To survive, at least some of us must work. Let me but do my work from day to day, In field or forest, at the desk or loom, In roaring market-place or tranquil room; Let me but find it in my heart to ... Read More about Working
Cycle-of-Life Season
Reasoning
Reason is a level beyond rationality. To understand the world is never a matter of simply recording our immediate perceptions. Understanding inescapably involves reasoning. [Amartya Sen, The Idea ... Read More about Reasoning
Being Interested
Beyond mere willingness is interest, the emotional component of level-two responsibility in all our relations. Taking an interest is an essential building block to learning and to ... Read More about Being Interested
Meeting Obligations in the World
A functioning society depends on a citizenry that functions at a certain level of competence. Throughout the United States, we have mandatory education laws to ensure that children will attain a basic ... Read More about Meeting Obligations in the World
Being Scrupulous, Yet Flexible
There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountain tops of our desires. [Jawaharlal ... Read More about Being Scrupulous, Yet Flexible
Pushing Through Your Resistance
You must do the thing you think you cannot do. The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience. [Eleanor ... Read More about Pushing Through Your Resistance
Being Forthright and Straightforward
Forthrightness is another value that runs head-on into humility. Still, there is a value in speaking directly and honestly. We can explore the parameters and potential resolutions of this and other ... Read More about Being Forthright and Straightforward
Being Principled
Honesty could be seen as the art of not making excuses. Our principles include our values but they are in an inherent conflict with the value of humility. As Humanists, we do not imagine that there is ... Read More about Being Principled
Being Intellectually Honest
In all debates, let truth be thy aim, not victory, or an unjust interest. [William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude in Reflections & Maxims (1682), “Rules of Conversation,” Part I.] The trouble ... Read More about Being Intellectually Honest