“As if our touch were infectious, we by our handling corrupt things that of themselves are beautiful and good. We can grasp virtue in such a way that it will become vicious if we embrace it with too sharp and violent a desire.”
—Michel de Montaigne, “Of Moderation”
Turns out, you can have too much of a good thing…if you choose it without regard for anything else. Simply put, temperance is a tempering or restraining of our desires, even for good or pleasant things. Aristotle says the intemperate man “desires all pleasant things, or the most pleasant; and he is so carried away by his desires that he chooses them before anything else.” We know this from experience. When we prioritize or obsess over something, two things happen: something gets twisted—ceasing to be good for us—and we lose out on experiencing other good things.
As Plato describes it, temperance is “surely a kind of order, the mastery of certain kinds of pleasures and desires.” From this angle, temperance is all about self-control or self-mastery. It produces unity in the whole person so, as Plato says, the parts of yourself can “all sing the same song together.” Aristotle adds to the conversation, saying virtue is “a mean between two kinds of vice, one of excess and the other deficiency…The temperate man desires the right things in the right way and at the right time.” Combining Plato and Aristotle’s thinking, we could say the temperate person pursues good things in good measure—not too much, not too little. In other words, our motto for temperance reminds us to:
In some ways, we’ve been trained to see excess as a mark of strength, to value people who can handle more and more. In reality, wisdom indicates the temperate one is the strong one—we have the power to become our own place of retreat if we don’t constantly fear our basest desires overruling our best ones. Much of Eastern philosophy echoes this thought: that there is immense power in self-restraint. In the collected sayings of Buddha (the Dhammapada), it is written, “By standing alert, by awareness, / By restraint and control too, / The intelligent one could make an island / That a flood does not overwhelm.”
Following Aristotle’s idea of The Golden Mean, Temperance is the reasoning behind our vice-virtue-vice, or “as opposed to”, slider graphs! Here, too much moderation leads to indifference to even the most exciting things. Meanwhile, too little leads toward lawlessness—being tossed to and fro by every whim of every desire without being a law to yourself.
It is hard work to become temperate, especially in a society so often plagued by overconsumption, overpollution, over-politicization, overeating and over-dieting (somehow at the same time), overstimulation, and over-sexualization. Temptations on all sides beckon us toward themselves and away from the moderate path.
But self-control connects us to beauty and goodness! Fourth-century theologian Ambrose of Milan says that “what we observe and seek most in temperance is the safeguarding of what is honorable and the regard for what is beautiful.” Temperance helps make us inwardly beautiful and helps us care more about what else is beautiful. It also allows us to fully enjoy the goodness in good things. So we can live the good life!
Let’s learn from our exemplars of temperance—Henry David Thoreau, Buddha, and Jackie Robinson on how to put this virtue into practice:
In looking at the lives of our exemplars (and others!), we can see how they intentionally practiced temperance. Henry lived for a season at Walden Pond to immerse himself in nature and escape the overindulgence of society. Jackie modeled self-discipline in the face of vast hardship. Here’s a short (non-comprehensive) list of what temperate people pursue (for more specific ideas and practices, refer to our Practices to Cultivate Prudence section in the Virtues Field Guide):
- Temperate people pursue good things rightly—not too much.
- Temperate people pursue good things rightly—not too little.
- Temperate people have ordered priorities.
- Temperate people know their temptations and actively fight against them.
- Temperate people practice moderation in bodily pleasures.
Here is a 5-minute video giving an overview of Temperance—watch with your littles to help them join the conversation!!
Our Virtues Field Guide (linked in our Parent Portal) dives deep into virtue—read the section on Temperance on pages 18-22! And purchase the virtues posters here to help encourage you on the path toward the good, true, and beautiful each day!
