Saturday, June 19, 2004

The 4 virtues ... [continued]

Hey journal,

I was throwing about the 4 virtues in my head again today. Did my usual stuff,which basically amounts to nothing much and surfed a little, trying to understand a bit more of what the ancient Greek folks were thinking when they came up with these. Pretty interesting philosophy, very basic but very powerful notions. I tried to come up with my own personal meanings to them instead of relying on the dictionary. I guess I have to if I want these 4 virtues to mean something to me, in my everyday life, in their personal ways. I have to admit I am pretty bad at defining words, afterall I am linguistically-challenged.

It took me an entire hour of doodling on my notepad before I can come with up anything, but this is my best shot at organizing my thoughts on these 4 virtues [and I am sure sub-consciously, I plagiarized some of the wordings, somehow, from some other websites].

Wisdom - Excellence of reason
Temperance - Moderation of spirit
Courage - Mastery of fear
Justice - Accordance of truth


I know, a lot of people will pick fault with my definition of justice. Afterall the dictionary did say "Justice is when you are being just, impartial and fair". And when one does that, you do accord the truth, grant the fairness of the situation and bring it to reality.

And I have to agree with Plato [Wow, like who the bloody hell am I to agree with Plato?], wisdom and temperance must come in unity with courage before justice and truth will see the light of the day. I am not as eloquent as Plato to surmise it into one sentence. But I got to have my own personal statement on this to make my belief whole, so again, my best attempt at organizing these 4 virtues into something personal.

One alone, it means nothing
Two incomplete, no form is served
Three united, the base is laid
Peak rises, justice brightly shines


Does this mean something?
It sure means something to me, something personal, but essential.