Jason Permenter

If you don’t happen to follow While You Were Sleeping, it’s absolutely worth it for enticing, thoughtful projects like this: summaries of Comte-Sponville’s A Small Treatise on the Great Virtues. The following is her original ‘Table of Contents’ post. Good, good stuff, and a perfect entry (for dummies like me) into thinking about what it is to Be.

What I’m trying to say here is that I definitely married well. 

whileyouweresleeping:

With this, I’m done summarizing each chapter of A Small Treatise on the Great Virtues, which, if you remember, is the closest thing I have to a Bible. 

Some of you, believers and non-believers alike, have so very kindly told me how much they’ve enjoyed reading these posts. Thank you, it’s great to know you felt this way. Still, I encourage you to find the book and read it in full: my writs were gross oversimplifications of each chapter, and you may find delight and comfort in following Comte-Sponville’s reasoning without intermediary. 

Meanwhile (on Jason’s suggestion) I’ll compile them all here for quick reference. I hope it helps, and I hope you have as much fun reading and re-reading them as I did while I was writing them up.

Here we go:

1. Politeness
2. Fidelity
3. Prudence
4. Temperance
5. Courage
6. Justice
7. Generosity
8. Compassion
9. Mercy
10. Gratitude
11. Humility
12. Simplicity
13. Tolerance
14. Purity
15. Gentleness
16. Good Faith
17. Humor
18. Love: 18a. Eros; 18b. Philia; 18c. Agapè

Plus, for kicks, why I did it, Jason’s contribution and Gainsbourg being a jerk.

And the translation of Comte-Sponville’s note in my copy of the book: ”For Anna, this small treatise of practical morality - the art of living and loving.”

— From SF.