A Call to Moral Excellence
Commentary
As a businessman and a father, I contend that the most important step on the road to success is the act of becoming virtuous. You may well respond, What, then, is virtue?
This question has been asked for over 3,000 years by philosophers from Socrates to Aquinas. Men like Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, and Virgil dedicated much of their lives to understanding virtue. They esteemed it to be a quality of the soul: not a condition one is born with, but rather the result of years of self-discipline.
In classical thought, virtues were defined as good habits which aim toward a higher end in life. Once these patterns of action are established, they are very difficult to change. The person who consistently chooses to act justly becomes just. One who persistently chooses moderation in food and drink becomes moderate. The choice between right and wrong actions today has far-reaching implications: We become what we do….