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In-Class Writing Regarding Virtue
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English 2150
Authenticity and Astonishment
The most recent virtuous act that I have witnessed was the initiation and coordination of a collection for funeral and travel costs after a coworker’s recent family passing. The collection was suggested by another coworker, Elaine, who had originally made the suggestions to our boss once she found out our other coworker, Carine, had suddenly lost her younger thirty six year old sister to cancer. My boss, who is (to put it nicely) old fashioned, thought it would be inappropriate to collect money for her. There are countless issues and other unfortunate character traits about my boss who has always had it out for my coworker but Elaine didn’t let her disapproval change her mind about collecting money. Elaine sent out emails to all of Carine’s coworkers and colleagues and everyone was glad to chip in because they knew the hardships and money Carine had spent traveling to see her sick sister and then having to pay for and arrange for her funeral. In the end my boss caught wind of the collection and privately scolded my coworker but publicly she had to start advocating for the collection. She even put in her own $25 to the pot. Another thing of note is that while Elaine and Carine get along they are not the close office friends you see sometimes. They are not the type that goes out to lunch all the time or share gossip and family troubles but Elaine felt and empathized with her and felt the collection was the least she could do. (She actually also helped her create and print 200 programs for the funeral.)
Elaine was virtuous to me because she did what was humanely right for someone despite the negative connotation or backlash that could come from our boss. Carine herself also was virtuous in taking care of her little sister before and after her passing. I am beginning to see that acts of selflessness are virtuous; people acting for others because there is no other choice when it comes to caring for our fellow human beings, family or otherwise.
The most recent virtuous act that I have witnessed was snorkeling in Hawaii. A newly wed couple went snorkeling as part of their honey moon vacation and if you’ve never been snorkeling than you have no idea how hard it is when you don’t know how to swim. While treading water from afar I watch the husband hold his wife’s hand from minute to minute never letting go. Taking his time and energy helping her through the waters so she can enjoy the beautiful view below. But for a second, there was a strong current that pushed the couple away from each other, and instead of caring for his own safety he made sure that she was safe.
For me, that was a very virtuous act because he cared for her safety and life more than his own. Whether it was out of courage or love, it is not often seen anymore. Despite the fact, he could have had more fun without her he still wanted to share this memory with his newly married wife so they can enjoy this wonderful experience together as a couple.
The most recent act of virtue I witnessed was in the subway tunnels, as I was sitting down waiting for my train to come. Whilst waiting there was a young man beside with a violin preparing to play a piece to everyone in the tunnels, in hope for a small financial donation. As he placed his notes on his music stand, before he had even started playing a passerby dropped $5 into his violin case, as an offering.
The virtuous act in the scenario does not just lay in the fact that he gave the young man money, but that without even hearing the young man play a simple note, for whatever reason he felt within himself to share his financial savings with the musician. Appreciation could be behind this, the donator could have appreciated the artist for simply being an artist. Sympathy could be behind this, where the donator could have felt sorry for the musician, because for whatever reason, he needs to be in a position where he is in need of financial donations.
No matter what the reason was this stranger felt it within himself to give, and by this he acted virtuously. With virtue defined as “Behavior showing high moral standards,” we can conclude that this act checked that box.
Several years ago, on a really chilly night my mother had asked me to go to the grocery store to get some ingredients for dinner. The grocery store is just a trip up a hill near my house, roughly nothing more than a five minute trip. After buying the food, I walking back from the store and as I was going down the hill I heard screams. At first since it was so dark I could not locate where the screams were coming from. The screams kept on going, “ Help me, help me, help me!”.
Eventually by scrambling up and down the hill, I found the person screaming. It was an older women who had fallen to the ground. The women was in pain and could not bring herself up.
I picked her up and carried her on my back to her porch. While I was carrying her, a neighbor saw what I was doing and ran to help me. He told me, “ Damn you are some kid.” After the elderly women calmed down she gave me her sincere thanks and said she did not require any further help. I simply just went back to my house delivering the food to my mother. The neighbor stuck around to further evaluate the elderly women.
Personally, I feel like this was a virtuous act. Looking back at the event, I really did not have to help her. Could have just ignored the screams for help and went about my business. But if I did that wouldn’t the women spent more time in pain on the floor. The act I did had temperance, courage and justice in it. I had the patience to find the women. There was courage in what I did, at the time I was not scared of what could have possibly was making this person scream. It was an act of justice, righteousness, selfless act as I did it for the sole purpose of helping her.
