Love
Courage
Truth
The Measure of Being
Love
Love is the first of the virtues.
He, of love, gives to others.
She, of love, draws out their best.
Love is between:
between parent and child,
between husband and wife,
between the weary beggar and one who leaves a coin.
Love is above:
above difference,
above pettiness,
above selfishness.
By showing love we receive love in return.
By believing in love we turn others to its cause.
Among all virtues, love is most derided and most needed.
Courage
Courage is the second of the virtues.
The knight, of courage, defends his kingdom.
The squire, of courage, becomes the knight.
Courage is a shield:
against evil,
against sickness,
against despair and loss of hope.
Courage is a fire:
it can be kindled,
it can consume,
it can warm when nothing else will.
By showing courage we fill our friends with it.
By regaining courage we steal it from our enemies.
Among all virtues, courage is most easily subverted and most deeply felt.
Truth
Truth is the third of the virtues.
The scholar, for truth, seeks hidden knowledge.
The poet, for truth, seeks the hidden soul.
Truth is a lens:
we see the world,
we see wisdom,
we see ourselves.
Truth is a surgeon's knife:
slicing falsehood away,
paring us down to our essential selves,
carving out hearts.
By speaking the truth we show our virtue best.
By hearing truth we free our minds from shackles.
Among all virtues, truth is both the hardest and the easiest to use.
The Measure of Being
From where does virtue spring?
Is it given?
Is it born of our minds?
Does it accrue, like leaves in the fall?
How does one measure virtue?
Remember in all things the Rule of Three.
Three are the virtues.
We all begin with little, unformed.
A child must be taught.
What do his parents value?
What do her playmates do?
We all pick up a little here and there,
Some of us differently than others.
Remember in all things the Rule of Three.
