As always, very Thoughtfully written as well as thought provoking! Ah, that we had more like this group who have the ability to share and listen and arrive at well-considered ideas which lead us forward.
My prayer is that more of us will follow the motto of our home state in the years to come as we fulfill our legacy.
Thanks for sharing! So appropriate for our times. I always feel that the future is bright when I read your posts. So appreciative of you and your very thoughtful way of responding to situations!
What a great piece. Wish I’d been there to hear you deliver it. Being unfamiliar with Georgia’s history, I couldn’t help but notice that the three components of the motto are three of the four “cardinal virtues” of Greek ethical philosophy. Plato was one of the earliest to describe the four cardinal virtues; Aristotle also discusses them extensively. The four are prudence (wisdom), justice, fortitude (courage), and temperance (moderation or self-control), usually listed in that order. Maybe your state’s early legislators were reading their Greeks? And maybe also that fourth cardinal virtue seemingly unmentioned in the motto isn’t so absent in the state seal. The soldier is slotted between justice and moderation, just where courage sits in the most common ordering of the four cardinal virtues. It’s important to note that for Plato, the virtues upheld a good, happy life while Georgia’s legislators have them upholding the Constitution. Christian philosophers (famously Thomas Aquinas) would adopt the cardinal virtues from their pre-Christian mentors and add to them the three “theological virtues” from 1st Corinthians - faith, hope, and love. Here’s to Georgia one day finding a genuine place on its seal for those virtues too.
As always, very Thoughtfully written as well as thought provoking! Ah, that we had more like this group who have the ability to share and listen and arrive at well-considered ideas which lead us forward.
My prayer is that more of us will follow the motto of our home state in the years to come as we fulfill our legacy.
Thank you, Laura!
Thanks for sharing! So appropriate for our times. I always feel that the future is bright when I read your posts. So appreciative of you and your very thoughtful way of responding to situations!
Thank you, Barbara!
What a great piece. Wish I’d been there to hear you deliver it. Being unfamiliar with Georgia’s history, I couldn’t help but notice that the three components of the motto are three of the four “cardinal virtues” of Greek ethical philosophy. Plato was one of the earliest to describe the four cardinal virtues; Aristotle also discusses them extensively. The four are prudence (wisdom), justice, fortitude (courage), and temperance (moderation or self-control), usually listed in that order. Maybe your state’s early legislators were reading their Greeks? And maybe also that fourth cardinal virtue seemingly unmentioned in the motto isn’t so absent in the state seal. The soldier is slotted between justice and moderation, just where courage sits in the most common ordering of the four cardinal virtues. It’s important to note that for Plato, the virtues upheld a good, happy life while Georgia’s legislators have them upholding the Constitution. Christian philosophers (famously Thomas Aquinas) would adopt the cardinal virtues from their pre-Christian mentors and add to them the three “theological virtues” from 1st Corinthians - faith, hope, and love. Here’s to Georgia one day finding a genuine place on its seal for those virtues too.