Honor
The quality of being worthy of respect — living in accordance with a code that values character above convenience.
- Bushido
- Islam
- Greek Antiquity
- +3 more
Classic
Temperance
The practice of moderation and balance in all things, governing appetites and passions with reason.
- Greek Philosophy
- Christianity
- Islam
- +3 more
The Beatitudes
Jesus begins his most famous sermon by declaring who is blessed: the poor in spirit, the mourning, the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers, the persecuted. He inverts every assumption about where happiness is found.
- Christianity
- Liberation Theology
- Secular Ethics
- +1 more
The Blind Men and the Elephant
Several blind men each touch a different part of an elephant and each concludes the whole animal is like the part they touched.
- Buddhism
- Jainism
- Hinduism
- +1 more
The Cracked Pot
A water bearer's cracked pot feels ashamed of its flaw — until it sees that its leak has watered flowers along the path for years.
- Hindu oral tradition
- Buddhism
- Wabi-sabi (Japanese aesthetics)
The Farmer's Luck
A farmer's horse runs away. Neighbors say "bad luck." The farmer says "maybe." The horse returns with wild horses. "Good luck!" "Maybe." His son breaks a leg taming one. "Bad luck!" "Maybe." The army comes to draft young men but passes over the injured son.
- Taoism
- Stoicism
- Buddhism
The Good Samaritan
A man is beaten and left for dead. Religious leaders pass him by. A Samaritan — a despised outsider — stops, binds his wounds, and pays for his care. Jesus asks, "Which one was the neighbor?"
- Christianity
- Secular Ethics
- Ubuntu Philosophy
- +1 more
The Mustard Seed
The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed — the smallest of seeds — which grows into a tree large enough for birds to nest in its branches.
- Christianity
- Buddhism (related parable)
- Taoism
The Prodigal Son
A son demands his inheritance, wastes it, and returns in shame. His father sees him from far off, runs to meet him, and throws a feast — not because the son deserved it, but because he was lost and is found.
- Christianity
- Sufism
- Restorative Justice
- +1 more
The Two Wolves
A grandfather tells his grandson that two wolves fight inside every person — one destructive, one noble. The one that wins is the one you feed.
- Cherokee (attributed)
- Virtue Ethics
- Buddhism
- +1 more
Wisdom
The integration of knowledge, experience, and good judgment — knowing not only what is true but what matters.
- Greek Philosophy
- Buddhism
- Judaism
- +3 more