Life is not fair. It is a lesson all of us learn at one time or another. Despite this, we have trouble accepting this plain truth. At a certain point, we have to realize that we are not subject to the whims of the world. We have to take control of our character. In Seven Virtues for Success, the reader engages this practical truth about navigating life. We cannot control those around us, but we can control our own thoughts and actions. While meditating on these seven cardinal virtues—humility, gratitude, diligence, agency, relationship, forgiveness, and kindness—the reader is invited to set their mind towards a foundation of character. Once our character is strong, the difficulties of life become easier to encounter. The road is straightforward, yet difficult, as history has shown us through religious texts and wisdom literature. This book is a distillation of thought on character building in the modern age. Starting with the ancient method of building habit found in Aristotle, it begins the path to thinking about how we build our own virtues and set our mind on the road to success.

Do you want to know the essential personal qualities to flourish in life? In 7 Virtues for Success and Happiness, James Spears discusses how the virtues are vital for achieving genuine success and authentic happiness. Drawing from psychology, personal-development, social sciences, and business, the book elaborates on why the virtues are necessary for living to your fullest potential. From improving your health, relationships, and career, the principles in the book are practical and applicable to all aspects of life.

World-renowned evangelist and New York Times best-selling author Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen presents a collection of engaging sermons, encouraging the reader in the practice of the three theological virtues of faith, hope and charity along with the four cardinal virtues of prudence, temperance, justice and fortitude. During these reflections, Sheen will make a connection between these seven virtues and the Seven Last Words spoken by Jesus from the Cross. While these meditations by Fulton J. Sheen on the Seven Last Words correlated to the seven virtues make no pretence to absoluteness, they do make convenient points of illustrations. TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE INTRODUCTION THE FIRST VIRTUE - FORTITUDE - "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." THE SECOND VIRTUE - HOPE - "This day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise." THE THIRD VIRTUE - PRUDENCE - "Woman, behold thy son! (Son) Behold thy mother!." THE FOURTH VIRTUE - FAITH - "My God! My God! Why hast Thou hast abandoned Me?" THE FIFTH VIRTUE - TEMPERANCE - I thirst." THE SIXTH VIRTUE - JUSTICE - "It is finished." THE SEVENTH VIRTUE - CHARITY - "Father, into Thy Hands, I commend My Spirit." ABOUT THE AUTHOR This book has one main aim and that is to awaken an appreciation of the Passion of Our Lord and to hopefully incite the practice of virtue. If it does that in but one soul its publication has been justified. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was a man for all seasons. Over his lifetime, he spent himself for souls, transforming lives with the clear teaching of the truths of Christ and His Church through his books, his radio addresses, his lectures, his television series, and his many newspaper columns. The topics of this much-sought-after lecturer ranged from the social concerns of the day to matters of faith and morals. With an easy and personable manner, Sheen could strike up a conversation on just about any subject, making numerous friends as well as converts. During the 1930s and '40s, Fulton Sheen was the featured speaker on The Catholic Hour radio broadcast, and millions of listeners heard his radio addresses each week. His topics ranged from politics and the economy to philosophy and man's eternal pursuit of happiness. Along with his weekly radio program, Sheen wrote dozens of books and pamphlets. One can safely say that through his writings, thousands of people changed their perspective about God and the Church. Sheen was quoted as saying, "There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be." Possessing a burning zeal to dispel the myths about Our Lord and His Church, Sheen gave a series of powerful presentations on Christ's Passion and His seven last words from the Cross. As a Scripture scholar, Archbishop Sheen knew full well the power contained in preaching Christ crucified. With St. Paul, he could say, "For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2). During his last recorded Good Friday address in 1979, Archbishop Sheen spoke of having given this type of reflection on the subject of Christ's seven last words from the Cross "for the fifty-eighth consecutive time." Whether from the young priest in Peoria, Illinois, the university professor in Washington, D.C., or the bishop in New York, Sheen's messages were sure to make an indelible mark on his listeners. Given their importance and the impact they had on society, it seemed appropriate to reintroduce these reflections from 1940 on the seven virtues. God Love You.

