Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.

I constantly catch myself thinking about my virtues, as well as my vices, and debating whether or not I am a "good" person. But what makes a good person? And who is it up to to decide who is good or not? And what in the hell gives them that right? I know that what constitutes good to me is different than that of the person next to me but virtues aren't open for discussion or interpretation, you either possess them or you don't. However, being virtuous has nothing to do with your genetic makeup and everything to do with how you were raised and the environment you find yourself in. You cannot teach people a virtue by requiring them to read books about it. You can only teach a virtue by calling upon people to exercise it. Virtue is not an innate property of character; it is an attribute of behavior and the only reward of virtue is virtue. In order to have a friend, you must be a friend.

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