VIR-II-0058
“When I was at my lowest, the friend who said he'd come, came.”
Plenty of people offered to help in the abstract. One said a day and a time, and then he was at your door. A promise kept exactly when you most needed it is a debt of a different kind. Honor it by becoming, for someone else, the friend whose word arrives on time.
Your Practice
- Notice the difference between the people who offered and the one who showed.
- Tell him plainly that it mattered, and name what it meant to you.
- Watch for the moment to be that exact friend for someone else.
- Make your own word the kind people can stand on in their worst hour.
The Architects
“For this one virtue is not only the greatest, but is also the parent of all the other virtues.”
— Cicero, Pro Plancio, 80 (C. D. Yonge translation)