An unconventional business book for the rebels and misfits—the Rare Breeds—who don’t fit the traditional mold, offering an approach that’s anything but business as usual. “Brazen rant!” -- Seth Godin, New York Times bestselling author of This is Marketing and What to Do When It’s Your Turn In every job you’ve ever had, you’ve been judged, labeled, and made to feel like an outsider. Defiant. Dangerous. Different. A real pain-in-the-ass.The message? To be successful, you’ve got to fundamentally change. But what if -- instead of conforming -- you learned how to punch society’s codes in the nose, run like a hooligan through the corridors of entrenched power, and succeed -- not by grinding down your prickly parts, but by going all-in on who you really are? “A guide for strategic rebellion.” -- Mark Levy, founder of Levy Innovation and creator of Your Big Sexy Idea® Meet Sunny Bonnell and Ashleigh Hansberger, award-winning global brand consultants, founders of Motto, and authors of Rare Breed: A Guide to Success for the Defiant, Dangerous, and Different. In this book, you’ll come face-to-face with seven controversial virtues that are typically seen as ladder-burning, career-ending personality traits that – convention says -- keep mavericks, oddballs, and visionaries like you from getting along, getting buy-in, and getting ahead. “A beautiful reminder that you are not alone.” -- Charlamagne Tha God, New York Times bestselling author of Black Privilege Sunny and Ashleigh provide singular insight into how you can flip the script and turn your so-called “vices” into your virtues, transforming your most “undesirable” flaws into the high-octane fuel of your success. In a world that wants to own you, you’ll finally learn how to own yourself, through embracing all your parts – not just the pretty ones. College dropouts and social misfits Sunny and Ashleigh provide front-row seats to their own counterintuitive rise from broke-ass outsiders to brand consultants for iconic brands. Success, they show you, is no longer the sole purview of the Harvard MBA graduate. Your ticket to ride resides within the side of you that’s disorderly, independent, and rogue. Deep down, you’ve always been the kid to point out when the emperor has no clothes. Yet, time and time again you’ve been faced with the consequences of deviating from social expectations. This is a new conversation for a new era. What would happen if, starting today, you walked away from the sheeple? What could you build?

An all-star team of eighteen conservative writers offers a hilarious, insightful, sanctimony-free remix of William Bennett’s The Book of Virtues—without parental controls. The Seven Deadly Virtues sits down next to readers at the bar, buys them a drink, and an hour or three later, ushers them into the revival tent without them even realizing it. The book’s contributors include Sonny Bunch, Christopher Buckley, David “Iowahawk” Burge, Christopher Caldwell, Andrew Ferguson, Jonah Goldberg, Michael Graham, Mollie Hemingway, Rita Koganzon, Matt Labash, James Lileks, Rob Long, Larry Miller, P. J. O’Rourke, Joe Queenan, Christine Rosen, and Andrew Stiles. Jonathan V. Last, senior writer at the Weekly Standard, editor of the collection, is also a contributor. All eighteen essays in this book are appearing for the first time anywhere. In the book’s opening essay, P. J. O’Rourke observes: “Virtue has by no means disappeared. It’s as much in public view as ever. But it’s been strung up by the heels. Virtue is upside down. Virtue is uncomfortable. Virtue looks ridiculous. All the change and the house keys are falling out of Virtue’s pants pockets.” Here are the virtues everyone (including the book’s contributors) was taught in Sunday school but have totally forgotten about until this very moment. In this sanctimony-free zone: • Joe Queenan observes: “In essence, thrift is a virtue that resembles being very good at Mahjong. You’ve heard about people who can do it, but you’ve never actually met any of them.” • P. J. O’Rourke notes: “Fortitude is quaint. We praise the greatest generation for having it, but they had aluminum siding, church on Sunday, and jobs that required them to wear neckties or nylons (but never at the same time). We don’t want those either.” • Christine Rosen writes: “A fellowship grounded in sociality means enjoying the company of those with whom you actually share physical space rather than those with whom you regularly and enthusiastically exchange cat videos.” • Rob Long offers his version of modern day justice: if you sleep late on the weekend, you are forced to wait thirty minutes in line at Costco. • Jonah Goldberg offers: “There was a time when this desire-to-do-good-in-all-things was considered the only kind of integrity: ‘Angels are better than mortals. They’re always certain about what is right because, by definition, they’re doing God’s will.’ Gabriel knew when it was okay to remove a mattress tag and Sandalphon always tipped the correct amount.” • Sonny Bunch dissects forbearance, observing that the fictional Two Minutes Hate of George Orwell’s 1984 is now actually a reality directed at living, breathing people. Thanks, in part, to the Internet, “Its targets are designated by a spontaneously created mob—one that, due to its hive-mind nature—is virtually impossible to call off.” By the time readers have completed The Seven Deadly Virtues, they won’t even realize that they’ve just been catechized into an entirely different—and better—moral universe.

