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“Virtue” can seem old-fashioned. In fact, virtue—arete—translates to something very simple and very timeless: Excellence. Moral. Physical. Mental.
Religion is essentially virtue at the core of with added layers of social rules which might have made it less appealing to someone like me. But regardless, religion is timeless
Doing the right thing almost always takes courage, just as moderation is impossible without the wisdom to know what is worth choosing.
Thats how justice is pivotal to all the virtue signaling.
“Similarly, then, we become just by doing just actions, temperate by doing temperate actions, brave by doing brave actions.”
Practice is essential for building a character
“Justice means much more than the sort of thing that goes on in law courts,” C. S. Lewis would remind listeners in a famous lecture series. “It is the old name for everything we should now call ‘fairness’; it includes honesty, give and take, truthfulness, keeping promises, and all that side of life.”
This is why Justice is “the right thing to do” - there no word for it. But this American expression captures it the best way
As if these moral choices are clear and easy, or as if they are one-offs instead of ever present. As if we are the ones asking the question, instead of life asking them of us.
That is, the line between good and evil, right and wrong, ethical and unethical, fair and unfair.
This line is Out of context but not every time this line is clear. But there is something called conscientiousness. Do if it feels right
No one admires selfishness. In the end, we despise evil and greed and indifference.
“Love thy neighbor as thyself,” Hillel told the man. “All the rest is commentary.” Care about others. Treat them as you would wish to be treated. Not just when it’s convenient or recognized, but especially when it isn’t.
Age old aphorism - treat others like the way you like to be treated
You know justice when you see it—or, on a more visceral level, you feel it, especially its absence and its opposite.
Righteousness is a visceral feeling
The aim in this book is much simpler, much more practical—following in the tradition of the ancients who saw justice as a habit or a craft, a way of living.
The virtue of a person is measured not by his outstanding efforts but by his everyday behavior.
“If it’s not right, do not do it,” Truman underlined in his well-worn copy of Meditations, “if it is not true, do not say it….
“Always do right!” it read, quoting Mark Twain. “This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”
We keep our word to ourselves—that’s discipline. We keep our word to others because it’s justice.
We buff up our résumé. We dance around the unpleasant answer, we let omission do the heavy lifting. It’s a bit of a journey from “fake it until you make it” to outright fraud, but not as far as you think.
This is authenticity at a fundamental level - we didnt say it doesn’t mean we were truthful
Or as the Bible put it, evil hates the light.
Respect is justice. It’s something everyone deserves.
Unless we have respect, we cant deliver justice. Its the bass tracks behind justice
How we treat people in ordinary circumstances is one thing. How we treat them when we’re tired, when we’re stressed, when the weight of the world is on our shoulders…when someone has just screwed up, just cost us something serious. This says so much.
Practicing Respect in a stress situation is a test of character
No one is saying you have to be a saint. Just try not to be a sellout. Try not to be “dyed purple,” as Marcus Aurelius reminded himself, speaking of the emperor’s cloak and the way the job seemed to change the people who wore
Dyed purple - behaving like a royalty- using it in convo
“People talk of the courage of convictions, but in actual life a man’s duty to his family may make a rigid course seem a selfish indulgence of his own righteousness.”
Integrity is living by what you think is right. Not what you can get away with, not what everyone else is doing.
It’s not a real principle unless it costs you money.
This is my favorite new quote in my repertoire
We rationalize the knife as it goes in. We turn our eyes away and let someone else do it.
Avoid complicit behavior
Loyalty is expensive. It’s inconvenient. It gets in the way. It’s messy, it’s complicated, it’s hard to explain.
Loyalty has various shades - its definitely complicated
A small group of committed individuals can in fact change the world, and they don’t have to burn anything or anyone down in the process.
We do it because being kind is the more courageous thing in a cynical world. We
Kindness is a virtue that needs courage. Justice is at the top of the virtue stack, and I believe Courage is at the base. It is needed to practice all the other virtues.
(There’s a joke that the Royal Family thinks the world smells like fresh paint.)
- use it in convo - metaphor for not being grounded
When you’re suffering in your own life, it’s hard to muster the empathy to see someone else’s—especially if you or your choices have played any part in it.
We cannot fix what we won’t face. We cannot stop what we refuse to acknowledge.
Accept the reality, the fate. Amor Fati
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil,” Kennedy had said in quotation, “is for good men to do nothing.”
Avoid complicit behavior
By indifference, you also commit self-harm…but by the time you realize it, it will be too late.
Being indifferent is being partner in crime
To the person you’re saving, to the person whose burden you are lessening? There is nothing “small” about it.
The sea shell story - it matters to the sea shell
It is never preordained that justice will prevail. It is, however, almost certain that justice will not prevail without power.
Power is needed to achieve the end goal - robert green principles
He did not appeal to the public’s better angels. The politician of more than two decades got to work. He horse-traded. He logrolled. He applied pressure. “I’ll leave it to you to determine how it shall be done,”
Tactics is needed to get to the end - not just principles
It wasn’t pretty, but it did the job, not just for those then held in bondage but for millions still unborn.
Better purpose is achieved by compromising on the process and focusing on the outcome
What justice needs is not only the honesty and incorruptibility of Harry Truman, but also his ability to survive inside the machine, to get things done.
Get shit done by bending the rules (how much do we bend the principles? — follow righteousness)
Virtue without pragmatism is ineffectual and impotent.
Virtue is not just signaling and insinuating
but that a statesman “must know when to dissemble, when to be frank…. Every man of action has a strong dose of egotism, pride, hardness and cunning. But all those things will be forgiven of him—indeed they will be regarded as high qualities—if he can make them the means to achieve great ends.”
Great ends over process - because the world is complex
Machiavelli wasn’t the bad guy that idealists make him out to be. He was as principled as they come—in fact, he was brutally tortured for his role in attempt to keep his country free.
Supporting robert greens ideas - Ryan has started promoting Robert greens power books more than before. This development might be related to him realizing the reality of navigating through a complex world
The ends don’t always justify the means…but what does failing to achieve your ends justify? Is that justice? The reality is that injustice and inhumanity often have an economic logic to them.
Failing to achieve ends does no good to anyone - Naval recently said that too
An idealogue or a philosopher can be pure. A leader has to make decisions. A leader has to take action. They must be an idealist as well as a realist.
Pragmatism over idealism
“Raise your arm!” he said. “We’ll have to run risks for many things, but this silly salute is not one of them.”
Concise form is - Pick your battles by prioritizing
Politics, building things, making things happen—it’s dirty, dusty business. We cannot wait for perfect men, nor can we pretend to be pure ourselves. Doing good in this world is not going to be easy. It will not be without its opponents or obstacles. We can call them names. We can despair. We can blame.
Stop looking for angels. Start looking for angles.
When you have the shot you have to take it. People are counting on you.
Downside protection is not your priority
Same goes for that other expression about the road to hell being paved with good intentions.
- use it in convo - road to perdition was full with good intentions
He came to understand that righteousness without skilled organizing, action without strategy was a recipe for letting the cause down.
I would say that “tactics” without “strategy” is letting the cause down. Find a way to achieve the goal
What counts is whether this effort is actually alleviating that suffering, not temporarily but permanently.
Until then we have to be smart and capable and competent.
Generosity is something we admire. It’s something many of us wish we could be better at.
