It is said that Tiruvalluvar, or Holy Valluvar, was a humble weaver who, despite his humble origins and implied lack of formal education, was so sagacious, pious, and holy that he perfectly captured the very essence of ethics, virtue, and morality, in fact the very essence of dharma, in short pithy poetic couplets that remain unsurpassed to this day.
Efforts to define sound mindedness (sophrosune) in the Charmides end in an impasse partly owing to the difficulty of specifying the subject of the knowledge that is the essence of this virtue.
Dialogues of definition, such as the Laches, seem to presuppose that each virtue has its own definition, but, at the same time, such dialogues seem to be moving towards the view that the essence of each virtue is wisdom or knowledge.
Practically no one challenges the premise, which we're all taught from childhood, that acting for one's own benefit is morally tainted, while sacrificing for the benefit of others is the essence of moral virtue.
3. We come now to that other mode of Likeness which, we read, is the fruit of the loftier virtues: discussing this we shall penetrate more deeply into the essence of the Civic Virtue and be able to define the nature of the higher kind whose existence we shall establish beyond doubt.
Not only is the Tirukkural considered a masterpiece of literature but is also seen to embody the essence of Tamil ethics, virtue, and morality.
Wisdom in essence is the product of virtue, as is developing mental health skills such as letting go, thinking creatively and being humane to oneself and others.
"We wanted to make these athletes look like rock stars, so we made in essence a rock video," said Spencer Baim, founder of Virtue, of the spot, which was directed by Warren Fischer, of the band Fischerspooner.
"We entered a world of immense beauty and awe, where questions touching the essence of human life of knowledge and virtue, of individual excellence and common good, or philosophy and politics were directly before us," said Nichols of Cropsey, who chaired her dissertation committee.
If they give a jumbled up confused answer, again trying to give excuses and stay out of trouble, you know they don't get the essence of truth-telling as a virtue in itself.
