To Be or Not To Be

A little kingdom I possess,
Where thoughts and feelings dwell;
And very hard the task I find
Of governing it well.
~ Louisa May Alcott

...that more or less describes my situation!

~A Wise Man Said~

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
~ Aristotle
Monday, April 20, 2020
 
Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others. ~ Aristotle

Someone put the question: if one had to choose, would one choose a lack of courage or lack of justice. I immediately thought I would always choose to have justice. Somehow justice or fairness is one of the virtues that I strongly strive to hold and I also admire in others. I am always thinking about whether a particular action of mine might be deemed unfair or unjust and I am highly sensitive to others' unfair or unjust actions too. To take a very simplistic everyday example, I am not exactly fond of housecleaning duties but having decided a rota with my housemates I never miss my turn because this would be unfair to them. 
However, I have never really consciously thought of courage or myself as one who is courageous or who aspires to be courageous. Obviously I don't see myself as a coward either but the word 'courage' always sparks heroic images of say someone who is ready to give up their life for the country or something, and I am afraid I am not one who has that sort of courage. I have more of a "discretion is the better part of valour" approach. I will do everything to not put myself in harm's way so for instance if I know a particular street is dangerous, I will avoid it. If going out very late in the night is not advisable in a particular location, I will stay in. Because of my rather cautious rather than brash nature, I have never really resonated with ‘courage’ in the layman sense of the term.
Thinking more deeply about this choice between the virtue of justice and courage though, I was led to the realisation that one cannot be truly just or consistently just if one lacks inner courage. If one is just or fair only in circumstances where it is convenient for one or where it does not involve unpleasant consequences to oneself then one is not really just. This ‘courage’ as virtue though is not the reckless or rash running toward danger kind. It is the courage that is demanded in doing the right thing or the just thing because it is the right or just thing to do. Going into a dangerous street or jumping from a parachute then is not ‘courage’ at all from a virtue perspective. Sticking to or advocating for what one believes to be good or right or just even if it is fraught with danger...is.

posted by Sylvia D'souza at 6:43 pm 0 comments
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