This is a second selection of snippets from Rebecca Konyndyk De Youngs intriguing 2009 book Glittering Vices: A New Look at the Seven Deadly Sins and their remedies. The title explains the book, which after an exploration of some of the historical understandings of the seven deadly sins (and the opposing virtues against which they were stacked), explores each in turn – envy (the bitterness that flows from believing others have it better), vainglory (believing that image rather than reality is all important), sloth (which rather than laziness, is seen as resistance to doing the work that love demands), avarice (the desire to have it all), anger (which can either be a holy emotion – or the opposite), gluttony (overfeeding the body while starving the soul), and lust (which in the 21st century needs little explanation). Here are some insightful quotes from the book…
- Virtues are “excellences” of character, habits or dispositions of character that help us live well as human beings. Rebecca Konyndyk De Young (p14)
- Very simply, a virtue (or vice) is acquired through practice – repeated activity that increases our proficiency at the activity and gradually forms our character. Rebecca Konyndyk De Young (p15)
- Envy involves a sense of inferiority, which breeds a lack of self-love. Rebecca Konyndyk De Young (p45)
- Vainglory is the excessive and disordered desire for recognition and approval from others. Rebecca Konyndyk De Young (p60)
- The worst sort of vainglory, however, according to Thomas Aquinas, occurs when we fail to give due glory to God as the source of our good. Rebecca Konyndyk De Young (p67)
As always, nice chatting…
