self-denial for the good of oneself or others
Temperance is exercising control over excess. It is a bit of self-denial for one’s own good or the good of others. For instance, restraining from eating too much over the holidays. But it also includes giving others a second chance, not bragging, making careful choices. Temperance is the practiced ability to monitor and manage your emotions, motivation, and behavior without outside help. For example, a leader more focused on public safety than on re-election.
Goals
To critically assess …
- The meaning of humility, prudence, and self-control
- How these virtues inspire others, such as modesty and patience
- Ways related words of wisdom guide appropriate action
- How to resolve realistic scenarios based on wisdom in the topics
Humility
Humility is consciously refraining from arrogance; inwardly accepting oneself and ones place in life, outwardly in simplicity.
Correction has to do with fixing a mistake or inaccuracy.
- An error becomes a mistake when repeated; error is inevitable, mistakes aren’t.
- A fault recognized is half corrected.
To learn from loss is to begin to win; to give up is to accept failure.
- Forget your mistakes, but remember what they taught you.
- Stumbling blocks can sometimes be turned into stepping-stones.
Simplicity as a choice of lifestyle emphasizes quality over quantity, natural instead of ornamental, plain rather than pretentious.
- For example, despite an abundance of electronic gadgets she sought the simple pleasures of a hardbound novel.
- Without purpose, junk accumulates to fill all available space.
Appreciate the wonderment of the world, accept things simply.
- Two minutes of demonstration is worth twenty minutes of talk.
- When you need salt, sugar won’t do.
Humility is having a modest view of one’s importance, a humble view of one’s performance.
- For example, the unexpected standing ovation caused her to blush, then offer a bow in humility.
- Even the greatest book written is but a dictionary out of order.
If you admit you are wrong when you’re wrong, you’re all right.
- If you blame others for your failures, credit them for your success.
- Fish for no compliments, for they are caught in shallow waters.
Meekness is being gentle, patient, humble; it is not timidity, but restraint.
- For example, the customer support representative appears meek while waiting patiently for assertive customers to calm down.
- People who think they have no faults have at least one.
At times the way to convince others they’re wrong is to let them have their way.
- We are part of the people who can be fooled some of the time.
- Experience lets you recognize a mistake when you make it again.
Modesty is being moderate in one’s conduct or estimation of personal abilities.
- Compliments, like perfume, should be inhaled not swallowed.
- Many people would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.
Modesty is the triumph of mind over flatter.
- Most of the trouble is caused by people wanting to be important.
- It is rare to win respect by winning a fight.
Quietude is tranquility, or the use of quiet (calm, stillness) as a message.
- The serenity of country life is, even so, filled with the bustle of nature.
- Often the quiet before a storm is from the animals getting out of there.
Significantly, ‘listen’ has the same letters as ‘silent.’
- If you have nothing to say, then say it.
- The right response to give a fool is simply silence.
Based on the Wisdom in this Topic
Case of the Ladybug Racer
Which wise words are suited for the inventor who handicraft is effective at a cost?
- PATRON. After tremendous personal investment, a young inventor made a bicycle-like mechanism. It can achieve highway speeds through a combination of clever technology and steady peddling.
- INVENTOR. My mechanism looks more like a ladybug than a speed racer. It found a niche market with modest sales, likely due to its high cost and unusual design. Maybe it needs to lift up for sales to take off.
Case of the Bad Break
What is the wisest option correct a breakout gone wrong?
- WARDEN. A corrections officer agreed to be imprisoned in order to test our security by engineering an escape. The officer’s identity was changed and a credible cover-story was concocted. Time passed and the officer slowly integrated into the prison population.
- OFFICER. A couple inmates figured out what was going on. They want in on the escape plan and intend to bring other inmates along. When I refused, those two inmates said they would blow the whistle and let the general prison population seek revenge.
Case of the Home Run
What is the wise choice in a windfall that doesn’t fall within ones lifestyle?
- SPECTATOR. With a crack of the bat, a baseball player sent the fastball hurling high. It was a home run, it was a new record for most home runs, and it was high into the stands. Fans scrambled, knowing the ball could be worth a fortune. It ricocheted out of the stadium, rolled down a ramp, and came to a halt under the calmly raised sneaker of a hot dog vendor.
- VENDOR. I knew what the ball represented, but wanted no part of the publicity. My life is sufficient, surrounded with street friends and fans of the frankfurter. When a pair of souvenir seekers tracked the baseball to me, I asked what having it would mean to them. Fame, fortune, status. My other option is to returned the ball to the batter who hit it out of the park.
Prudence
Prudence is managing oneself to achieve long-term goals by considering the consequences of actions.
Wealth is prosperity measured in affluence or in resources.
- She is smart, skilled, and successful — a wealth of life.
- To keep out of debt, earn more than you yearn.
Wealthy is the one who enjoys, not simply has.
- You are only poor when you want more than you have.
- To feel rich, count all the things you have that money can’t buy.
Wisdom is the ability or tendency to find the appropriate thing to do under the circumstances.
- For example, the camper was wise to pack a sleeping bag because it gets cold in the desert at night.
- It is easier to prepare a little than repair a lot. So, working on the computer? Back up your data — save early, save often. Relatives flying in? Check that the flight’s on time before going to the airport.
Advice is wise when it applies to advantage situations.
- Wisdom is knowing what you don’t know and what to do with what you do know.
- Going camping? Dip a few matches in melted wax. Even wet, they’ll still light.
