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Discussion: Humility

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Sir Patrick:
It never ceases to amaze me how the various aspects of chivalry are so intertwined that even ones we think can stand alone are actually propped up by the others.  Take our current subject of humility.  It is impossible to fully express this virtue without also expressing the virtue of truth.  You must be truthful with yourself to be humble.  As Paladin said, we live in an age of zero accountability.  It is always someone else's fault that we fail (a ridiculous notion if there ever was one), and when we do fail, we immediately seek retribution against those who we percieved as causing our failure.  A Disease Called Perfection indeed!  Regardless of the cause, this attitude is IMO, THE root of what is wrong with society today.  If I'm perfect, I can never be wrong.  Of course, the next guy thinks the exact same thing about himself, so you see how this can spiral down to the point where "Might makes right" and the only truths in life are the ones the strong impose upon the weak (sound like any time period we all have an interest in?).  Society could do with a little honest self-evaluation and the humilty that would result.

Sir William:
Well said, Red Knight...and it seems we're all in agreement for the most part.  The world's in shambles, there a great many people who could be categorized as morally bankrupt- the ability to govern one's self has morphed into the ability to govern others by attenuating them to your desires. 

Political Correctness, anyone?  It is the method by which a man castrates himself for the 'greater good'.  We worry so much about offending others that we've turned a blind eye to what offends us, singly and as a people.

Sir Brian:
Excellent read on this discussion. All of you fine knights have covered every nuance of this subject!

I was so pleased to read your post Red Knight when you expressed the correlation of all the virtues and if we are to categorize these virtues I would say truth could be the backbone of chivalry and humility would be the sinew that holds it together.

@ Paladin you never have to apologize for expressing your thoughts and beliefs when amongst brethren! (Besides I completely agree with you!)  ;)

Sir Wolf:
yes these are great threads.

Sir Brian:
I would like to share a summarization of a conversation Rosemary and I had with an old renfaire acquaintance of ours (well old since 2008 when we started going to other out of town fairs).  ;)

We were discussing the DOW and that lead to the wearing of garb in general at renfairs and he made the comment about how the main reason people who dressed up were essentially vain and craved the attention of photographers and the mundane public, much like celebrities and the paparazzi.  ???

Rosemary and I were a little offended by this but nonetheless attempted to enlighten him as to the real reason we wore garb and I share this with you all since I know we are all of kindred spirits and belief in this:

I informed him that we do not care about getting photographed; we do not endure hours upon hours of constant requests for photos while armored up in the heat for the mere jollies of getting photographed by a multitude of patrons. No we endure all that as a form of payment for the dues that must be paid to receive the one reward we truly crave and that is the look of awe from the youngsters which is really the one magical moment when we know that we have helped make an indelible memory in that child’s life that may just be the spark of interest that will carry that youngster to pursue and contribute to the preservation of some aspect of history or perhaps the expressive expansion of human creativity. That my good sirs are small touches of immortality that is possible for us beyond our immediate families and I find that notion to be most humbling.

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