"Individuals flourish and wither away like the grass of the fields. But the fruits of their work endure and make possible the development of further activities having fuller significance. It is of grace not of ourselves that we lead civilized lives. There is sound sense in the old pagan notion that gratitude is the root of all virtue. Loyalty to whatever in the established environment makes a life of excellence possible is the beginning of all progress. The best we can accomplish for posterity is to transmit unimpaired and with some increment of meaning the environment that makes it possible to maintain the habits of decent and refined life. Our individual habits are links in forming the endless chain of humanity. Their significance depends upon the environment inherited from our forerunners, and it is enhanced as we foresee the fruits of our labors in the world in which our successors live. For however much has been done, there always remains more to do. We can retain and transmit our own heritage only by constant remaking of our own environment. Piety to the past is not for its own sake nor for the sake of the past, but for the sake of a present so secure and enriched that it will create a yet better future."
"Human Nature and Conduct An introduction to social psychology" by John Dewey: https://a.co/hEdGUa7
My immediate thought on this piece: that by seeking the Good, by developing a virtuous character, by being imitable, we are active meliorists. We are making the world better by "maintaining the habits of decent and refined life." That is what makes a life of excellence possible, and I would say, that it is (in the religion of humanity), our moral obligation - our job, our purpose.
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