Chapter 9 went further into morality and how to make good decisions.

It was established

at the end of the last chapter that more than rules are necessary for goodness. At the very

beginning of this chapter, the author explains that wisdom and virtue is what else we need in our

lives to make ethical decisions. On page 151, the author defines wisdom as “deep insight about

living.” On the same page he says that virtue is the “deep wellspring of ethical tendency.” These

two come together to form the type of human strength that leads to long-term human excellence.

They come together to contribute to a person's moral character, which is the total of moral habits

we develop. Therefore, we need to respect and nurture these characteristics. In the middle of the

chapter the author discusses corruption and what happens when people do not act with wisdom

and virtue. He discusses how unethical practices will eventually cause chaos later on. He

acknowledges that unethical people can have good results, but this will only get them so far

before it comes crumbling down on them. He also states that people who are capable of treating

one person unethically are capable of treating everyone unethically. This one corrupt person can

corrupt others in the process, which turns into the domino effect from there. However, after this

the author gives a list of diverse virtues. They are meant to be different characteristics to help us

live amongst each other successfully and be truly happy. He says that when people act with these

virtues towards one another then others are likely to do this as well. At the very end he states

how we need to respect and nurture wisdom and virtue. There are three keys to this which are

moral mentors, small details add up, and more imagination. The first two have been discussed a

lot throughout this book. However, moral imagination is all the different ways that our decisions

impact others and our personal being as well. The point of this chapter is not to tell people how

wrong they are living their lives, but to show people how they can become better in ethical ways.
 Chapter 10 goes into spiritualness, and how it is important for us to have in our lives.

Spirituality does not necessarily mean church or prayer, but it is the desire for unity. It is all

about depth and connectedness. The more depth a person has, the more they will see the

significance behind things in our world today instead of being blind to them. The chapter furter

goes into what kind of unity he is talking about, which is everything. He gives examples such as

thoughts and actions, beliefs and emotions, ourselves and others, and more. However, our society

is becoming more and more disconnected as time goes by. The author explains that people all

over are disconnected from each other. He says that we can close this gap by not focusing on

ourselves so much. What happens to one person affects more than one person, but multiple

people. This has also been a common trend throughout the book.

One big takeaway I had in chapter 9 was the idea of wisdom and virtue. I have never

really thought about these two things in depth before. However, I like how the author analyzed

them and ultimately explained to his readers how important they are. They really come together

to help shape a person’s moral character. How much a person has or lacks wisdom and virtue can

really help shape who they are and how they treat others. Another big takeaway I had was in

chapter 10. The thing that had the biggest impact on me in this chapter was the idea of

spirituality and how it meant that people need unity in their lives. I really related to this, because

I think it is very accurate. I do not think people realize how connected we are in society. What

one person does affects a lot of people in the process. I really liked this message and think that it

is something that more people need to hear and think about before they make certain decisions.

One thing I did not agree with the author was in chapter 9 about people with unethical

practices will eventually be brought down later on. I do not necessarily think this is true. As bad

as it may sound, I do not think that people that do bad things will be caught eventually. I think
that at times some people will get caught and others won’t. It does not mean it's right, but I do

not think everyone gets caught in the end.

My question I have for these chapters is based upon chapter 10. Why do you think

society has grown so far apart? In today’s society we have political, racial, social and many more

barriers between people. Are any of these specifically to blame for society drifting so far apart

from one another?