REALIZING VALUE

"Wisdom is the realization of what is of value to oneself and others."

—Nicholas Maxwell    

      What is of value more than being good,

      And what is goodness rightly understood

      Unless it be to treat all others well

      So they may live as they would wish to dwell:

      In health and safety, well provided for,

      Content with quite enough, not craving more,

      Appalled by wasteful superfluity

      But satisfied with just sufficiency.

      Such souls as these are generous and kind,

      Their motives altruistically inclined,

      Knowing that they themselves can never thrive

      If others fail while struggling to survive.

          It’s not just that the fittest ought to win,

          Since justice without mercy is a sin.

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