Right Thing, Right Now

“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.”

We worked hard because it was our job, because we wanted to realize our potential. The financial compensation is something we are glad to get but also understand is extra. We earned it once, we can earn it again. And what kind of person values their fun—or redundant security—over the alleviation of someone else’s suffering?

A transparent person doesn’t just act in compliance with the law but goes out of their way to give their stakeholders the information they need. They don’t hide the ball.

One aim: to help you choose… Courage, bravery, endurance, fortitude, honor, sacrifice… Temperance, self-control, moderation, composure, balance… Justice, fairness, service, fellowship, goodness, kindness… Wisdom, knowledge, education, truth, self-reflection, peace…

“If it’s not right, do not do it,” Truman underlined in his well-worn copy of Meditations, “if it is not true, do not say it…. First do nothing thoughtlessly or without a purpose. Secondly, see that your acts are directed to a social end.”

To the person you’re saving, to the person whose burden you are lessening? There is nothing “small” about it. When the Talmud says that he who saves one person saves the world, maybe that’s partly what they meant—because you certainly save that person’s whole world.

In the ancient world, virtue was comprised of four key components. Courage. Temperance. Justice. Wisdom. The “touchstones of goodness,” the philosopher king Marcus Aurelius called them. To millions, they’re known as the “cardinal virtues,” four near-universal ideals adopted by Christianity and most of Western philosophy, but equally valued in Buddh

We are burdened but also privileged now. Because from this responsibility comes meaning and purpose—comes intense, life-giving warmth.

“Virtue” can seem old-fashioned. In fact, virtue—arete—translates to something very simple and very timeless: Excellence. Moral. Physical. Mental.