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Speaking of virtue(DW# 844)
Nov 19, 2020
A few weeks ago, we spoke of how we can "chisel" our character one virtue at a time.
For today, let us reflect on this concept of living with virtue.
People of conscience and understanding throughout the ages have attempted to live a life of virtue, to have an upstanding character.
In modern times, however, the idea of living with virtue seems a bit old fashioned. David Brooks in his excellent book, The Road to Character writes that modern society is obsessed with what he calls "résumé virtues." Your degrees, accomplishments, your title, your social media profile etc.
He explains that résumé virtues are important for success of course but they are certainly not the whole picture of living a meaningful life.
David tells us we need to focus more on "eulogy virtues"—the stuff that, ultimately, REALLY matters. Eulogy virtues, he explains, are the kind of things that people remember about you after you die, and when your...
Focus on the journey rather than the destination(DW# 839)
Nov 12, 2020
A concept which we discuss repeatedly in DW, is to focus on the process rather than the outcome, the journey rather than the destination.
And this is what Ben Franklin did as well.
By focusing on practicing the virtues repeatedly over the course of the years, he recognized that this was a life long journey or "jihad" – that he needed to focus on the journey of self-development rather than wait to arrive at the destination of "Moral Perfection".