There’s a friend of mine who lives in London, England. He did something I consider virtuous. He is a very regular person in most ways except that he is extremely generous. I have spent a lot of time around him and I have seen him open his home, his heart and his pocket to others in need. Giving of himself came so naturally that it might not have been much of a deliberation when he was asked to give one of his kidneys.
About three years ago my friend informed me that he would be donating one of his kidneys to a co-worker. He explained that she was in desperate need of a new kidney and she was far down on the list for receiving one. I have never before witnessed anyone so eager to sacrifice his body so that someone else might have a chance of life. There was no use trying to convince him of the risks that he would face, nor of the possibility of his kidney being incompatible. He knew this was something he wanted to do.
Fortunately for him and his co-worker, my friend’s kidney was a good match. The surgery was performed and both suffered little to no side effects. There are people who are kind to others because it either looks or feels good, but not my friend. He possesses a natural ability to connect with people’s needs and he is never afraid of being used. He is truly a rare kind.
The recent virtuous scene that had enormous impact on me was the earthquake in Japan. I was on the train toward Tokyo, and reading news on the i-phone. All of the sudden, the train started to shake terribly, seemingly going to tumble off the rails. whilst I was terrified with the shaking, I kept myself in the seat and looking around to see how others are reacting. Meanwhile, the earthquake warning was sent through mobile network, it says there is a magnitude 9.1 earthquake attacking northern Japan. Surprisingly, everyone in the train were sitting quietly, waiting for the train to stop still. As the train conductor instruct people how to evacuate, people are calmly getting up and exiting though the side doors. I followed them, got on the rail track. “oh my god ” whispered among few foreigners, besides that all I hear was footsteps.
Everyone who I was together with at that moment was virtuous because they did not cause unnecessary anxiety by overreacting, instead they accepted the truth quickly and move on to deal with the aftermath. They affect foreigners by showing examples of themselves. Their virtue is tacit culture, some sort of mental support can be only shared and understand emotionally.
I believe one of the most virtuous act I have witnessed was over this past summer of 2012 in Rome when a lady voluntarily passed a cigarette to a homeless man. It was on a bright sunny day with the heat risen to a blazing 105F. I was on my way home from class and I had to catch a tram. At the tram stop, you can tell that everyone around me was just constantly perspiring. A homeless man at the corner of a station was overwhelmed by the heat could not take it anymore. He was moaning relentlessly. Being Italian, a generous lady spared him a cigarette, and of course, everyone could tell that the homeless man felt overjoyed. What made this lady so virtuous was the fact that she was doing it so voluntarily. Instead of the usual money, food & water, it was the cheekiest and classic Italian move to share a cigarette.
It doesn’t take much to be virtuous in my dictionary. A small gesture of help from another person, I would give them a gold star. As Socrates said, he has not found a person that is genuinely virtuous. Neither have I.
It was the day before my sister’s high school prom. She was preparing for her big celebration with her friends. My mother’s only stipulation for my sister attending her prom was to clean the kitchen. My mother gave my sister specific instructions NOT to was her vase. My sister came up with the “genius” idea that she was going to surprise my mother by washing the vase anyway. My sister ended up dropping the vase and breaking it. When my mother came home she was livid. I told my mother it was me; I was the one who dropped it. I took the blame because I wanted my sister to experience and enjoy her prom. The temporary verbal lashing and scolding of my mother was worth me seeing my sister off to her prom. Sometimes you will endure hardships unmerited for the betterment of others. The piteous act of not speaking up for oneself shows this to be virtuous.
In 2007 my home country Israel, got into a rough war with the terror organization Hezbollah. The war took place on the territory of Lebanon and in the northern part of Israel. At the time, I was a soldier at the IDF (Israel Defense force), and took a part in that brutal war.
One memory from that war that will probably stay in my head forever, was the brave act of a commander from a unit called Golani. That commander’s name was Major Roie Klein. During one of the tough battles the unit fought, a few of the soldiers, together with Klein, were trapped in a house while the terrorist were shooting at them and at one point a hand grenade was thrown towards Klein’s guys into that house. Without thinking twice, Klein yelled “Shma Israel”, which is a Jewish prier, and jumped on the grenade to cover it with his body so the effect of the explosion won’t be as bad.
By that virtues act Major Klein gave his life up and saved all of his soldiers that were rescued from that area later on by another Israeli unit.
Major Klein was from my hometown, Ra’anana, a small town where everybody knows each other. At the time, my town was devastated by loosing one of our own, but on the other hand proud that one of us did that amazing act, an act that will be remembered forever.
