Ruth Institute Blog

There is a lot to be said for cultivating stoic virtues.  The best people in the world, as far as I’m concerned are those that are determined to bestow upon others what they need.  And they will make their own wants secondary.

The pursuit of happiness is fine.  But assigning too high a priority to happiness and pleasure makes a person into a narcissistic jerk.

This article discusses how getting married and having children can make somebody into that kind of person.

And here’s where I wonder if we ought to re-examine our commitment to happiness. It seems to me that there’s possibly some merit — if we persevere and have the sense to learn from it — in the other-orientation that is (good) parenting. It’s fine to go through life happy, in other words, but I suspect we also want to go through life without becoming big fat self-absorbed jackasses. Children really help in that regard. Read more…