Honor Given, Honor Taken

How we think about honor dictates how we are honored in return

The Triumph of Achilles by Franz Matsch, 1892 (public domain - Wikipedia)

“Life every man holds dear; but the brave man
Holds honour far more precious-dear than life.” — William Shakespeare, 1602

Does honor even matter any more?

My previous essay tackled the responsibility of leaders to take action in the face of iniquity when they can. Essentially, “If you see something, say something.”

Honor and Duty

But buried in that argument is the assumption that they’d care about their reputation enough to act.

Or, if reputation is secondary to them, that at least they’d care enough about their fellow man that some driving ethical force would urge them to simply do the right thing.

Particularly in Washington these days, there seems to be little concern for honor. While we grow weary or cynical of motivations, it’s an environment that seems bound by hypocrisy rather than honor. By expediency over ethics.

Honor involves respect. Respect for oneself and respect for others. Through decisions and actions (or inactions)…