Wednesday, February 03, 2010


ON BEING GOOD



How good one feels, when one is good at last! It is so worth the wait, in fact, that, as soon as one is bad again, one is immediately persuaded to stretch the badness a bit more, make it last, at least until the next occasion of goodness. Thus are the heights of goodness raised to these admirable summits, and the more lowly delights in between given a moral luster they might otherwise lack.

For alas, what is the good in being only good? It's not in the good, after all, that the value resides, but in the rarity of the good, the effort invested in the good. Flood the world with diamonds: what then is the value of those in your crown? No, keep the diamonds hid; dole them out one at a time, like De Beers so reputably does, and get true value for every carat of your morality; then - and only then - can you say, with earned conviction, a priceless crown on your head and and a forward look in your eyes: "I'll be good again one day!"


3 comments:

Sandy Miller said...

this struggle over good it a bit disappointing to the human condition.....
it's not about good or bad but instead how one chooses to experience the stage of life.

it is far better just to ........ "Be".

Robert Brady said...

Whatever the stage, I've generally sought a more active approach... Setbacks are excellent teachers.

Sandy Miller said...

Ha! just finish a series of ceramic vessels called;
The greater my obstacles, the greater my rewards.....
growth is wonderful thing and not always pleasant!

MP