The Heart of Virtue: Lessons from Life and Literature on the Beauty of Moral Character

by Donald DeMarco

This book brings to life in an inspirational and memorable way what is at the core of every true moral virtue, namely, love. It presents twenty-eight different virtues and reveals, through stories that personify these virtues, how love is expressed through care, courage, compassion, faith, hope, justice, prudence, wisdom, etc... It is a treatment of virtue that is both unique and original. It is unique in that virtues are both illustrated in story form and explained through philosophical analysis. It is original in that many of the stories have never before appeared in print.

This book is a veritable liberal education in itself, bringing together in a carefully balanced and readable manner, distinguished personalities from diverse enterprises and periods of history. It literally sparkles with celebrities recruited from science and the arts, philosophy and theology, medicine and religion, stage and screen, sports and entertainment. But the book does not ignore the relatively unknown who provide several human interest stories that are both moving and unforgettable.

Genres: Nonfiction, Catholic, Philosophy, Religion

231 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1996

Reviews

[Thadeus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the format of this book with memorable stories for each virtue and then useful commentary on the virtue.

Recommended.

[Dan Charnas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! So well-written: the format of presenting true stories that exemplify each of the twenty-eight virtues followed by the author's commentary and explanations about each virtue works brilliantly. Thought-provoking and inspiring.

[Monique · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is now the first title on my list of recommended books on the virtues. The format, examples of living the virtues, and the authors comments together give the best description of the virtues that I've found.

[Scott Paulson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book; a superb resource. The author introduces the necessity of virtues, what they are, and their warrant or the origin. Each chapter begins with a story or stories that illustrate that particular virtue, and then the author provides some further analysis of how that virtue may be developed in one’s own life.

Two features of this book that help it rise above “Tending the Heart of Virtue “ and other books like are the definitions and the in-line references to other books. Reasoning or arguments begin with proper definitions, and this book provides helpful definitions of the virtues. Secondly, this is one of those books that inspire the reading of other books.

[Overbooked ✎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Siobhain]

I hope to give this an actual rating after rereading it. I heard Donald DeMarco speak a number of years ago and bought and read this book at that time. I found this book frustrating then. Instead of focusing on the virtues that he was discussing, I got distracted by Dr. DeMarco's literature references. It felt a bit like name dropping, and I felt unintelligent because I was rarely familiar with the reference. I am a bit better read now and have the delightful goodreads community and book details to help me with the unfamiliar references so I have hope that I will like this book better the next time I read it.