Celebrating Virtue

There have been two deaths in the last month that struck me deeply.

Those of Michael Leunig and John Marsden.

Both were based in Victoria, Australia. I was not personally close to either of them.

I met each of them exactly once, and therefore, my reflections are not about them as humans I knew but about what they represented to me and why their deaths impacted me.

Both of their deaths moved me to tears – and I am not someone moved easily by death.

In reflecting on why these deaths struck me so deeply – it was that for me, both men represented something I have the feeling is dying out - Virtue.

When I reflect on the archetype of the virtuous man, my most personal impression is that of my grandfather- a mathematical physicist with a truly brilliant mind; he also had a kind and fair heart that acted towards causes greater than himself.

Michael and John were also brilliant. Michael was a cartoonist who demonstrated the virtues of courage, truth, and compassion, and John was a brilliant author and educator who demonstrated the same. They both demonstrated caring deeply about children and protecting the spirit of the next generations.

I perceived the virtue of truth, as expressed by Michael and John, as less about an opinion—too prevalent now in an era of “my truth”—and more about reflecting the soul of the human being, experiencing the world.

Reflecting on the word virtue and its Latin root vir, which means man, got me thinking about the concept of valour and manliness and how, at some point, we stopped celebrating this aspect of man.

At some point, virtue became unsexy. This was reflected to me 18 months ago when I proposed the name Virtue for a product but was told no one would buy it because the word virtue was not sexy enough ;-)

It seems imperative that we nurture and celebrate virtue where we see it. We have an opportunity to make virtue sexy again, to help people find pride in demonstrating valour, courage, high character, humility, and goodness, which would surely benefit all beings.

Stories about the unvirtuous man have become dominant in our social discourse. I have experienced the unvirtuous man's dark side on numerous occasions, and there is no doubt that this needs to be addressed.

I have also experienced the virtuous man's warmth, support, kindness, courage, valour, championship and insight - I am blessed to work with many.

The risk of not celebrating the virtuous man is significant. The risk is that the next generation of young men may not have a worthy archetype to uphold, leading to disastrous consequences for all people.

I reflect on both John and Michael's legacy. Tangibly, they have provided educational practices and books that can bring more whole and healthy children to adulthood, as well as cartoons and art that have reflected and lifted the human spirit for over fifty years. Their families and friends no doubt magnify these men's virtue broadly in the world and through generations.?

As we enter 2025, I wish we could see a revolution of virtue in the world, a revolution of courage, kindness and good character that moves us beyond our narcissism. I wish that virtue (and not virtue-signalling) becomes aspirational and sexy again.

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