Prudence is the practice of weighing circumstances to reduce risk, or minimize the greatest foreseeable harm.
- For example, having home insurance is not required once you own your house, but it is prudent to do so.
- To cross a chasm, take a giant step since small steps won’t do.
Think like a person of action and act like a person of thought.
- Living life in the fast lane gets a person to the other end in a hurry.
- Nature sent us a message: one mouth that closes; two ears that do not.
Based on the Wisdom in this Topic
Case of Early Retirement
What wise words would help in deciding whether or not to retire early?
- NOEL. I don’t see the point in early retirement. People who retire early lose salary for those missing years and pay a penalty for taking an early pension, a percentage of their potential pension for each year that they retire early. The accumulated loss can be quite large.
- LEON. Retire early, retire younger and healthier. Health is wealth. You can become more involved with families, hobbies, and volunteer work. It also gives a person the time to pursue further education, to the extent that a reduced pension allows.
Case of the Brother’s Druthers
What was prudent about choosing ambition, about choosing to have a family?
- ELDEST. My brother and I were close as could be until we left the family home. I sought fortune, first to be wealthy, but paid the price of loneliness.
- YOUNGEST. I sought family, first to have an heir, but many children meant few luxuries. My brother and I were each sure she’d followed the path to success. Now, in our middle age, we are considering the cost to our relationship.
Case Gone Cold
What advice is best for as a detective who finds experience comes from mistakes?
- DETECTIVE. As a young detective working the case of an atrocious crime, somehow I lost vital evidence. Fellow officers found this poetic justice for my practical jokes. I was taken off the case. The evidence was never recovered and my reputation never recovered.
- SURVIVOR. The new team put on the case found no new leads in the clues. The case went cold. Now as an adult and the only survivor, I want to hire the disgraced detective to pursue the case as a private investigator. I figure he will be motivated to solve it.
Self-Control
Self-control refers to the ability to regulate or control personal excesses or lashing out at others.
Cheerfulness is a happy way of looking or acting.
- For instance: after a good nights sleep, he awoke with a cheerful whistle.
- All people smile in the same language.
Most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be.
- A cheerful loser is always a winner.
- Happiness multiplies as it is divided with others.
Equanimity is staying calm, keeping composure in a difficult situation.
- World class players appear equanimous, but might be a bundle of nerves on the inside.
- Those who know the least know it the loudest.
The more you grow up, the less you blow up.
- Gentle words fall lightly, but with great weight.
- Temper gets us into trouble, but pride keeps us there.
Restraint is a measure to keep circumstances under control, to prevent harm.
- A seat belt is a restraint, so is counting to ten or taking a time-out when provoked.
- To restrain is to hold back or limit motion or action that could foreseeably cause harm.
Don’t try to be yourself; be what you ought to be.
- Anger is only one letter short of danger.
- If you would not write it and sign it, then do not say it.
Focus is the ability to concentrate, to pay attention.
- For example, worrying about the runner on first base led the pitcher to lose focus and throw a ball easily hit out of the baseball park.
- Thought is organized in generalities; life, in details.
We never find time for anything, we must take time.
- Some people get lost in thought because it is unfamiliar territory.
- Great minds talk about ideas; little minds talk about other people.
Maturity is being developed or at least considered to be capable of full responsibilities.
- Maturity means acting your age instead of your urge.
- Maturity entails enduring uncertainty and accepting deferred gratification.
What counts isn’t the years in your life, but life in your years.
- The seven stages of ages: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills, wills.
- When people speak ill of you, live such that no one will believe them.
Patience is tolerating annoyance, working calmly and carefully.
- For example, waiting in queue with a fidgety child for the next carnival ride took all the patience mom could muster.
- See all, overlook much, correct some.
Worthwhile goals often require patience, labor, and disappointments
- Where there is cope there is hope.
- Speak when angry and it may be the best speech you’ll ever regret.
Based on the Wisdom in this Topic
Case of the Chess Moves
What words of wisdom support cheerfulness or other traits as ways of winning?
- BORIS. We play chess in the park, moving indoors with the weather. Outside, my friend doesn’t focus on the game. Too busy greeting those who pass by, even those who don’t speak our tongue. Should see him: waving like a monarch, grinning like a fool.
- BOBBY. Indoors we are evenly matched. In the park, Boris declares checkmate more often. I don’t disagree, but have a different point of view. We play chess. We chat. Yes, but we also enjoy the summer evening. And, I wave. There are many ways of winning.
Case of the Seal Heart
How does accepting praise or criticism with equanimity help one as a leader?
- ELDER. The governor attended a festival in our community. In keeping with tradition, she was offered and ate the raw heart of a baby seal. To our astonishment, other nations reacted with disgust.
- GOVERNOR. I was paying respect to the traditions of the first settlers in our nation. In any case, it is much the same as eating lamb or veal. They, too, are cute animals. Grocery meat is animal body parts.
Case of No Return
Was the reporter wise to not pass along a tip that had a personal impact on others?
- REPORTER. I had a tip that a cruise ship company was going bankrupt and booked a berth aboard its final voyage. The angle was to get passenger reaction on arrival in the Port of Able Bay City when they found out that return tickets were worthless. Predictably, passengers were angry when they discovered they were on their own to go home.
- PASSENGER. Passenger outrage turned on the reporter for not telling us before departure. For not warning us until the cruise company already had our money. The reporter claims he is reporting the news event, not making it. Claiming he had no choice but to honour the news embargo the tipster placed until the liner arrived in the Port of ABC.
