virtue & vanity by astrid jane ray read online

It took me years to get to this precious insight – and I’ll probably need a lifetime to learn how to implement it.

Focus and courage without love and wisdom is just blind power.

Love without wisdom can cause harm to oneself.

Morality without humility can be self-righteous.

Detachment and equanimity without love can be cold.

Tranquility without joy and energy is stale.

Here are some other examples of virtues that are incomplete (and potentially harmful) in isolation: Instead, the opposing virtue of self-assertiveness (the courage of setting boundaries), is to be exercised.

Dealing with this situation by becoming kinder would not be wise. In certain relationships this might be abused by other people (directly or indirectly). Let’s take the case of a person whose natural strength is compassion and kindness. We can become victims of our own blessings. But when we focus solely on our strengths and use them to overcompensate our weaknesses, the result is often not good. There is no doubt that we need to play our strengths. For instance, people who are good at self-discipline may focus on getting even better at that, and overlook the need to develop the opposing virtue of flexibility. And our tendency is often to double-down on the virtues that we already have, rather than developing complementary virtues. We all have certain personal qualities more naturally developed than the others. Let us begin by talking about the need to develop virtues holistically. Finally, I have separated them into virtues of mind and heart only for the sake of exposition – in truth there is great overlap between both. In this post I can only cover a brief introduction of each, and suggest some further reading. There are many books written about each of these virtues. In this essay I attempt to systematize these core strengths into 12 “buckets” or “power virtues”, as many of them share common features.Įach of these virtues, rather than being an inborn personal trait, are habits and states of mind that can be consciously cultivated using a systematic approach. The philosophers of ancient Greece, Buddha, the Yogis, and the Positive Psychology movement all value the cultivation of certain personal qualities.

This article maps out what are the main qualities to develop, and what particular strengths or gifts are gained from each of them.ĭeveloping virtues is not about being better than others, but about developing the potential of our own heart and mind. Our journey of growth in life can be described as a journey of developing both insights and also virtues (qualities of mind and heart).

Virtue & vanity by astrid jane ray read online