Right Thing, Right Now

Let’s just focus on doing the good we can do. Let’s forget about credit. Let’s forget about gratitude. We don’t need anyone to appreciate us, to recognize us. We do good because we are good, and everything else is extra.

In fact, that was the fate of a leader, he later joked—to earn a bad reputation while doing good things.

Non angeli sed angli. Stop looking for angels. Start looking for angles.

Pragmatism without virtue is dangerous and hollow. Virtue without pragmatism is ineffectual and impotent.

κοινωνικαί

“Lt. Col. Shunzo Kido turned aside from the prize to save his horse. He heard the low voice of mercy, not the loud acclaim of glory.”

While we cannot change the past, we can—by refusing to deny it—do better in the future. In so doing, we begin to make amends for what has happened.

Forgiveness is not martyrdom—it is a kind of conquering, transcending the opponent, the situation, and yourself. Nothing frustrates evil quite like forgiveness. Nothing befuddles hatred quite like not getting hatred in return.

What is surprising, or rather, disappointing, is to find out that you did it for the wrong reasons. That you were more self-involved than selfless. That it didn’t come from a place of strength and generosity but of insecurity or thirst.