The measure of morality

The strength of a person's morality is measured by how much they love the good, set against the situation in front of them.

Say you see someone drop a wallet. Before you can call out, they are gone. You pick it up and find a large sum of money inside. This is where morality gets measured. Do you love the good more, or the money? If the love of the good is greater, you do not hesitate. You are determined to find the person who dropped it and give it back.

Say someone approaches you and hints at a big reward later if you join them against the state. Again the measure appears. Do you love the good more, or the promised gains? Do you love your country more, or would you follow them and take orders from a foreign power? They will try to talk you into thinking badly of your government. But if promises of fame and profit do not blind you, their view will not sway you. When love of the good outweighs ambition, you escape the trap of betraying your country.

Say you land in an awkward emotional situation. Someone is romantically interested in you, though a relationship would conflict with your family commitments, responsibilities, beliefs, happiness and fidelity. The person may be beautiful, rich and well placed. But you love the good more, you think of your responsibilities more, and you value fidelity more, so you turn down the invitation.

Say your life is threatened. If you do not give up a state secret you hold, bad people will kill you and your family. This is the extreme test. If your love of the good is supreme, you understand that your country's interest outweighs your life and your family's. You get through the threat without fear, ready to die to protect the secret.

There are many other ways to measure it, in trials small and large. Refusing to lie even when the lie would help you. Going out of your way to pick up trash that is not yours to pick up. Making it a priority to get an injured person emergency care, even at the risk of being misunderstood.

What a person of high morality gains is that they are at ease about themselves. Their heart is peaceful because their conscience is clear.