Why Virtue is the Most Important Thing

What is virtue?

I guess you could say: it is good character mixed with the right intentions.

A lot of thought goes into a person's life. First there is what they think about their life, how they feel in their skin, and then there is a reflection of that back onto them, or the way they are perceived. 

This is not always an easy thing to manage, and things can change rapidly. Maybe I like to assume that everyone can be rational all the time and handle pressure well, but I know nothing about what goes on in people's minds. Yet I have so much brain activity and all this stuff that only I know.

This is the problem of subjectivity. 

In turn, we might realize that in order for me to understand you, or for you to understand me, there must exist some sort of linking thing, some guiding thread we can both connect to.

If you did not understand what I'm trying to say, and did not attempt to try, that would be one-sided discussion. The same would be true if, say, I listened to you and only told you things I wanted to say. 

Let me get to the point I want to make. In all cases where we have a choice of doing better, the most important thing to consider is what we are doing wrong now and why. Furthermore, we must ask ourselves, fundamentally: "Am I making an effort in my existence?"

There are, for certain, many cases where we feel really powerless. It's soul-***, I know, when you have a family member, a friend, a partner, who you don't feel understands you or cares to. That is brutalizing and difficult. The same is true when work does not go as we want it to, or when an argument emerges out of seemingly nothing at all, or we may mess something up we are used to not messing up and we hate ourselves for it. This, my friends, is all NORMAL HUMAN BEHAVIOR. 

But what can we say about our ability as humans to overcome that behavior so that it doesn't bother us? What if, truly, we had the capacity to help ourselves and others, even if only gradually? 

Resentment, envy, greed, lust, laziness - these things are all detrimental to us, and they have been mentioned in the Bible, in Hindu and Buddhist scripture, in Ancient Greek Stoicism, in Taoism, etc. 

The fact of the matter is, we are governed by both low and high forces. We may say that we want something, but the entity within us doing the "wanting" is not the same entity that is virtuous.

One cannot always be doing what they "want". Indeed, a lot of good is done when we do not think of ourselves and instead think about the thing we're doing, the good we're doing with it, etc.

If we idle for too long in things that are not virtuous, we fall prey to sin. A lot of sin could result in a lot of suffering, which I can personally attest to. I have caused suffering and it caused me to suffer. I have seen people around me do awful things and they will likely get their comeuppance for it. 

That is to say, we cannot deny that there is an objective good and bad in the world. Even this website, beautiful as it is, is maintained by the fact that some people are driven by compassion. 

Indeed, a lot can be said about those people who give, give, give, without asking in return. And even if they do suffer from the fact that they only give and never get, they are beloved by God. 

I hope this case for virtue was a reasonable one, and I feel this concept needs more explanation. 

Thank you, and I look forward to talking more with all of you.