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Introduction
If you know what you want to be, you are more likely to be it.
Therefore, we start with a chapter on values, morals, life goals,
aspirations, dreams, wanna-bes, etc.
Moral philosophy is hard thought about right action.
-Socrates
Goodness without knowledge is weak; knowledge without goodness is
dangerous.
We have to build a better man before we can build a better society.
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do
nothing.
Our purpose is not to make a living but a life--a worthy, well-rounded,
useful life.
Morality is not a subject; it is a life put to the test in dozens of
moments.
-Paul Tillich
Why We Need Values and Morals
It is important to carefully consider your values for several
reasons: (1) they could guide your life minute by minute towards
noble goals, rather than your life being controlled by self-serving
motives, customs, accidental occurrences, bad habits, impulses, or
emotions. You have to know where you are going before you can get
there. (2) Values and morals can not only guide but inspire and
motivate you, giving you energy and a zest for living and for doing
something meaningful. (3) Sensitivity to a failure to live up to your
basic values may lead to unproductive guilt or to constructive self-
dissatisfaction which motivates you to improve. (4) High values and
some success meeting those goals are necessary for high self-esteem.
(5) Professed but unused values are worthless or worse--phony
goodness and rationalizations for not changing. We must be honest
with ourselves, recognizing the difference between pretended
(verbalized) values and operational (acted on) values. Of course, no
one lives up to all their ideals, but values that only make us look or
feel good (including being religious) and do not help us act more
morally must be recognized as self-serving hypocrisy.
