Category Archives: virtue

The Princess of the Whole Human Race

Posted on August 15, 2016 by Matthew Phillips

“Filius ita factus est homo, ut a spiritu sancto sine virili opera conciperetur et ex Maria pura, sancta, semper virgine nasceretur…” Dass der Sohn sei also Mensch worden, das er vom heiligen Geist ohn männlich Zutun empfangen und von der … Continue reading →

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History as the Soul’s Path to Glory

Posted on April 3, 2016 by Matthew Phillips

“What guides and controls human life is man’s soul.  If it pursues glory by the path of virtue, it has all the resources and abilities it needs for winning fame, and is independent of fortune, which can neither give any … Continue reading →

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John of Salisbury on Virtue and Happiness

Posted on October 11, 2015 by Matthew Phillips

“That purpose towards which all rational creatures turn is true happiness.  For in fact there is no one who does not wish to be happy; but those who desire this do not all advance along a single path.  A single … Continue reading →

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Cicero on Wisdom and Action

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Matthew Phillips

“The foremost of all the virtues is the wisdom that the Greeks call sophia.  (Good sense, which they call phronensis, we realize is something distinct, that is the knowledge of things that one should pursue and avoid.) But the wisdom … Continue reading →

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The Remedy of Human Infirmity

Posted on January 25, 2015 by Matthew Phillips

“Although pleasurable in many ways, the pursuit of letters is especially fruitful because it excludes all annoyances stemming from differences of times and place, it draws friends into each other’s presence, and it abolishes the situation in which things worth … Continue reading →

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Augustine’s Sin and the Struggle of Wills

Posted on August 1, 2014 by Matthew Phillips

“The enemy had a grip on my will and so made a chain for me to hold me a prisoner.  The consequence of a distorted will is passion.  By servitude to passion, habit is formed, and habit to which there … Continue reading →

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Unlimited Power is Bad

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Matthew Phillips

“Unlimited power is in itself a bad and dangerous thing.  Human beings are not competent to exercise it with discretion.  God alone can be omnipotent, because his wisdom and his justice are always equal to his power.  There is no … Continue reading →

Posted in Alexis de Tocqueville, justice, Politics, virtue | Leave a comment

Cicero on Friendship

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Matthew Phillips

“For friendship is nothing else than an accord in all things, human and divine, conjoined with mutual goodwill and affection, and I am inclined to think that, with the exception of wisdom, no better thing has been given to man … Continue reading →

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Elderly Counsel and the Youth

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Matthew Phillips

“It befits a youth to respect his elders and to choose from there the best and most upright, upon whose counsel and authority he might depend. For the inexperience of early life ought to be ordered and guided by the good … Continue reading →

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