"You're not going to make a virtue out of that, surely!"
Did you ever stop to ask yourself, "What are virtues anyways?" I mean we know that patience is a virtue, but is it the only one? Who decides what is or isn't a virtue? Where do virtues come from? Why are they called virtues? How many are there?
And since I didn't know, I did a little internet research:
1) First link in Google: The Virtues Project seeks to "support the moral and spiritual development of people of all cultures, by helping them to remember who they really are." By that I take it to mean that being unduly optomistic about human nature is a virtue. This site lists 52 virtues. And indeed, patience is one of them.
2) This Italian website lists all of the original virtues with their latin origin. 41 including patience. I think that first website is making stuff up. (It's funny how many of these words show up in politics and nowhere else.)
3) A third website has fewer virtues (12), but will sell you a cheesy poster to help you remember which one you picked. And probably need to work on. Patience doesn't have a poster most notably.
The etymology of virtue comes from the latin for manly fortitude or courage. St. Thomas defined virtue as "an essentially good habit."
There are four Cardinal virtues (from Greek philosophers): prudence, temperance, courage, and justice.
There are three theological virtues (from St. Paul): faith , hope, love.
There are seven Contrary virtues to counteract the seven deadly sins (as presented by the Catholic church): humility (pride), kindness (envy), abstinence (gluttony), chastity (lust), patience (anger), liberality (greed), diligence (sloth).
4) I also found out that The Virtues are a band. I was visitor #16440 to their site. Rock, rock on, Virtues!
5) And last but not least, here someone has pitted beer against tea in a battle of virtues. I think this technically doesn't count as a virtue, but it is a good example of how the word gets thrown around.
Random photo of the day:
Something about the way she holds the dog makes me uneasy.
Did you ever stop to ask yourself, "What are virtues anyways?" I mean we know that patience is a virtue, but is it the only one? Who decides what is or isn't a virtue? Where do virtues come from? Why are they called virtues? How many are there?
And since I didn't know, I did a little internet research:
1) First link in Google: The Virtues Project seeks to "support the moral and spiritual development of people of all cultures, by helping them to remember who they really are." By that I take it to mean that being unduly optomistic about human nature is a virtue. This site lists 52 virtues. And indeed, patience is one of them.
2) This Italian website lists all of the original virtues with their latin origin. 41 including patience. I think that first website is making stuff up. (It's funny how many of these words show up in politics and nowhere else.)
3) A third website has fewer virtues (12), but will sell you a cheesy poster to help you remember which one you picked. And probably need to work on. Patience doesn't have a poster most notably.
The etymology of virtue comes from the latin for manly fortitude or courage. St. Thomas defined virtue as "an essentially good habit."
There are four Cardinal virtues (from Greek philosophers): prudence, temperance, courage, and justice.
There are three theological virtues (from St. Paul): faith , hope, love.
There are seven Contrary virtues to counteract the seven deadly sins (as presented by the Catholic church): humility (pride), kindness (envy), abstinence (gluttony), chastity (lust), patience (anger), liberality (greed), diligence (sloth).
4) I also found out that The Virtues are a band. I was visitor #16440 to their site. Rock, rock on, Virtues!
5) And last but not least, here someone has pitted beer against tea in a battle of virtues. I think this technically doesn't count as a virtue, but it is a good example of how the word gets thrown around.
Random photo of the day:
Something about the way she holds the dog makes me uneasy.
Labels: philosophy, photos, random
posted by k_sra at 7/07/2004 08:30:00 AM
2 Comments:
A different answer.
Virtue is its own reward. - Marcus T. Cicero
Vices are their own punishment. - Aesop
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