It has been said that discipline is the execution of all virtue.

Well, if being honest thats what ive heard and the closest quote to that I can actually find is from Nikos Kazantzakis, “Discipline is the highest of all virtues. Only so may strength and desire be counterbalanced and the endeavors of man bear fruit.”

I have an actual quote now, where C.S. Lewis said of courage- “Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality.”

I had been thinking of these ideas lately and fully knowing I have no chance of contending with the greats, I decided to write an addendum I had wanted to make anyway.

I think humility is a foundation stone of the virtues, determining the dedication and dose of the virtues in your life.

I think the place humility has within this dynamic would be best shown through my explanation of where I believe the other virtues stand.

Discipline is essential for the regular implementation of virtue, and for their balancing in the life through the same regular performance. The most basic idea is that you must have discipline to shun damaging behavior and living. But going further, if youre nice only sometimes then that doesn’t mean much for who you are as a person.

You must discipline yourself to be nice (any virtue really) even when its not convenient or easy, which is essential for embodiment of virtue in everyday life. And as it becomes routine and consistent, and you get comfortable with living that virtue you learn the balance for it in practical life. Being overly nice (or again any virtue) even with good intent can lead to an unrealistic lifestyle or perspective, and may even lead to a vice if the dissonance exist for too long. Discipline allows for a virtue to be interweaved in your life consistently so it can mean something and harmoniously so it can be lived correctly.

Courage is more apparently demonstrated in Lewis’s quote, it determines whether the virtue will manifest in you when it most matters. When push comes to shove and you have to keep your integrity, courage determines whether you have the integrity to show virtue when there is greatest resistance and risk of consequences facing you down. Its the point in time that where the virtue actually comes into being or not. With no courage the virtue stays stored in the gallery of nice thoughts and ideas that would be nice if applied to you instead of something that defined you.

And here steps in my idea. Humility determines whether and the extent you will perform any virtue, it is necessary for the dedication to them. Its human nature to rationalize and make excuses for when it would be a better time to show integrity and virtue, or when it would actually be needed. Humility affects the state of mind profoundly, and influences the relationship a person has with virtue. A persons humility determines whether a person finds a virtue worthwhile in the first place, and whether a situation is deserving of that virtue.

Without humility a person may believe a situation or person is below them and not worthy of the attention and time virtue requires. Or that they are already virtuous enough, disciplined enough, they don’t need to too kind this time, they are patient often enough. Without humility, there can be a million reasons why virtue is not needed because they are good enough without it. It also serves as another face to the coin humility, where courage determines if virtue lives when against those with higher place, and humility determines if virtue lives when against those with lower place. A person who only shows integrity against their superiors and not their inferiors lives a life with inconsistent, undisciplined, low integrity virtue. And what worth is that virtue?

All of these “highest of the virtues” are interconnected just like the virtues normally are. But I think these are foundation stones that allow for a virtuous life.

Discipline determines if a virtues are regularly lived and acted out, making them meaningful.

Courage determines if you will live out the virtues in the times they are needed and hardest to live out.

Humility determines if you live virtuously even behind closed doors, when its only yourself, during the moments it seems it doesn’t matter.

These together form the strong foundation of virtues and virtuous life, reinforcing and interacting with each other to make a whole dynamic. I personally think a strong development of them is needed for a meaningfully virtuous life, but again what do I know lmao.