Virtue #1 - Temperance

The first Virtue I want to define is Temperance, the following blog will detail my exploration of temperance in an attempt to define what it means to me as I take this journey. I have found that I will need to define all thirteen like this before I can determine if there are other virtues I want to add to my list.


Old Ben defined Temperance as follows, in bold, and I went a step further and looked up the definition in several places on the internet.

1. Temperance: Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
A. Moderation or self-restraint in action, statement, etc.; self-control
B. Habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion, esp. in the use of alcoholic liquors.
C. Total abstinence from alcoholic liquors

I see this as a challenge in which I will attempt to habitually moderate my indulgences, be it appetite, passion, words, drink or actions. I found that Aristotle had some interesting thoughts on temperance, he said true virtue lies between Self-indulgence and abstention. Therefore, temperance represents the mean, lying somewhere between excess and abstention. He didn’t concern himself with a uniform rule, he saw it as something all humans have in common, allowing us to act accordingly. Temperance is also one of the heavenly virtues, whose inverse is the deadly sin, gluttony. Although when I review the other deadly sins I think that Lust and Greed are also inverses of Temperance as they are “sins” of excess.

Getting started on this journey is going to be more complicated than I anticipated. And I think I also understand why Temperance is at the top of the list. It covers a lot of ground and I wonder what criteria I am going use to evaluate myself? Temperance is also one of the Cardinal virtues in Christianity, it is also an important tenant in the Islamic religion where we are instructed “Commit no excess: for God loveth not those given to excess?” In Buddhism there is Right Action in the eight fold path where we are instructed to refrain from misconduct and intoxicants. Even Cicero, the Roman Philosopher, recognized temperance as one of his four cardinal virtues. A genuine healthy lifestyle embraces the same philosophy, gluttony of any vice is unnecessary, unwise, and definitely unhealthy. A healthy body, mind, and soul thrives not from indulgence but from patience, self-awareness, and moderation.

There are many components to this, how does one moderate all of our sensual indulgences? The hardest part, I think, will be heightening my own real time awareness of my own actions as I interact with the people and things around me, recognizing what is actually going on around me. Not in hindsight, decisions will need to be made in real time, as each situation presents itself to me. It will require awareness but then it will require fast reflexes to act accordingly. I also found that my favorite philosopher had some thoughts in this as well. Marcus Aurelius gave us a meditation where he asks us to begin with a rigorous self-examination in order to eliminate the possibility that our reactions toward the situations are not guided by irrational or emotional responses. So in addition to evaluating situations I am going to need to look at myself first, to take stock of my own mental state, before reacting so as not to let any of my responses be based on my emotional state at that moment.

I suspect, and hope, that through practice this skill will become a matter of rote. I have practiced a great number of things in my life and I am optimistic this will become an autonomic reaction – doing the right thing, with regards to Temperance, will become a habit. I am not looking for perfection because it is not attainable but if I can stay above 500, I will consider myself a success.

I am not going to create a list of grading points but I am going to take notes though out the initial days so I can write about my experiences and reactions.

Basically, I define temperance as follows - one who has learned to control all of their desires and passions, especially those related to the sense appetites.

Ben Franklin Quote:  “I saw few die of hunger; of eating, a hundred thousand. “