Lewis identifies the most important virtue as courage because without courage you can’t practice the rest of the virtues. Being virtuous only until it requires serious risk to yourself, shows that your virtues are fictitious. This concept became apparent during the vax mandate era. I used the CS Lewis quote about courage in my religious exemption letter to my company.
Here is the actual C.S. Lewis quote: “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. A chastity or honesty or mercy which yields to danger will be chaste or honest or merciful only on conditions. Pilate was merciful till it became risky.”
In the usual listing of the virtues, the word for courage is fortitude.
Lewis identifies the most important virtue as courage because without courage you can’t practice the rest of the virtues. Being virtuous only until it requires serious risk to yourself, shows that your virtues are fictitious. This concept became apparent during the vax mandate era. I used the CS Lewis quote about courage in my religious exemption letter to my company.
I did not know his view that courage was the most important virtue. I have come to the same conclusion so now I absolutely must read his work on that.
Thank you for posting, fren.
Here is the actual C.S. Lewis quote: “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. A chastity or honesty or mercy which yields to danger will be chaste or honest or merciful only on conditions. Pilate was merciful till it became risky.”
In the usual listing of the virtues, the word for courage is fortitude.