There are many quotes of honor from a time far-far away, it seems as if honor was a staple in a past life, something that was in the periphery of all. One example of this is the old saying- there is honor in all work. From Socrates when he said, “the greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.” There’s Plato’s, “Honor is a divine good.” Proverbs gave us “honor is not love of innocence, but praise; the fear of censure, not the scorn of sin.” Aristotle said, “You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.”
But is honor fleeting? Has the connection to honor unraveled? Do we intentionally think about how we are connected to it, what it does to us and those around us…how important it is to the uniform we wear, to the nobility of our profession. To our pledge when we were sworn in- the obligation we made. Or were those just words as a means to an end to a job we were pursuing? I ask because everywhere you look today- honor is being desecrated. It seems like we are losing our sense of community, and with that comes a fractured society where everyone is doing whatever makes them happy, where someone’s word isn’t their word, and where virtues do not matter.
A revival of honor is necessary for us to elevate from surviving to thriving. Honor is a moral imperative tied to virtues that are good for all. Absent an honorable life, others will question you and the company you keep- think about it at work, think of those who don’t have a strong reputation, them, and those around them look weak by association. When honor flees, all of the 7 types of bad leadership identified by Professor Barbara Kellerman surface- incompetent, rigid, intemperate, callous, corrupt, insular, and evil.
What should we honor?
Family, our spirituality- our interconnectivity with the world, the law, what about our historical path? Is there honor in understanding where we’ve been so we know where we are going rather than falling victim to relapsing into the same mistakes of yesteryear?
On May 12th, 1962 General Douglas MacArthur delivered a speech at West Point titled “Duty, Honor, Country.” And while I won’t recite the entire speech here, although I recommend reading it- I will say this. Paraphrasing – duty, honor, country dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. A rally point for courage although unbelievers will mock and ridicule them. These three things build your character- help you through honest failure and helping you stay humble and gentle in success. To lead others, you have to have a heart that is clean, with goals that are high, to laugh and learn, never forget how to cry, reach to the future and never neglect the past, be serious but not too serious, be modest and open minded.
Finally, honor creates purpose and meaning for our own lives, and builds strong communities and connection with others for better group cohesion. Sometimes we forget what it means to be honorable and remember it’s a privilege to be honorable. At the end of the day- you can’t live too close to the truth. Let’s all take an honor pledge today.