The Twelve Basic Virtues
August 20, 2009
1. HONESTY AND INTEGRITY
2.
MORALITY AND ETHICS
3.
LOVE,HOPE,FAITH AND BELIEF
4.
SELF-DISCIPLINE
5.
TRUSTWORTHINESS
6.
FORGIVENESS
7.
KINDNESS/GENTLENESS/CHEERFULNESS
8.
HUMILITY
9.
COURAGE
10.
GOOD HABITS
11.
PATIENCE
12.
UNSELFISHNESS
1. HONESTY AND INTEGRITY
Truthfulness, integrity and goodness
form the essence of manly character. He who possesses these qualities, along
with sense of purpose, carries with him a power, which is irresistible. He is
strong to do good, strong to resist evil, under difficulty and misfortune. It
is in misfortune that the character of the upright man shines forth brightest.
When all else fails, he relies on his integrity and courage.-S. Smiles
Integrity is words and deeds is the
backbone of character. Loyal adherence to truth is its most prominent
characteristic. There is a truthfulness in action as well as in words, which is
essential for uprightness of character.
We all know some very prominent and
successful leaders who are not too meticulous when it comes to ethics. It is
amazing how bright they are in some areas, how they can motivate people, but
are still motivated by greed themselves. Greed does have a way of blurring and
making fuzzy one’s ethics.
2. MORALITY & ETHICS
· Belief in high morals means having
a personal philosophy based on the ability to know right from wrong. What we
believe about right and wrong affects our thinking and shapes our character
traits. Morals are a philosophy.
Practicing
ethics are the high standards of honest and honorable dealings based on our
morals. Ethics are a set of basic working tenets for life and business. How we
act and what we do, our methods of functioning, and how we apply our morals is
our ethical behavior. Ethics are application.
The
stronger our behavior, the better leaders we become
-Sheila Murray
· If you make a list of words related
to ethics, it would include morals, integrity, honesty, values, trust, duty,
virtue, truth, decency, courage, prudence, loyalty, honor, goodness, fidelity,
and conscience. Ethics represent actions based on a concept of right and wrong.
3. LOVE, HOPE, FAITH & BELIEF
· Hope and faith help you to walk
with all men, both the saints and the sinners, and still remain the master of
your own fate, the captain of your own soul! They keep your ego alert and
active, yet humble and grateful.
· Faith in yourself and faith in God
are the key to mastery of fear.
· The power of thought is the only
thing over which any person has complete, unquestionable control – a fact so
astounding that it connotes a close relationship between the mind of man and
the universal mind of infinite intelligence, the connecting link between the
two being faith.
· If there is a language which the
deaf can hear and the blind can see, it is the language of love!
· There are too many counterfeit
forms of love and too many people who say, “I love you because I need you” or
“I love you because I want you”. Such possessive forms of love are not real.
They seek to get something from the other person instead of giving
something.-Robert Schuller
· Love is patient and kind, it is not
jealous or conceited or proud; love is not ill mannered or selfish or
irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs; love is not evil, but is
happy with the truth. Love never gives up; and its faith, hope and patience
never fail.- New Testament
· To accomplish great things, we must
not only act, but also dream, not only plan, but also believe.
· The person who has faith in God,
even though his problem remains unchanged, shall indeed gain victory over it.
· Faith is indeed the greatest
miracle-working power imaginable. Faith never fails a person – we fail when we
give up on our faith. –Robert Schuller
· Sigmund Freud, the Ausurian founder
of psychoqnalysis said that unless the personality has love, it sickeîs and
dies. Love includes understa~ding, goodwill. and resðect for the divinity in
the other person. The more love and goodwill you emanate and exude the more
comes back to you.
· Love ant freedom go together – you
cannot choose one and leave the other. A man who knows freedom is full of love,
and a man who knows love is always willing to give freedom. If you cannot give
freedom to the person you love, to whom can you give freedom? Giving freedom is
nothing but trusting.
Freedom is
an expression of love.
You see
bird on the wing in the sun, in the sky, and it looks so beautiful. Attracted
by its beauty, you can catch the bird and put it in a golden cage. Do you think
it is the same bird? Superficially, yes, it is the same bird which was flying
in the sky; but deep down it is not the same bird because where is its sky,
where is its freedom?
