John Janzen’s Reviews > A Small Treatise on the Great Virtues: The Uses of Philosophy in Everyday Life > Status Update

Started a chapter on humility, and found this quote interesting: "There is a courage that comes from despair and courage, too, that comes from humility. Besides, we do not choose the source of our courage. Better a true sadness than a false joy" (Comte-sponville 143).

I just went through the entire chapter of gratitude, and found this quote enlightening: "Gratitude (charis) is this joy of memory, this love of the past-it neither suffers over what no longer is nor regrets what has been but joyfully recalls what was" (Bradbury 137). I found this quote interesting because it is revising what is going through the mind when gratitude is being felt.

I just finished the chapter on mercy, and I found this quote pretty fascinating: "Mercy, then, is the virtue of forgiveness, its secret and its truth. It eliminates not the wrong but the resentment, not the memory but the anger, not the fight but the hatred. Mercy is not love but stands in for love when love is not possible or lays the foundation for love when love would be premature" (Comte-Spontville 130,131).

I started the chapter in mercy and saw this quote: "Evil is a matter of will, not ignorance; a matter of heart, not intelligence or mind; a matter of hatred, not stupidity" (Comte-Sponville 123). I found this quote interesting because it gives a new perspective. People choose to be evil, it isn't due to something they are born with. This can be applied to Socrates' and Plato's theory of humanity's inherent goodness.

I finished the section about compassion. I found a quote that speaks volumes in and of itself: "'...love and do what you wish -or be compassionate and do what you must" (Comte-Sponville 117). This really stuck out to me because recently, I've been studying Shaolin monks and eastern philosophy, and this quote made me think of the Yin Yang, and the philosophy that two equal forces harmonize together, like the quote.

I finished the section on generosity, and now I am reading the chapter about compassion. This is a very interesting topic because this virtue is seen more as a greater, broader virtue, than can be in addition to the other virtues stated in this book. I found this quote particularly thoughtful: "To have compassion is to commune in suffering... Pity is thus what separates us from barbarity" (Comte-Sponville 112).

I just started the section about generosity. It's very impressive how the author is able to contrast different virtues and topics immaculately, showing possible circumstances and perspectives the mind could philosophically take on a virtue. I found this quote pretty captivating: "Love doesn't command, it can't be ordered up. Generosity is different: if we want to be generous, we can be" (Comte-Sponville 96).

I just finished the section about justice and it was very insightful. I found this quote pretty interesting: "Gentleness and compassion cannot substitute for justice, nor are they meant to take over where justice ends:" (Comte-Sponville 83).

This book is still very enlightening, has lots of wisdom, and I feel more understanding of the world around me the more I read it. I really liked this quote about justice that I found: "The self is always unjust. Therefore, thinking about justice requires taking the self out of the picture or at least rendering it incapable of influencing the judgment" (Comte-Sponville 72,73).

This book is very at certain points but also amazes me because it's able to put out really deep stuff. In the chapter in which justice is examined, the author quotes Pascal, "There are only two kinds of men: the righteous, who think they are sinners; and the sinners, who think they are righteous" (Andre Comte-Sponville 67). This is very paradoxical cause if you think about it, you can't know which man you are.