Humility is Beauty, Part II.

In my ethics class this summer, we have been discussing a "virtue-based" ethical paradigm. I shared with the students an experience I had last week with a judge practically defining the virtue of humility.

Our case had been assigned to a judge (apart from our trial judge) for a settlement conference. This judge had asked both sides for settlement conference briefs. In my brief, I had cited to a leading treatise in the subject area. At the mediation, the judge opened this book to find the citation and acknowledged its application to the case.

What the judge didn't do--at any time--was to lord it over us or even mention that he was in fact a co-author of the text.

Now that's someone who is secure enough to avoid fanfare or self-aggrandizement; the very definition of humility.

Here's part 1 (from another context): http://tiny.cc/ywg9m