This
golden cage may be valuable to you; it is not valuable to the bird. For the
bird, to be free in the sky is the only valuable thing in life. And the same is
true about human beings.- OSHO
·
Faith is the basis of all “miracles,” and all mysteries, which cannot be
analyzed by the rules of science!
·
Faith is the only known antidote for failure!
·
Faith is the element, the “chemical” which, when mixed with prayer, gives one
direct communication with infinite intelligence.
·
Faith is the element, which transforms the ordinary vibration of thought,
created by the finite mind of man, into spiritual equivalent.
·
Faith is the only agency through which the cosmic force of infinite
intelligence can be harnessed and used by man.
·
Still another mental and spiritual medicine is that of hoe: “and now abide
faith, hope, love.” Everyday, send down into your mind three great words –
faith, hope, and love- and your health will be stimulated –Norman Vincent Peale
·
In reality, sharing of affection, perfect relationships are as much an illusion
as perfect love. Loving relationships do not just involve sharing your
strengths. They involve trying to confront and satisfactorily manage your own
and others’ vulnerabilities and anxieties. There can be strength in this too.
–Richard Nelson Jones
·
Love is defined as making choices that affirm both yourself and others in your
relationships. This giving of yourself may entail receiving another’s love.
However, my main focus is on the messages you send rather than on those that
you receive. Such love is expressed in your daily choices with a range of
people and not just in your intimate relationships. To the extent that your
thoughts, feelings and actions affirm rather than hurt others, you are a loving
person.
·
Believers are aggressive, they are positive. They know that bigness can be
created from smallness. A big oak comes from an acorn. Believers are thinkers.
They never spend their time being emotional about how badly off they are. They
never clutter their minds with negative thoughts. They think positively and
believe, and so ideas come and often those ideas turn into blessings for humanity.-Norman
Vincent Peale
A STORY OF LOVE
I have a friend whose son developed
an avid interest in baseball. My friend wasn’t interested in baseball at all.
But one summer, he took his son to see every major league team play one game.
The trip took over six weeks and cost a great deal of money, but it became a
powerful bonding experience in their relationship. My friend was asked on his
return, “Do you like baseball that much?”
“No”, he replied, “but I like my son
that much.”
-Norman Vincent Peale
4. SELF-DISCIPLINE
· Voluntary habit-building is self-discipline in its highest
and noblest form of application! And all voluntary positive habits are the
products of willpower directed toward the attainment of definite ends.
· Self-discipline is the principle by
which one may voluntarily shape the patterns of thought to harmonize with his
aims and purposes. The privilege carries with it a heavy responsibility because
it is the one privilege which determines, more than all others, the position in
life which each man shall occupy.- N. Hill
· Self-discipline is the basic
ingredient of self-control and the foundation of self-respect. If an executive
lacks self-discipline, self-control, or self-respect, even if he is the person
in charge, he will not, in fact, be the leader.
· Self-discipline means, at its most
personal level, that you do not attempt to deceive yourself. Always be careful
what you think. Practice self-restraint in your private life. Remember that a
person’s opinion of himself eventually shows in his face and is reflected in
his outward behavior. A true leader exercises self-discipline through
controlling his thoughts and actions even when he believes that no one else can
see him. –Donald Krause
5. TRUSTWORTHINESS
· Trust means a firm belief in the honesty and reliability of
another. It implies a confident belief in another’s trustworthiness.
· Trust involves being confident that
the other person will abide by the formal and informal rules of your
relationship even when out of your presence. Untrustworthy behavior which is
obvious to you includes breaking promises and commitments that you can check
on. Untrustworthy behavior that may deceive you includes lying, breaking
confidences and cheating on you with a third party.
· In developing and maintaining a
relationship you too need to demonstrate your trustworthiness. You need to show
characteristics like honesty, reliability, acceptance and commitment. If you
are mean, suspicious, uncaring, hostile and selfish, people are unlikely to
view you as trustworthy.-Richard Nelson-Jones
6. FORGIVENESS
· To forgive the other does not
necessarily mean that you like him or want to associate with him. Nobody can be
compelled to like someone, neither can a government legislate good will, love,
peace, or tolerance. We can, however, love people without liking them. Love
means wishing for the other health, happiness, peace, joy, and all the
blessings of life. There is only one prerequisite, and that is sincerity. You
are not being magnanimous when you forgive, you are really being selfish,
because what you wish for the other, you are actually wishing for yourself.