A virtuous person that I have had the pleasure to work with is Jamilla the activities manager at the retirement home that I work for. Working at such a place requires a great deal of patience. Although, after working there for over a year I have realized that most of the employees work in a way that shows they are not too pleased with their jobs. At this retirement home, there are a handful of diabetic residents that have to be woken up and brought down for breakfast in time. There are aides on each floor that are supposed to make sure that this gets done and the residents are taken care of. These residents have to eat their meals at certain times so that they do not become ill.
There used to be an aide that was very nasty and did not care about her job or the residents at all. Her attitude and actions lead everyone to believe so. When she did not follow directions and put a few of the residents at risk Jamilla brought this to her attention. She was told that she has to provide primary care to the diabetic residents because of their conditions and they could become very ill if they do not receive their meals and medication on time. At the time that Jamilla confronted the aide she was very rude and nasty. She started to curse at everyone, was yelling and throwing things around her. Jamilla stood her ground and made the aide realize that she was wrong. Generally I have noticed that Jamilla is very compassionate and caring for the residents. She treats them with great respect and love as if they were her family. It is very touching and nice to see that someone can act in such a positive way towards people who are basically strangers. I believe that she is a virtuous person because of her good actions and great attitude.
The most recent act of virtue I have witnessed was an act of bravery by my grandfather and neighbor. Being the oldest man of the house he has always taken on the role of caring for each and one of us. A few months ago while we were at home, a strange man broke into our home through the one of the sides of the house with the intention to steal. Fortunately our next door neighbor was sitting down on her porch and saw the man trying to steal some things we have in the back yard. She immediately ran around to the front of the house and alerted us of the danger. My grandfather being the strong charactered person he is, grabbed his machete and went outside to confront the guy. The guy was so stunned that in a moment of weakness my grandfather was able to knock him out unconscious. The neighbor called the cops and the man was arrested but if it was not for her act of loyalty and bravery in telling us someone broke into our house and my grandfather defending his family and home, who knows what would of happened.
I believe both these acts are virtuous acts because one, the neighbor took the time to go out of her way and warn her neighbors of the act they were about to be confronted with; two, because if it wasn’t for my grandfather’s bravery that man could have hurt one of us in the atempt of getting what he wanted. Other people can learn from this encounter because two wrongs don’t make a right. To explain myself I mean that just beause the house being trepassed on wasn’t the neighbors house doesn’t mean she had to stay quiet and let the act happen. Helping others in turn will one day help you if god forbid you need it.
I believe a virtuous act is an act in which one demonstrates a morally selfless act that provides no benefits to his or herself except an intact conscience. Now I’m not claiming that I’m a good Samaritan and I always say my prayers or attend Sunday Mass but I remember participating in an act of kindness that many others blatantly ignored. It was a about two summers ago, on a flawlessly warm day in July. It was one of those days where it seemed no one was really in a rush to be anywhere and bubbles of joy filled the air. My friend Andrew and I were riding a single bike; I was doing the pedaling and Andrew was standing on the pegs. We were approaching a hill and I had a hard time struggling upwards so I didn’t really notice anything but the gravel in front of me but Andrew declared that there was something wrong. I looked up instinctively and notice a woman leaning against a blue mailbox, with her shopping cart askewed. The whole situation had a suspicious taste to it.
However, there were two middle-aged women walking casually in front of us and were closer to the lady. As the situation progressed though, they simply strolled right past her, as if she was an ornament not worthy of putting forth their gaze upon. Across the street were three young males leisurely walking. A car rolled out of a garage pretty much about five feet away. No one was doing anything. Andrew hopped off the pegs and asked the woman what was wrong. It appeared that she had tripped on one of those faulty sidewalk cracks the city always seems to neglect and she had landed badly on her hip. While Andrew comforted the lady and made sure she was comfortable where she was, I dialed for an ambulance. Waiting for the ambulance to arrive, we found out the lady lived about a block away and we asked if she had any relatives she was living with. We found out she had a daughter and so we immediately called her. When the old lady was being carted onto the ambulance, she had so much gratitude and the daughter was so thankful of us. Surrounding us were extra passerbys who seemed to have been drawn to the commotion and they gave us a round of applause for being “fine gentlemen”.
