very important.________________________________________________________________________________Following is abridged text of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:1-17: I. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me.II. You shall not make for yourself a graven image. You shall not bow down to them or serve them.III. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.IV. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.V. Honor your father and your mother.VI. You shall not kill.VII. You shall not commit adultery.VIII. You shall not steal.IX. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.X. You shall not covet.________________________________________________________________________________The seven cardinal virtues of medieval literature: faith, hope, charity, prudence, temperance, chastity, and fortitude.The seven deadly sins of medieval literature: anger, avarice, envy, gluttony, lust, pride, and sloth.In classical philosophy, the four cardinal virtues were justice, prudence, fortitude, and temperance.________________________________________________________________________________The 4 great virtues of Buddhism:Maitri -- friendliness, good-will, benevolence, love, loving-kindness to allKaruna -- compassion, pity, sorrow for the sufferings of allMudita -- joy in the good of allUpeksha -- forgiveness, overlooking the faults of allDhammapada verse 54: "The perfume of flowers goes not against the wind, not even the perfume of sandalwood of rose-bay or of jasmine; but the perfume of virtue travels against the wind and reaches unto the ends of the world.""Two things fill the mind with ever-increasing wonder and awe, the more often and the more intensely the mind of thought is drawn to them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me."-- Immanuel Kant, "Critique Of Practical Reason""There is... but one categorical imperative: 'Act as if the maxim from which you act were to become through your will a universal law.'" -- Immanuel Kant"Virtue is the truest nobility." -- Cervantes in "Don Quixote"________________________________________________________________________________-- I would like to give credit to my Uncle James McManus, who first encouraged me to start a filing system which would allow me to keep facts and quotes in good order. Without that encouragement, this piece would never have been written. Uncle Jim's files gave me my first batch of quotes, and I've used some of them here. I must also thank Dr. Wayne Cohan, who gave me my first copy of Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha and who introduced me to non-Western spiritual traditions.Compiled and written by James R. Taylor -- ucsb1990@hotmail.comThe People I Admire Most My father, John A. Taylor 25 Lives I Would Like To Have LivedQuotes on virtue, vice, and other topicsI, personally, am a Christian. I think of myself as half-Methodist, half-Lutheran. My maternal grandfather, John Wesley Robinson, Jr., was a Methodist minister in Long Beach, California. He was something of a rising star in the Methodist Church before his untimely death from pneumonia in 1936.If you're looking for spiritual guidance, I recommend one of the following Protestant denominations:United Methodist Church Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Presbyterian Church Episcopalian Church American Baptist Churches Or you may prefer the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, or the Greek Orthodox Church.I have known Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, and Latter-Day Saints who are devoutly spiritual and who live by the most admirable ethical principles. Mahatma Gandhi, perhaps the greatest moral leader of the 20th century, was a Hindu. By recommending Christian Churches, I am not in any way denigrating other religious traditions. I am merely recommending what has worked for me.My uncle, James McManus, was once asked by a friend, "Why should I become a Christian? I'm a good person, I'm happily married, and I have plenty of friends. I have a good life. What reason could there be for me to convert to Christianity?" Uncle Jim replied, simply and wisely, by quoting the Apostle Paul: "For me, to live is Christ." Obviously, experience shows us that people can be happy and live good, productive lives whether or not they're Christians. But for most Christians, life is unfathomable without our belief and faith in Christ.Some other notable web pages on virtues and morality are:The Roman VirtuesVirtues page at importanceofphilosophy.com
![[ Yahoo! ]](http://us.yimg.com/i/recip/1yahoo.gif) options
geovisit();
|
|
