This is how I understand goodness: it strives for the common good of all humans, what the Greeks call philanthropy, which is inadequately expressed by the word humanity (as it is used). I call goodness a habit, and good nature a predisposition. As a divine attribute, Goodness is the greatest of all virtues and dignities of the mind: without it, a person is a restless, malicious, and unhappy creature, no better than any pest. Goodness corresponds to the theological virtue of mercy – it knows no excess, only shortcomings. Excessive desire for power caused the fall of angels; excessive desire for knowledge caused the fall of man; but in mercy, there is no excess, neither angel nor man can be endangered by it. The inclination towards goodness is so deeply ingrained in human nature that if it is not directed towards people, it will turn towards other living beings; as we can see with the Turks, who are a merciless people but are still gentle towards animals and out of compassion, feed dogs and birds to such an extent that they almost – as reported ještavi Busbecius – neki su ljudi bacili kamenje na jednog kršćanskog dječaka u Carigradu jer je iz nestašnosti produžio kljun jednoj ptici.
De facto, ljudi mogu pogriješiti u ovom naporu dobrote ili milosrđa. Talijani imaju jednu nepopularnu poslovicu: Toliko dobar da ne vrijedi ništa. A jedan obrazovani Talijan, Niccolo Machiavelli, hrabro je napisao, gotovo izravno, da je kršćanska vjera prepustila dobre ljude kao plijen tiranima i bezbožnicima. Rekao je to jer zaista nijedan zakon, sekt ili uvjerenje ne veličaju dobrotu koliko kršćanska vjera. Stoga, kako bi se čovjek izbjegao sablazni i opasnosti, dobro je upoznati propuste ove tako vrijedne navike.
Pokušaj činiti dobro drugima, ali ne vezuj se za njihova lica ili raspoloženja jer to postaje poslušnost ili slabost koja zarobljava poštenu dušu. I ne bacaj dragocjeni kamen pijetlu iz Ezopove basne jer je on zadovoljniji i sretniji s jednim zrnom ječma. Božji primjer pruža pravu pouku: On šalje d “And it makes the Sun shine equally for the just and the unjust; but it does not shower everyone with wealth, nor does it illuminate everyone with honor and virtue equally. Common goods are shared by all; the special ones belong to the chosen. And be careful not to break the pattern while shaping the character.
Because theology gives self-love as a pattern, and love for your neighbor only as a likeness. Sell everything you have and give it to the poor… and follow me: but do not sell everything you have unless you come and go with me; that is unless you know how to do as much good with little means as with many; otherwise, by watering the tributaries, you will dry up the source.
And there is not only a habit of goodness guided by true reason; but there is in some people, even in their nature, a tendency towards it, just as there is an inherent malice in others. For there are those whose nature is indifferent to the wellbeing of others. The lighter kind of malice manifests as anger, insolence, a tendency to oppose, stubbornness, and the like; and the heavier kind shows itself through envy and true evil. Such people…” They, so to speak, feed on other people’s misfortunes and only make them worse: they are not as good as dogs that licked Lazar’s wounds, but rather resemble flies crawling on everything exposed: they are misanthropes who lead people to the edge, and yet they don’t have a tree in their garden to hang themselves on, like Timon did.
Such tendencies represent true deviations from human nature, and yet they are the most suitable material to build great politicians from; like curved logs that are good for ships tossed by storms at sea, but not for building houses that need to stand firm.
The signs of goodness are numerous. If a person is kind and polite to strangers, it shows that they are a citizen of the world and that their heart is not an island cut off from other countries, but rather a land that is connected to them. If they show compassion for others’ hardships, it shows that their heart is like that noble tree that is wounded itself while producing resin. If they easily forgive and overlook insults, it shows that their spirit is above petty disagreements and conflicts. anger and cannot be affected. If one is grateful for small acts of kindness, it shows that they value a person’s soul, not their trivialities.
But above all else, if one possesses the perfection of Saint Paul and is willing to be rejected by Christ for the salvation of their brethren, it reveals their divine nature and a kind of kinship with Christ Himself.