Although they did so, I did not feel special because I simply felt that it was the right thing to do. More so, I was perplexed at the behaviors of the people who walked passed her and did not seem to want to engage in assisting her in fear of any impeding attachments or problems or even law suits. Again, I’d like to proclaim I am not a virtuous person but I did engage in a virtuous act.
I have lived most of my life with the horrible, but very real thought, that all humans operate with a strong sense of self interest as their motive. However, on occasion, I will witness a kind, respectable person acting selflessly, for example, giving their seat to an elderly person and wonder where that behavior stem from. Does is from a pure moral care for human beings or perhaps just the instinct of feeling good with yourself or a way of gaining respect and admiration from your surroundings?
When I was eighteen I encountered a truly good person. I recall walking from a friend’s birthday party late at night on a desolate street in my beautiful hometown. Down the alley next to my street, I notice a tall, strange looking guy with a big belly and a short beard and realized that it was my next door neighbor Avi. Avi was a forty five years old, divorced man with two children, and I remember thinking of him as an angry man who was constantly yelling and having an attitude about almost everything. While, at the time, I was very skeptical regarding the idea that my old and grumpy neighbor can accomplish some kind of a virtuous act. However, I have learned, people aren’t always as they seem. Back at the alley I heard whining voice of a young cat. It sounded like something was wrong. Avi, who was also on his way home, tried to find the source of the crying voice, which came from the back of a big doomster at the end of the dark alley. He was alone, and definitely couldn’t see me looking at him from afar. He slowly approached the crying cat with a look of concern or perhaps even an expression of a worried father, who just saw that something was wrong with his child. There was a small and helpless young cat, with a broken leg and lots of blood coming out of his stomach. To my surprise, Avi did not hesitate, nor look around him for help; he simply picked the cat up slowly. I would have never expected Avi to even turn his head towards the helpless cat, moreover pick him up, carrying him to his house and taking care of the young animal. Avi then took the cat home, gave him some food, and brought him to the veterinarian the next morning. He paid for his leg surgery and all the medicines that were required.
Avi wasn’t a wealthy guy. In fact, he unemployed searching for a job. However, he selflessly, spent more than two thousand dollars for the cat’s full treatment until the cat fully recovered. Avi didn’t brag or share his heroism with the neighbors. I, luckily, was the only person in the neighborhood who knew what he did, and he was never trying to proclaim or receive recognition or adoration from the other neighbors. Many years later I met Avi, some time later and asked him about the rescued cat and this is where he shared his story. I was impressed.
I think Avi’s caring and admirable act shows virtue. What made this event virtuous was Avi’s willingness care for this helpless, cat, when he was not financially stable, not expecting anything in return. Avi didn’t look for feedback or some kind of glory from his act shows high moral standards. The issue is not primarily whether an intention is right, though that is important; nor is it primarily whether one is following the correct rule. What makes the act virtuous is that by doing it he wasn’t looking for an outward act to claim merit or to prove something. Confronting the ideal prototype, Avi found himself face to face with a moral issue. Making this moral decision does not rely on religion, society or culture; it only depends on the individual himself. I believe that virtue is something that everyone has their own meaning for, yet everyone’s meanings should go along the same lines when it comes to the essence of virtuous acts. Virtuous activity reveals how the person contributes to a great life on earth, even if it may cause him to lose something along the way or perhaps it won’t follow with his plans. Therefore, I think we should all learn something from Avi’s virtuous act. Avi’s virtuous act proved to me that humans can and do act virtuous and selfless.
I have lived most of my life with the horrible, but very real thought, that all humans operate with a strong sense of self interest as their motive. However, on occasion, I will witness a kind, respectable person acting selflessly, for example, giving their seat to an elderly person and wonder where that behavior stem from. Does is from a pure moral care for human beings or perhaps just the instinct of feeling good with yourself or a way of gaining respect and admiration from your surroundings?
When I was eighteen I encountered a truly good person. I recall walking from a friend’s birthday party late at night on a desolate street in my beautiful hometown. Down the alley next to my street, I notice a tall, strange looking guy with a big belly and a short beard and realized that it was my next door neighbor Avi. Avi was a forty five years old, divorced man with two children, and I remember thinking of him as an angry man who was constantly yelling and having an attitude about almost everything. While, at the time, I was very skeptical regarding the idea that my old and grumpy neighbor can accomplish some kind of a virtuous act. However, I have learned, people aren’t always as they seem. Back at the alley I heard whining voice of a young cat. It sounded like something was wrong. Avi, who was also on his way home, tried to find the source of the crying voice, which came from the back of a big doomster at the end of the dark alley. He was alone, and definitely couldn’t see me looking at him from afar. He slowly approached the crying cat with a look of concern or perhaps even an expression of a worried father, who just saw that something was wrong with his child. There was a small and helpless young cat, with a broken leg and lots of blood coming out of his stomach. To my surprise, Avi did not hesitate, nor look around him for help; he simply picked the cat up slowly. I would have never expected Avi to even turn his head towards the helpless cat, moreover pick him up, carrying him to his house and taking care of the young animal. Avi then took the cat home, gave him some food, and brought him to the veterinarian the next morning. He paid for his leg surgery and all the medicines that were required.
