Virtutis amore.
(motto)

Calamitas occassio virtutis est.
(Seneca, De Providentia, 4.6)

Two short sayings today:

"With love of virtue". "Disaster is an occasion for virtue."

(pron = weer-TOO-tis ah-MOH-ray;
Kah-LAH-mih-tas ok-KAHS-see-oh weer-TOO-tis ehst)

Comment: What does virtue mean? What is an example of a virtue to you, in your
life, within your moral, philosophical, spiritual or religious system?

The first of these two little sayings is a motto which implies that one lives a
good life by cultivating and practicing a love of that virtue. It does not
specifically name what the virtue is.

For a Stoic like Seneca, disaster might become an occasion for virtue because it
gave an opportunity to press on living out one's fate despite the hard
circumstances, or, as the word in Latin can also mean, it became an occasion
for bravery, fortitude, strength, and courage.

Over time, the Romans in fact named many virtues. While there is a wide variety
among them, and whole books have been written about them and what they meant in
different ages of the Roman times, most of them do fall within a particular way
of thinking. Most Roman virtues were practiced from "the top down". That is to
say, for the ancient Roman, virtue was largely about who had power over whom and
how that powerful person (usually male and wealthy) used this power over others.
Some virtues simply could not be practiced by those with little power. For
instance, the word "comitas" (politeness, kindness) was most often used of
powerful people and their actions toward those under them. It was not a virtue
that the "low man on the totem pole" could practice toward those above him.
This was a virtue that "flowed down hill" so to speak. In other words, it
presumed power.

Modern human beings will think of virtues in a variety of ways, so there is no
need to impose a Roman definition on ourselves, but we might use these as an
occassion for reflection: what is a virtue to me? How do I practice it? What
occasions give rise to that practice in my life?