Ten thoughts on Virtue:
1. Talent is a fine thing to have. But it is useless without training, self-discipline and application. The gutters are full of talent. Talents are traits that make you better at what you want to do. But to what ends are you applying your talents?
2. Intelligence is a talent, not a virtue. You can be an intelligent Nazi, (but not a wise one.) You can apply your intelligence to self-interest, or even cruelty.
3. Courage is a talent, not a virtue. You can be a bold robber, or a brave assassin.
4. Charisma is a talent, not a virtue. You can lead people to do evil, or to serve your interests without regard to the common good.
5. Strength, both mental and physical, are talents, not virtues. You can be a determined tyrant, or a powerful thug.
6. The only true virtues are Wisdom, which allows you to see clearly what is, rather than what you wish or want the world to be, and Compassion, which tells you what you should be applying your talents toward.
7. Wisdom without compassion leads to cynicism. Compassion without Wisdom leads to useless pity.
8. Wisdom is acquired by study, careful thought, and the sharing and considering of many perspectives and understandings. You will make many mistakes on the road to Wisdom. They are your opportunities to learn. The wisest aren't those who've made the fewest mistakes, they are those who have learned the most from the mistakes they've made.
Wise people do good effectively. They see the need clearly, and understand what to do about it. The unwise do harm even when they are trying to do good.
9. Compassion is acquired by charity, and by learning to forgive yourself and others. Never be afraid to do a kindness for fear that it is wasted. It is never wasted if you learn from it.
Compassionate people make the world better. All humanity benefits from their kindness, which makes the world kinder, compassionate act by compassionate act.
10. The building and breaking of habits is the most useful tool you possess. Every conscious act builds toward an unconscious habit. Before you do a thing, ask yourself if this is what the person you would like to be would do. In this way, you build the habit of being the person you want to be.
Examine your habits constantly, and with care, especially your habits of thought. Your unconscious reactions often shape your actions.
The only way to build or break a habit is by conscious application. Every time you practice a virtue by a conscious act, you build the habit. Every time you resist an unhelpful habit by a conscious act, you weaken that habit.
Why be virtuous? Because, in the end, you have an impact on the world, on humanity, and on our progress as a species, no matter how small that contribution seems to you. Sharpen your vision, deepen your heart, act as you would like to see all of humanity act. That is enough.
Ten thoughts on Vice:
1. Cruelty never makes the world better. It is a subtle vice, that often seems like strength, especially when it masquerades as Justice.
2. Selfishness cuts you off from the good of humanity as a whole. It is isolating, and in that isolation, you will deteriorate. We were meant to work together towards a better world.
3. Dishonesty is a habit that corrupts your own ability to communicate. You will never avoid the consequences of a mistake by dishonesty, since you pay the penalty of inauthenticity at the moment you lie.
4. Self-righteousness blinds you to your own mistakes, making it impossible to learn from them. You deprive yourself of the most important source of true knowledge about yourself – your errors.
5. Envy is demeaning. Envy tells you that you are not accomplished enough to reach your goals, and builds resentment against those who seem to be doing better.
6. Remember that the practice of each of these vices builds a habit. Every act of cruelty makes it easier to be cruel. Every act of selfishness isolates you further. Every act of dishonesty develops the reflex of lying to avoid unpleasant consequences. Every act of self-righteousness weakens the habit of compassion, and of ignoring the prompting of your own errors. When you choose to envy, you lessen your worth in your own eyes.
7. The practice of virtue, developing Compassion and Wisdom, exposes the habit of vice, and weakens its hold over you. The practice of vice demeans you, and make developing virtuous habits more difficult.
8. There was never a villain who was not the hero in their own story. We are very good at rationalizing bad acts, telling ourselves that our victim “had it coming,” and justifying even the cruelest and most selfish of behaviors.
9. If you are working on your own bad habits, you will have little time or energy for correcting the habits of others. Your example speaks more loudly than any sermon.
10. There are times when the cruel, the wicked, and the self-righteous must be opposed. But beware becoming that which you despise. The Mad Sage said, “They who fight monsters must take care that they do not become monsters. And when you look into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you.”
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Thanks so much for this one! Once again, I will be keeping this at the ready to help when I get involved in discussions about these topics.
Elie Wiesel told a small group of us one evening in 1980, "If you want to know what evil is, put a face on it." I think we might be able to say something similar about what goodness is, put a face on it. When we identify the behaviors of the vicious versus the virtuous, we can take names and kick arss.