Reverence: Renewing a Forgotten VirtueReverence is an ancient virtue dating back thousands of years. It survives among us in half-forgotten patterns of behavior and in the vestiges of old ceremonies. Yet, Paul Woodruff says, we have lost sight of reverence. This short, elegiac volume makes an impassioned case for the fundamental importance of the forgotten virtue of reverence, and how awe for things greater than oneself can—indeed must—be a touchstone for other virtues like respect, humility, and charity. Ranging widely over diverse cultural terrain—from Philip Larkin to ancient Greek poetry, from modern politics to Chinese philosophy—Woodruff shows how absolutely essential reverence is to a well-functioning society. He tackles some thorny questions: How does reverence allow not only for leaders but for followers? What role does reverence play in religion? Do some religions misuse reverence? Must reverence be humorless? In the process, Woodruff shows convincingly how reverence plays an unseen part in virtually every human relationship. Elegantly written, thoughtful yet urgent, Reverence is sure to reach out to a wide variety of people interested in the moral health of Western culture, showing how our own intellectual and spiritual legacy can guide us more than we realize. |
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Achilles Analects ancient Greek Antigone argument arrogance Athenians Athens Bacchae beliefs belong better capacity ceremony chapter Chorus Confucian Confucius courage Creon Croesus cultivate cultures customs danger Dionysus divine ence erence Euripides example express reverence failure of reverence faith fear feel followers give gods Greece Greek and Chinese Heaven Hector hierarchy Homer human idea ideal Iliad irreverence judgment justice leader leadership listen live Lombardo love of honor matter Melians Melos Mencius mind modern moral nature never object of reverence Odysseus Oedipus Pentheus Philip Larkin philosophers Plato play poem poets polytheism Protagoras recognize relativism relativist religion religious respect ritual Robert Pinsky rulers sense shame silent teacher society Socrates sort speak Stanley Lombardo supposed teaching tell Tennyson things thought Thucydides tion tradition translated true truth trying tyrant Ulysses Vaka virtue ethics vote worship wrong Zeus