Maintaining Integrity and Humility

[halcyonsgs]

How do you achieve these things for yourself? Are they important to you? For integrity, I try to have my actions and deeds correlate to what I say. Listening to other people's experiences, reading about the lengths that humans (and, really all living things) will go to to survive and remembering that I am a small cog in a very large machine helps keep me humble. Thanks for listening and tell me what you think or write me off as a rambling psuedopsychologist. Either one is fine with me...

 

[Jabberwocky]

Well a self serving, short sighted individual who defines himself as self serving and narrowly focused would have integrity, right? Would that be a good thing?

Regarding humility I think it could well be that some grandiosity is required to get through life.

I'm saying all this having felt congruous with your post but having thought a little bit of dissonance might make for better discussion. I really do believe unwarranted optimism and self esteem could be a good thing for keeping up motivation and interest in this world.

 

[thujone]

For integrity, I try to have my actions and deeds correlate to what I say.

word, i think that's the way to do it! as far as humility goes... well, i'm not very good at being humble but i'm quite good at presenting myself as humble so i sometimes avoid opening my mouth altogether to preserve that impression

 

[halcyonsgs]

I constantly remind myself to keep my eyes & ears open & my mouth shut. It helps keep me out of trouble. Most of the time.

 

[Pythagoras]

Depends on which 'you' you are being, the interactive, personable, astute polymath that you wish to project to the majority of people you meet, or the genuine unique 'you', who follows the Socratic motto that you know only one thing for certain - that you know nothing. Be humble, and learn that lifes most important skills come through advesity, and are oft found in the most unlikely places.

 

[KamMoye]

humility: i echo pythagoras' sentimens
integrity: be a man of value, not success.

 

[morpher001]

How do you achieve these things for yourself? Are they important to you? For integrity, I try to have my actions and deeds correlate to what I say. Listening to other people's experiences, reading about the lengths that humans (and, really all living things) will go to to survive and remembering that I am a small cog in a very large machine helps keep me humble. Thanks for listening and tell me what you think or write me off as a rambling psuedopsychologist. Either one is fine with me...

In my view both are qualities its only really important to be seen as having, rather than actually having.

If integrity and humility are truely important to you, they should more or less come naturally, to the extent they matter to you personally.

 

[Pythagoras]

You cannot be proposing that the 'Virtues' necessarily come naturally to any man.

Humility is a virtue I value, but it takes concentrated effort, and continual vigilance as one progresses through life. One might be tempted to discard humility (which served one well as a neophyte) and decline into arrogance, pomposity - essentially a twat. Likewise integrity serves to build a reputation, hard to come by and easily forfeited

One is of course free to choose whichever moral framework that 'matters to you personally', that such a choice renders the obligation to those virtues 'natural', because you have chosen them omits the complexity of a moral dilemmas and trilemmas, what action to take when one's virtues 'collide', the shaping and refinement over time of one's virtues. The anguished deliberations of Socrates in the Crito - obey the Laws and be executed, or flee Athens, becoming a hypocrite to Athenians, but to himself also. Socrates' choice to take the hemlock comes only after a lengthy enquiry of which virtues mattered most, as later in the Apologia he makes clear. Socrates chooses humility, but certainly not for 'keeping up appearances'

 

[morpher001]

You cannot be proposing that the 'Virtues' necessarily come naturally to any man.

Humility is a virtue I value, but it takes concentrated effort, and continual vigilance as one progresses through life. One might be tempted to discard humility (which served one well as a neophyte) and decline into arrogance, pomposity - essentially a twat. Likewise integrity serves to build a reputation, hard to come by and easily forfeited

One is of course free to choose whichever moral framework that 'matters to you personally', that such a choice renders the obligation to those virtues 'natural', because you have chosen them omits the complexity of a moral dilemmas and trilemmas, what action to take when one's virtues 'collide', the shaping and refinement over time of one's virtues. The anguished deliberations of Socrates in the Crito - obey the Laws and be executed, or flee Athens, becoming a hypocrite to Athenians, but to himself also. Socrates' choice to take the hemlock comes only after a lengthy enquiry of which virtues mattered most, as later in the Apologia he makes clear. Socrates chooses humility, but certainly not for 'keeping up appearances'

You mean he chooses integrity? I hardly think his conduct during the trial had much to do with humility. In fact I'd say his arrogant moral flagellation was at the expense of humility.

 

[naginnudej]

Depends on which 'you' you are being, the interactive, personable, astute polymath that you wish to project to the majority of people you meet, or the genuine unique 'you', who follows the Socratic motto that you know only one thing for certain - that you know nothing. Be humble, and learn that lifes most important skills come through advesity, and are oft found in the most unlikely places.

Someone with real integrity would only have one self--they would be the same person in public as they are behind closed doors.

Humility is a virtue I value, but it takes concentrated effort, and continual vigilance as one progresses through life.

Not necessarily. The more you practice something the easier it becomes. If you can undo the mind and ego humility should begin to come with little effort.

 

[Pythagoras]

You mean he chooses integrity? I hardly think his conduct during the trial had much to do with humility. In fact I'd say his arrogant moral flagellation was at the expense of humility.

His use of the dialectic during the trial may have angered the Laws, as it neatly unravels the hypocrisy of Athenian Justice, but with Socrates humility trumped arrogance every time. He doesn't choose integrity, it not being mutually exclusive with humility. He takes and ultimately Socratic decision, free of hypocricy and a lesson to Athenians