Avi wasn’t a wealthy guy. In fact, he unemployed searching for a job. However, he selflessly, spent more than two thousand dollars for the cat’s full treatment until the cat fully recovered. Avi didn’t brag or share his heroism with the neighbors. I, luckily, was the only person in the neighborhood who knew what he did, and he was never trying to proclaim or receive recognition or adoration from the other neighbors. Many years later I met Avi, some time later and asked him about the rescued cat and this is where he shared his story. I was impressed.
I think Avi’s caring and admirable act shows virtue. What made this event virtuous was Avi’s willingness care for this helpless, cat, when he was not financially stable, not expecting anything in return. Avi didn’t look for feedback or some kind of glory from his act shows high moral standards. The issue is not primarily whether an intention is right, though that is important; nor is it primarily whether one is following the correct rule. What makes the act virtuous is that by doing it he wasn’t looking for an outward act to claim merit or to prove something. Confronting the ideal prototype, Avi found himself face to face with a moral issue. Making this moral decision does not rely on religion, society or culture; it only depends on the individual himself. I believe that virtue is something that everyone has their own meaning for, yet everyone’s meanings should go along the same lines when it comes to the essence of virtuous acts. Virtuous activity reveals how the person contributes to a great life on earth, even if it may cause him to lose something along the way or perhaps it won’t follow with his plans. Therefore, I think we should all learn something from Avi’s virtuous act. Avi’s virtuous act proved to me that humans can, and do, act virtuous and selfless.
All people have their own virtues and principles. Because of this, an individual’s perception of what acts are and are not virtuous, or which individuals are virtuous, is subjective. In addition, it’s easy to be virtuous when acting on a virtue carries no consequences. The true tests of virtue lie in one’s ability to stand by them during times that they become inconvenient. While I hate to use myself as an example, it is the only example that comes to mind because no one else knows the strength of my convictions, nor do I know the strength of others’.
For several years I worked for a company selling financial services and debt consolidation programs. They were programs that had the potential to help people to avoid bankruptcy. Being that the positions were commission-based, conflicts of interest would arise between the desire to sell the program vs. giving the person the right direction for their financial situation. For example, a debt settlement program could help someone get out of debt and avoid bankruptcy, though it would hurt their credit for a few years. On the other hand, a bankruptcy could be more detrimental to a person’s credit, but may allow the person to start rebuilding their credit sooner. I discovered that if a settlement program was going to take 4 years or more to finish, the bankruptcy would be the better way to go. Two years or less, the settlement would be better. Anything else was gray area. At the same time, it’s not my place to take their freedom of choice away from them, so I promised to myself that I would lay out the facts and allow them to choose, while providing my own interpretation of the facts as it related to their situation.
This approach ran contradictory to the company’s goals, as well as how other salespeople approached it. The bottom line was the most important thing. Initially, I found myself at odds with the management team as they would monitor phone calls and the like, but something unexpected happened. After one to two months, I found myself as the top salesperson of the company. The strength of conviction allowed me to focus more on the client, and less on my own bottom line. So, whereas before I was able to close 20% of the clientele on our program, I was not turning roughly 25% away, and was able to close a much higher percentage of clientele that could genuinely benefit. And I spent less time trying to convince people that the wrong thing was right, which is always an uphill battle.
I was left alone, but the organization never could wrap their heads around the concept of what was happening, and it eventually ended up closing its doors as a result. I believe that the willingness to sacrifice small gains for the virtues, principles, and ethics of the company results in larger gains in the future; and that it makes a company stronger, not weaker. When companies and individuals lose sight of those virtues, they start to dwindle. It’s what happened with Ford, State Farm, and for Apple (from ’85-’97). Apple’s return to it’s founding principles and philosophy with the return of Steve Jobs shows the true power of principle and virtue.
I was a person who was in doubt of whether a human being can be truly virtuous. To confront my belief, my friends had always given examples of firefighters and policemen.
