In pursuit of greatness

 Of late there have been many people who have announced to a large segment of the population that they want to do great things and make great something. It feels like these people are on a pursuit of greatness. 

The dictionary meaning of greatness is : the quality of being great; eminence or distinction

No inspirational and or historical leader ever set out to be great. Greatness was thrust upon them due to their actions and deeds.  The single most common trait that these leaders had is their high moral standard.  To understand this one needs to understand a few philosophical constructs 

A virtue is a trait that is deemed to be morally good and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being

Morality (Latin root : moralitas, meaning 'manner, character, proper behavior') is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper and those that are improper

In an ethical context value denotes the degree of importance of some thing or action.

There are a defined set of virtues- these are either defined by the religion one follows or by the principles of the philosophical arguments one holds dear.  Modern psychology says there are about 24 traits that have similarities across cultural, religious and other differences. Either way a value is that which one acts to gain and/or keep ... and the virtues are the morality by which one gains and/or keeps it.

It’s this that simple idea of virtues and morality that defines how one conducts him or herself. If one starts at the outcome (in this case greatness) one can drop all pretence of virtue and morality - it would not matter if the actions were immoral or that one used a vice to attain said greatness. 

Here is the paradox a lot of us face - blind pursuit of greatness might result in a sacrifice of morality and or virtues; is it worth it ? Or should one stay moral and virtuous without having to worry about greatness; if it has to happen it will. 

I personally would prefer to stay true to the ethics I have cultivated over the years. Morality and moral behaviour is more important . 

C