Daily Meditation: Thursday, June 14, 2018

Talent - it matters less than moral qualities

06/14/2018

It is natural to appreciate men and women for the gifts they possess. Whether they are writers, artists, scientists or athletes, one cannot but marvel at their talents and sometimes even their genius. But is this any reason to neglect moral qualities? Are they good, honest, and generous? For most people this consideration is secondary; talent is all they notice and try to cultivate, since, it is for this that people are so highly esteemed. But how is it that all these abilities, all this talent, all these geniuses are incapable of saving the world? On the contrary, they sometimes contribute to its destruction. We often hear it said, ‘Oh, she is so gifted’ or ‘He is so clever that he can be forgiven anything.’ Well, this is very bad reasoning. Someone who is particularly favoured by nature must, on the contrary, endeavour to uphold, to crown their gifts and talents with moral qualities. Otherwise, instead of becoming what they were meant to – a benefactor of humanity – they will only sully and destroy.