The first virtue

03 Feb 2025

When the ancient Greeks and Romans spoke of virtue they weren’t talking about a Puritanical schoolmarm attitude, they meant excellence. A virtuous archer hits his target, a virtuous sailor handles his boat in any weather, and so forth.

virtue: from Latin virtus ‘valor, manly, excellence, character’, from vir ‘man’.

To hit your target you’ll need to practice (a bunch) and you’ll need some qualities to help you on your journey to excellence. These qualities were refined by a fellow named Plato and they are called the Four Virtues of Plato.

4 Platonic Virtues

1. Courage: strength of character to face life’s challenges.
2. Justice: render every man his due.
3. Temperance: restraint, self-control, discretion, moderation.
4. Prudence: practical wisdom, make sound decisions based on reason and experience.

Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit. We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.

Aristotle

Courage is the first of human qualities for it is the quality which guarantees the others.

Aristotle

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.

Anais Nin

People with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest.

Hermann Hesse

Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage.

Rilke

The secret of happiness is freedom and the secret of freedom is courage.

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War

Success is not measured by what a man accomplishes, but by the opposition he has encountered and the courage with which he has maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds.

Charles Lindbergh

I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.

Thomas Paine