· Forgiveness of others is essential
mental peace and radiant health. You must forgive everyone who has ever hurt
you if you want perfect health and happiness. Forgive yourself by getting your
thoughts in harmony with divine law and order. You cannot really forgive
yourself completely until you have forgiven others first. –Dr Joseph
· Forgiveness is the fragrance the
violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it. –Mark Twain
7. KINDNESS/GENTLENESS/CHEERFULNESS
· Cheerfulness gives elasticity to the spirit. Specters fly
before it. Difficulties cause no despair, for they are met with hope. Thus, the
mind acquires that happy disposition to improve opportunities, which rarely fails
to bring success. The fervent spirit is always a healthy and happy spirit. It
works cheerfully, and stimulated others to work. It confers dignity on even the
most ordinary occupations. Cheerfulness, no doubt, goes a long way to
contribute to the success of work.
· If a person works under stress,
worries much, lives in anxiety and fear, he suffers a breakdown in his health.
Therefore, the converse must be true. If a man is cheerful all the time, if
there is love, faith, hope within him, he should overcome illness. If stress,
anxiety, fear, worry pull a man down, faith, hope, love and laughter should
life him up.- Norman Vincent Peale
· Kindness is words creates
confidence
Kindness
in thinking creates profoundness
Kindness in giving creates love.
–Lao-Tzu
· Hatred paralyzes life; love
releases it.
Hatred
confuses life; love harmonizes it.
Hatred darkens life; love
illuminates it. –Martin Luther King
· If I can stop one heart from
breaking,
I shall
not live in vain:
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto its nest again.
I shall not live in vain –Emily
Dickinson
· I shall not pass this way again
Through
this toilsome world, alas!
Once and
only once I pass;
If a
kindness I may show,
If a good
deed I may do
To a suffering
fellow man,
Let me do
it while I can,
No delay,
for it is plain
I shall
not pass this way again.
-Anon
9. COURAGE
· It takes courage to be a real
winner – not a winner in the sense of beating out someone else by always
insisting on coming out on top – but a winner at responding to life. It takes
courage to experience the freedom that comes with autonomy, courage to accept
intimacy and directly encounter other persons, courage to take a stand in an
unpopular cause, courage to choose authenticity over approval and to choose it
again and again, courage to accept the responsibility for your own choices,
and, indeed, courage to be the very unique person you really are. New ways are
often uncertain ways and, as Robert Frost expressed it, “Courage is the human
virtue that counts most –courage to act on limited knowledge and insufficient
evidence. That’s all any of us have. –Muriel Jones
10. GOOD HABITS
Character is necessarily strengthened by the
cultivation of good habits. Habit is second nature. As it is said: “All is
habit in mankind, even virtue itself.”- S.Smiles
11. PATIENCE
· The patient man is surely one who
is unhurried in his mind and who finds it possible to relax within. One thing
is sure, so long as the din and jar of life do not get into the inner essence
of a man, he is safe.
A ship in
a storm at sea may be pounded hard by the wind and waves, but if she has a
steady captain and a dry engine room with her motors throbbing on, she will
ride out the storm.-Norman Vincen Peale
12. UNSELFISHNESS
· There is a difference between
self-love and selfishness. Self-love means having the personal security,
knowledge and skills to be able to affirm your existence. Self-love is based on
sufficiency, not deficiency.
Selfishness
on the other hand, is a deficiency disease. The selfish person does not love
himself too much but too little; in fact he hates himself.- Richard Nelson
Jones
· When you put yourself in the center
of all your thoughts, to the exclusion of everyone else, you are close to
committing personality suicide. Self-pity and self-interest are destructive
maladies causing the personality to wither and die. A person at any age, under
any circumstance, can feel better by reaching out to others. Helpful people are
joyous people, and joy “does good, like medicine.”-Norman Vincent Peale
Chandru
Gidwani
Posted by Rose Fortich.