Category: Virtues and Vices
-
Envy
The mother wanted the son to amount to something while the father was afraid he would — and make the father look small. Envy is a major player in human life. I present a substantial analysis in The Role of Envy in Human Affairs.
-
A Proof of Your Wretchedness
You envy me?
-
A Note on a Common Misunderstanding of Hypocrisy
I once heard a radio advertisement by a group promoting a "drug-free America." A male voice announces that he is a hypocrite because he demands that his children not do what he once did, namely, use illegal drugs. The idea behind the ad is that it is sometimes good to be a hypocrite. Surely this…
-
Civil Courage
A reader sent me a batch of critical comments prefaced as follows. "I’ve been enjoying your work, and I have great admiration for your guts. Hopefully no members of the “religion of peace” will put your bravery to the test." In this connection one ought to wonder about the lack of civil courage of liberals…
-
Three Kinds of Idle Talk
Intellectual talk can be as bad as mundane trivial talk, an empty posturing, a vain showmanship without roots or results. But worst of all is ‘spiritual talk’ when it distracts us from action and (what is better) contemplative inaction. Corruptio optimi pessima. The wonderful pithiness of Latin! "The corruption of the best is the worst…
-
Tongue and Pen
Christ has harsh words for those who misuse the power of speech at Matthew 12:36: "But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment." But what about every idle word that bloggers blog and scribblers scribble? Must not the discipline of…
-
Akrasia in Reverse
It is also weakness of the will to be unable to will a needed holiday from one's one-pointed willing.
-
Courage
One can always get through one day to the next — except for one day. And one will get through that one too. Thus an aphorism of mine. In the vicinity of the same sentiment, here are a couple of lines from a verse found in Goethe's literary remains: Mut verloren — alles verloren!Da wär…
-
Rand Paul, Jeb Bush, and Hypocrisy
Apparently, Paul does not understand the concept of hypocrisy. After Jeb Bush admitted to smoking marijuana during his prep school days, Rand Paul called him a hypocrite on the ground that he now opposes what he once did. But this accusation shows a failure on Paul's part to grasp the concept of hypocrisy. An adequate…
-
The Pot Belly
The pot belly is an outer sign of an inner lack of self-discipline. We should be grateful that our sexual excesses do not have a corresponding physical manifestation.
-
Hypocrites in Reverse: Those Who Do Not Preach What They Practice
Hypocrites are those who will not practice what they preach. They espouse high standards of behavior — which is of course good — but they make little or no attempt to live in accordance with them. Hypocrisy is rightly considered to be a moral defect. But what are we to say about those people who will not…
-
Safe Speech
"No man speaketh safely but he that is glad to hold his peace. " (Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Chapter XX.) Excellent advice for Christian and non-Christian alike. Much misery and misfortune can be avoided by simply keeping one's mouth shut. That playful banter with your female student that you could not resist indulging…
-
What is Wrong with Gluttony?
An earlier post addressed the nature of gluttony. One important point to emerge was that gluttony cannot be identified with the consumption of excessive amounts of food or drink. But what is wrong with it? There are the worldling's reasons to avoid gluttony and there is no need to review them: the aesthetic reasons, the…
-
What is Gluttony?
This just over the transom from a reader: I like food. From the time that I was in the food and beverage industry, I found much of it a delight. There was a beauty to the craftsmanship of creating and serving food and drink. One of my very favorite things to do is to cook…