Honour

Let your words and deeds be in accord

Honour is associated with high respect and/or great esteem. Honour is the quality of knowing and doing what is morally right. We can learn much about honour from the Roman philosopher Seneca who wrote in his Moral Epistles: “Nature has brought us forth brave of spirit, and, as she has implanted in certain animals a spirit of ferocity, in others craft, in others terror, so she has gifted us with an aspiring and lofty spirit, which prompts us to seek a life of the greatest honour, and not of the greatest security, that most resembles the soul of the universe, which it follows and imitates as far as our mortal steps permit.“ For Seneca there is but one good and that is to live with honour. To be honourable according to this Stoic man’s reason must be well ordered and right and adapted to that which his nature has willed – man’s unique good.

Honour demands that we behave in a manner that demands respect. Do you respect yourself for who you are? This is a key question for mystics to answer since mystics set for themselves the highest ideals to relentlessly strive to achieve.  An ideal is an ideal because it has not yet been realised. Along the way we will disappoint ourselves by not living up to the ideal. Honour however demands from us never to give up the struggle but to continue to live a life worthy of honour. Honour does not compromise self-respect but demands an awareness that continually progresses towards an ideal being.

We can recognise the virtue of honour functioning in our lives by assessing to what degree our words and deeds are in accord.  Honour is about living consistently towards our ideal. This does not mean consistent behaviour because different situations might call for different approaches, but our words and deeds must always align.  When we promise something we must deliver on that promise and when we judge we must ourselves live in accord with our judgement. We recognise an honourable act in that it is something we do voluntary from our own will. Whenever an act is not by our choice and against our own will that act is not honourable for it inherently contradicts with our own nature and conscience. Honour bequests from us full devotion, based on a complete conviction that it is the right action to take. A true honourable act is an act that is fully imbued with good intent. Honour does not include any form of evil or malice intent. Seneca writes that every honourable act is the work of one single virtue, but it is in accordance with the judgement of the whole council of virtues.

An honourable person does “good” irrespective of the situation even if it involves labour, hardship or sacrifice.  The situation does not determine the behaviour but a man’s inner ideal of goodness drives through to impress itself onto the situation at hand.  An honourable man might not escape poverty but he will not be humbled or bend by his poverty. He may not escape pain and illness but it is his upright conduct within pain and illness that brings honour to the situation. When we act with honour we do not follow the majority but we follow the voice of our own conscience on what is good. Honour is not about receiving the approval of others but to live according to the nudging of the soul.  We uphold our convictions at all times, especially when no one else is watching.

To cultivate honour we must associate ourselves with fellow human beings that are honourable. When we align ourselves with good men we will acquire bit by bit more of their honourable influence into hour own lives to uplift us to greater heights than what we may have achieved on our own. Ultimately honourable companionship will yield benefits to our own endeavours to be honourable. Seneca advises us to find people who lived with honour through troubling times and use that as a means to motivate and encourage us to live with honour ourselves. Seneca continues to encourage us to praise honourable men and consider it an honourable action in itself…not to seek praise ourselves but to acknowledge those that inspire us to be honourable.

Our past honour gives us confidence to face the challenges in the present moment. When we face a threat or have to endure distress we can always recall past events where we acted with honour and know that we are far more able to deal with the challenge that we are facing.  This exercise does not remove us from the situation but gives us the ability to face it with more confidence and hope. The practice of honour prepares us to face the ultimate challenge when we must be ready and prepared to face death.

Seneca writes: “But the happy man, whose virtue is complete, loves himself most of all when his bravery has been submitted to the severest test, and when he not only, endures but welcomes that which all other men regard with fear, if it is the price which he must pay for the performance of a duty which honour imposes, and he greatly prefers to have men say of him: “how much more noble!” rather than “how much more lucky!”