-(No mean to disrespect anyone who has either friends or families who are in one of those categories)- To challenge their confrontation against my belief, I, first, acknowledged what is true, that is firefighters and policemen are risking, and for some, unfortunately, sacrificing their life for the safety of the state; a perfect example would be an incident of September 11th. Then I stressed the fact they, however, are helping others not because they sincerely wanted to, but because it is their job; a duty to help someone else who is in distress because they get paid for it.
My belief was shattered when I had visited South Korea last year. On one night during my stay in Seoul, I saw a drunken man jumping on to the rail at subway station. Fortunately, there was not a train on sight, but I knew a train was approaching as the train schedule display indicated. In the following second, many thoughts went through my mind, and I was struggling whether to help him or to let someone else do it. At that brief moment, I saw a young man, who seemed like a college student just like I was, jumping on to the rail without any hesitations of thoughts like I was having, and assisting that drunken man getting back on to the platform. Everything happened so fast that I finally realized what exactly had happened when everybody who’ve witnessed clapped for the young man for his bravery. Ever since that unforgettable event in Seoul, I believe that a human can be truly virtuous, and this can be a perfect example of virtuous act of a human being.
Last year I spent my spring break under the sunshine of Miami, Fl, which is a peak season to be in Florida, as the city is overrun with tourists and vacationers. My family and I spent most of our time on the beach soaking in the sun, and that is where I witnessed a great act of virtue. One afternoon I decided to jump in the ocean for a swim, and as some of you may know Miami Beach is unique because the water is consistently shallow for a couple hundred meters and then abruptly becomes very deep, and as I was calmly walking on the shelf I hear screams of help (these shallow water are substantially far from shore, so it is hard to make out bodies that are at the end of the shelf). As I am looking around trying to figure out where the distress is coming from I see a small boy struggling to stay afloat in deep waters, and as I start to swim towards the kid I see this guy not to far away from me race to the child and save him of his misery. Now there was no way a lifeguard would have been able to save the kid because he was simply to far from shore and was basically head under water in strong currents… so this man really saved the kids life. I think this is truly an act of virtue because the man had no relationship with the kid and acted with true courage, justice to do the right thing, and saved a human life. Life is very precious and to see someone subject their own life for the greater good is a heart-warming sight.
The most recent act of virtue I have witnessed was an act in the Manhattan. I was walking with my best friend Fifth Avenue from 42nd Street to the Central park. My friend was exciting about travel in New York. When we were heading to uptown, we heard the sound of screaming and yelling in the street. We saw one guy yelled at a homeless guy. There are many people around, and watching that situation. Homeless guy looked like old, and sick. A guy who yelling at homeless guy looked like fancy and rich. I don’t know why he keeps yelling and angry. Many people watched or ignore them. At that time, no one step up to break up a fight. I’m not a virtuous person; I was just watching that situation like others. But one old man came forward, and took a stand to stop a fight.
I believe this courageous act show virtuous act. He was doing it voluntarily which no one could protect homeless guy. I was ashamed to be person who ignore who need a help. The morality is a rule that every community members should obey. Morality is disciplined discernment and identification of the right from the wrong.
The most recent virtuous act that I have witnessed was when my friend Justin stopped a man from physically abusing his girlfriend. After leaving a diner, Justin and I heard a women and man fighting. We rushed to the scene, where Justin approached the couple and pushed the man away from his girlfriend. The man grew angrier and began to fight Justin. Luckily, Justin was about four inches taller and weighed more than the man; he able to restrain him. At the moment, I called the police.
I consider what Justin did to be a virtuous act because he cared for the woman’s safety more than his own. Justin could have gotten hurt. For who knew if this man was armed with a weapon or not.
Most people would have seen this happening and done nothing about it. If Justin would have minded his business, the woman would have been severely injured. Hopefully, she received help and was strong enough to leave her relationship with this man.
In my lifetime, I have witnessed a few piteous or virtuous acts throughout the years. An amazing act that I have witnessed was done by a family friend of mine. He was giving blood at a local blood drive, and after being tested for blood type, was told that his particular type matched an anonymous man’s who was suffering from kidney failure in both kidneys. This man was in desperate need of a new kidney, and my family friend donated one of his kidneys to this man who he DID NOT KNOW, in order to save his life. To do something like this, and to have no previous encounter or connection with his donee was truly a remarkable act of virtue. This act really demonstrated the true meaning of virtue in my eyes.