Drawing on thinkers from Aristotle to Simone Weil, by way of Aquinas, Kant, Rilke, Nietzsche, Spinoza, and Rawls, among others, Comte-Sponville elaborates on the qualities that constitute the essence and excellence of humankind.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is one of America's most famous memoirs. In this text, Ben Franklin shares his life story and details his attempts to build a life of good habits and virtues. His plan for self-improvement was one of the first "self help" books and his role as a founder of the United States is given a personal perspective. Xist Publishing is a digital-first publisher. Xist Publishing creates books for the touchscreen generation and is dedicated to helping everyone develop a lifetime love of reading, no matter what form it takes

"Character" has become a front-and-center topic in contemporary discourse, but this term does not have a fixed meaning. Character may be simply defined by what someone does not do, but a more active and thorough definition is necessary, one that addresses certain vital questions. Is character a singular characteristic of an individual, or is it composed of different aspects? Does character--however we define it--exist in degrees, or is it simply something one happens to have? How can character be developed? Can it be learned? Relatedly, can it be taught, and who might be the most effective teacher? What roles are played by family, schools, the media, religion, and the larger culture? This groundbreaking handbook of character strengths and virtues is the first progress report from a prestigious group of researchers who have undertaken the systematic classification and measurement of widely valued positive traits. They approach good character in terms of separate strengths-authenticity, persistence, kindness, gratitude, hope, humor, and so on-each of which exists in degrees. Character Strengths and Virtues classifies twenty-four specific strengths under six broad virtues that consistently emerge across history and culture: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence. Each strength is thoroughly examined in its own chapter, with special attention to its meaning, explanation, measurement, causes, correlates, consequences, and development across the life span, as well as to strategies for its deliberate cultivation. This book demands the attention of anyone interested in psychology and what it can teach about the good life.

For a century and a half, the artists and intellectuals of Europe have scorned the bourgeoisie. And for a millennium and a half, the philosophers and theologians of Europe have scorned the marketplace. The bourgeois life, capitalism, Mencken’s “booboisie” and David Brooks’s “bobos”—all have been, and still are, framed as being responsible for everything from financial to moral poverty, world wars, and spiritual desuetude. Countering these centuries of assumptions and unexamined thinking is Deirdre McCloskey’s The Bourgeois Virtues, a magnum opus that offers a radical view: capitalism is good for us. McCloskey’s sweeping, charming, and even humorous survey of ethical thought and economic realities—from Plato to Barbara Ehrenreich—overturns every assumption we have about being bourgeois. Can you be virtuous and bourgeois? Do markets improve ethics? Has capitalism made us better as well as richer? Yes, yes, and yes, argues McCloskey, who takes on centuries of capitalism’s critics with her erudition and sheer scope of knowledge. Applying a new tradition of “virtue ethics” to our lives in modern economies, she affirms American capitalism without ignoring its faults and celebrates the bourgeois lives we actually live, without supposing that they must be lives without ethical foundations. High Noon, Kant, Bill Murray, the modern novel, van Gogh, and of course economics and the economy all come into play in a book that can only be described as a monumental project and a life’s work. The Bourgeois Virtues is nothing less than a dazzling reinterpretation of Western intellectual history, a dead-serious reply to the critics of capitalism—and a surprising page-turner.

Diligence is one of the seven heavenly virtues. Diligent behavior is indicative of a work ethic; a belief that works is good in itself. Diligence is carefulness and persistent effort or work. Diligence, in Christianity, is the effort to do one's part, while keeping faith and reliance in God. In other words, diligence and faith are two sides of a mystery. One doesn't know how, despite one's effort, it all works out. But diligence, when combined with faith, assures spiritual success. Diligence as one of seven virtues describes thoroughness, completeness, and persistence of an action, particularly in matters of faith.We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.-Hebrews 6:11-12, In order do your best towards a balanced and holistic development in mental, physical, social and spiritual dimensions, there is a need to be diligent. The practice of diligence will bring an increase of qualities.This book is written in five (5) parts. Part 1 you learn about diligence and spirituality, how to be diligent in prayer, fervently serving God, diligent in mind, diligent in studying the word of God and diligent in obeying GodPart 2 is about diligence and success. Here you will learn about the requirements of success, goal setting skills, pursuit of success and self discipline.Part 3 is about diligence in business. This part will clarify the various ways to succeed in business. You will learn business principles, problem solving techniques, creativity and innovation, time management, leadership.In part 4, all the eight (8) laws of success will be made known to you The final part 5, you will learn the rewards of diligence.