Core Virtues

Core Virtues Chant:

Compassion, Perseverance
Compassion, Perseverance

Responsibility, Responsibility

Respect and Temperance
Respect and Temperance

Integrity, Integrity

Diligence and Courage
Diligence and Courage

Our virtues, hail to thee
Our virtues, hail to thee

Compassion

To recognize the suffering of others, then take action to help. 

• “Our human compassion binds us the one to the other – not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.” -Nelson Mandela

• “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. ” Aesop

Courage

Mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty. — A quality of spirit that enables you to face danger of pain without showing fear. 

• “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.” – Mark Twain
• “One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn’t do.” – Henry Ford
• “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.” – Mary Anne Radmacher

Diligence

Consistent, sustained, and earnest to accomplish what is undertaken. 

• “What we hope ever to do with ease, we must learn first to do with diligence. “ – Samuel Johnson
• “Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and diligence.” -Abigail Adams

Integrity

Doing the right thing when no one is watching. — Moral soundness; honesty; freedom from corrupting influence or motive. 

• “If you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything.”  ― Malcolm X
• “Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters” ― Albert Einstein

Perseverance

Steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. 

• “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” ― Thomas A. Edison
• “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.” ― Abraham Lincoln

Respect

To consider worthy of high regard. 

• “Respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners” ― Laurence Sterne
• “Respect is a two-way street, if you want to get it, you’ve got to give it.” ― R. G. Risch
• “Respect for right conduct is felt by everybody.” ― Jane Austen

Responsibility

The ability to distinguish between right and wrong, and to be accountable for one’s behavior. 

• “It is wrong and immoral to seek to escape the consequences of one’s acts.” ― Mahatma Gandhi
• “The price of greatness is responsibility.” – Winston Churchill
• “If you take responsibility for yourself you will develop a hunger to accomplish your dreams.” – Les Brown

Temperance

Self-restraint or moderation in act, thought, or feeling.

• “Temperance is moderation in the things that are good and total abstinence from the things that are foul.” -Frances E. Willard