Becoming actively involved in the world and in the lives of others is the ethical-active component of openness. The attitude is one not only of generosity but of joy, born of an open heart and an open ... Read More about Welcoming – Assisting – Offering: Being Open-handed
You may be tempted to think of service along the lines of a maid or butler, or a food server in a restaurant. If so, you may be put off by the economic inequality that often accompanies and gives rise ... Read More about Serving
Max Ernst, A Swallow's Nest (1966)Initiative distinguishes the excellent worker from the good worker. Both show up on time every day and work but the person with initiative is of greater value. ... Read More about Taking Initiative – Making a Difference
Years ago I had a client in my law practice whose eighty-year-old father was watching me try a case on behalf of his grandson. During a recess, the gentleman came over to me, raised his index finger ... Read More about Admiring
Even love is reborn in solitude. For only in solitude are those who are alone able to reach those from whom they are separated. Only the presence of the eternal can break through the walls that ... Read More about Solitude
Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits. [Mark Twain, The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894), Chapter 15.] We have explored the value of good habits (actions) but we also know, from ... Read More about Habits and Attitudes
Understanding is the intellectual component of responsibility toward others. Observing people, paying careful attention to their behaviors, movements, words, facial expressions and the like, is an ... Read More about Observing
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 say, When vagrant wishes beckon me ... Read More about Working
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