Virtues: The Substance of Mankind (Book)

Last year, I met a wonderful person whose advocacy in life was to promote virtues as a way of life. I was asked by a fellow doctor to meet her because of a writing project she was considering. I didn’t know then that she wanted to publish a book called Virtues – and that she needed my services as a contributing writer.

When I found out that she wanted me to edit a book on virtues, I balked a little. Was I qualified, as an editor or even as a person of virtues? I felt like I had to push my horns back in for a moment.

But I set aside all qualms and dove head first into the project. Although I was more of a health article writer, I have been writing about a myriad of topics since I was little. I hoped fervently that I was up to the challenge. (I could almost imagine wearing angel wings while I wrote my little contribution. Oh, I didn’t look good with the wings. Maybe a halo would look better on me? No, not even. Sigh.)

As I dug deep into my writer’s well of thoughts, I thanked God that I didn’t get a concussion. A nosebleed, yes – but hey, we have to push ourselves to the limit once in a while. I wrote one story for the book, and so did Stanley Chi, a bestselling author. As for the virtues that we wrote about, read on and I shall reveal a few more details.

Virtues Book: Chapters

The book revolves around different stories told by different people on how they lived a specific virtue. I learned a lot from the story on punctuality. (I so don’t have that virtue! Yikes! I am always late and I hate it.) I still remember one thing that was mentioned in the book, a sentence that echoed the doubts I had about “being too early”. It said, being early is never a “waste of time”.

Being early is not a “waste of time”.

Funny how that’s what I think of being early. If I was thirty minutes early to a meeting, I felt like it was thirty minutes I’ll never get back. It would have been thirty minutes more of sleep, or thirty minutes of work. But the chapter on punctuality explained how being early was actually a means of saving time.

What Virtue Do You Live By?

There are many virtues. Which virtue do you live by? If you have to pause and think before you can answer, then that points to a problem. Living in virtue should be a prerequisite of life, yet many of us can’t think of a virtue without having to exert some effort.

It’s as if it’s easier to think of our favorite sin than our favorite virtue. You have to admit, more than one came to your mind when I said “sin”, yes?

Virtues: The Substance of Mankind

The book also features a contribution by Stanley Chi, a renowned humorist and bestselling writer. I also wrote one story for the book. But which virtues did Stanley and I write about? Well, you’re going to have to buy a copy to find out!

The book is entitled Virtues: The Substance of Mankind. It was written by Atty. Pilar Almira. It has a beautiful matte cover with glossy text, and all pages are in full color. The book costs PhP550. This will make a great gift to your boss, dad, mom, loved ones, and friends if you believe they live by a certain set of virtues! I bet they’ll appreciate a book on virtues. If you bought one copy and gave it to me, I wouldn’t mind, he he!

Did I learn from reading the stories in the book? Yes. Did I really become more punctual after having read it? Yes – maybe. Er, sometimes. But hey, it sure did give me a shove in the right direction!

Having this book published was not easy. But that’s material for another blog post, so I’ll save that for later.

The book launch for the book Virtues: The Substance of Mankind is on August 2012, but you may order your copy beforehand – just contact me and let me know how many copies you want. Needless to say, the more, the merrier!