We lack the temperance to resist violence

How we miss temperance! Few virtues have been so erased, discredited, and removed: yet never more so than in this historical moment would we need this timely practice to reduce conflicts (public and private), rediscover the value of balance and the search for mediation, as opposed to the impulse to give in to violence and barbarism, and not resign ourselves to the inevitable domination of technology and autocrats.

La virtue of temperance, before Christianity which made it a cornerstone of its moral doctrine, was already much discussed in the time of ancient Greek and Latin thought, by Aristotle and Cicero. And already then temperance was given an absolute value, the strength of a compass to orient oneself in the universe of needs, need, The appetites and wishesBy distinguishing. That is, by setting limits that cannot be crossed so as not to become slaves to impulses and compulsions. Among these, you can certainly include the accumulation of objects and money to which we have become accustomed with too much indifference, abandoning acts of courage, the challenge we face ourselves.

The Greek term, sophrosyne, which Cicero translated as temperantia, indicated precisely the ability to govern passions, without repressing them and without undergoing them. Finding the compass of a sense of proportion, with which, as the founder of Medicine, Hippocrates, said, "everything can be done in moderation."

In a beautiful book (Temperance, (Il Mulino editions), the philosopher Gennaro Carillo traces the decline of temperance back to the nineteenth century and connects it to the interpretation given to it: a "passive" virtue that excludes action and extinguishes the energy of the individual. The truth is the opposite: the temperance It is an act of courage, a mature and active choice. A challenge to oneself, to demonstrate the ability to tame impulses and instincts that can cause us to squander even the best qualities we possess. As a cardinal virtue, not easy to practice in such a tense age, temperance is an antidote to the temptations that arise within us and are then driven, sails in the wind, by external pressures.

In the new generations, temperance, when it is known, has a flavour back, uninteresting and uninspiring in a world that is always in a hurry and has no desire to slow down, but rather to simply spiral into the pursuit of the satisfactions heralded by the eternal present. Yet it would be enough to convince ourselves that temperance, as we have described it, It has an energy capable of helping us discern good from evil.. To limit ourselves, to the point where evil is just around the corner, to not slip into the quicksand ofhybris.

Temperance is crucial in regulating personal relationshipsThanks to this virtue, we long preserve the qualities of a love that time naturally tends to fade; we tolerate, from relatives to neighbors, people so distant from us in their nature, without slipping into the frustration of defeat; we do not succumb to the trap of incontinent desire. Where desire remains a wonderful thing, to be lived to the fullest, even with few limits. From the private to the public sphere: temperance, in this case synonymous with moderation, is crucial in giving breathing space to politics, as the "art of the possible," and therefore of constructive mediation, not of downward compromise. Politics is a harsh struggle, a vital conflict, requiring means and not excluding violence, but it can become a prisoner of the delusions of omnipotence of the man who has seized power. And it becomes a slave to it, like any exaggerated appetite.

The abdication of temperance has confronted us with a modernity in which we must daily contend with the arbitrary use of force, with violence used as the only instrument capable of regulating relationships between people. Removing temperance is necessary for the class of autocrats who seek to dominate the world through arms and territorial conquest, in a return, unthinkable a few years ago, to the use of war to build empires. And temperance is cumbersome and even incompatible with the compulsive use of social media, which distills and foments its opposite, even hatred.

Reclaiming temperance today means swimming against the tide, challenging the currents and measuring oneself against something that is anything but submissive, and helps guide the compass toward the path of freedom, inextricably linked to responsibility.

Famous quotes on temperance

• Seneca

The greatness of feelings, especially love, of thoughts, and of what will remain of us, has nothing to do with the physical trials of existence, sometimes even necessary. Temperance lies in this ability to distinguish what is truly useful, essential, from what is wasteful and the fruit of mere futility. narcissism and a desire to be noticed. Even in feelings.

 

• <It's easy to go to extremes, difficult to stay in the middle> Ezra Pound

Any form of extremism, even compulsive and excessive excess, is a shortcut, a way to seemingly simplify life. And to feel like we're enjoying it. But it's a fragile solution that doesn't get us far. On the contrary, through temperance, a more complex path, we become more solid and equipped to face life's difficulties. The idea of expressed here by the American poet is not synonymous with immobility, but rather with solidity, difficult to shake.

 

• Hippocrates of Cos

Before the Latins, and Seneca, as we've seen, the Greeks already considered temperance an existential compass. The principle is the same and leads in the same direction: in life you can indulge in many things, from work duties to pleasures of the body, mind, and spirit. But you have to do it with sense of proportion and also lightly.

 

• <The three signs of greatness are: generosity in planning, humanity in execution, moderation in success> Otto von Bismarck

Bismarck was a man who loved power and knew how to handle it very well. His were not times of particular attention to the weakest, yet he did not miss the lesson that to manage power for the long term one must show humanity and generosityAnd above all, thanks to temperance, keep at bay the disease of hubris, that sort of delusion of omnipotence that strikes powerful men when they lose their minds. And they are condemned to last a short time, without leaving any significant mark on their lives.