Did you miss this meeting? Check out what we talked about by reading the quotes that sparked our discussion. Or, maybe you were there but wanted to see everything again? Feel free! Whichever it is, please add to or continue the discussion by commenting below.
First Quote:
1806 Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it; "the prudent man looks where he is going."65 "Keep sane and sober for your prayers."66 Prudence is "right reason in action," writes St. Thomas Aquinas, following Aristotle.67 It is not to be confused with timidity or fear, nor with duplicity or dissimulation. It is called auriga virtutum (the charioteer of the virtues); it guides the other virtues by setting rule and measure. It is prudence that immediately guides the judgment of conscience. The prudent man determines and directs his conduct in accordance with this judgment. With the help of this virtue we apply moral principles to particular cases without error and overcome doubts about the good to achieve and the evil to avoid. (Catechism of the Catholic Church)
Second Quote:
[1] My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and wilt hide my commandments with thee, [2] That thy ear may hearken to wisdom: Incline thy heart to know prudence: [3] For if thou shalt call for wisdom, and incline thy heart to prudence: [4] If thou shalt seek her as money, and shalt dig for her as for a treasure: [5] Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and shalt find the knowledge of God…
[11] Counsel shall keep thee, and prudence shall preserve thee, [12] That thou mayst be delivered from the evil way, and from the man that speaketh perverse things: [13] Who leave the right way, and walk by dark ways: [14] Who are glad when they have done evil, and rejoice in most wicked things: [15] Whose ways are perverse, and their steps infamous. (Proverbs 2: 1-5, 11-15)
Third Quote:
Prudence means practical common sense, taking the trouble to think out what you are doing and what is likely to come of it. Nowadays most people hardly think of Prudence as one of the 'virtues'. In fact, because Christ said we could only get into His world by being like children, many Christians have the idea that, provided you are 'good', it does not matter being a fool. But that is a misunderstanding. In the first place, most children show plenty of 'prudence' about doing the things they are really interested in, and think them out quite sensibly. In the second place, as St Paul points out, Christ never meant that we were to remain children in intelligence: on the contrary. He told us to be not only 'as harmless as doves', but also 'as wise as serpents'. He wants a child's heart, but a grown-up's head. He wants us to be simple, single- minded, affectionate, and teachable, as good children are; but He also wants every bit of intelligence we have to be alert at its job, and in first-class fighting trim. . . . If you are thinking of becoming a Christian, I warn you, you are embarking on something which is going to take the whole of you, brains and all. But, fortunately, it works the other way round. Anyone who is honestly trying to be a Christian will soon find his intelligence being sharpened: one of the reasons why it needs no special education to be a Christian is that Christianity is an education itself.
(Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis)
Fourth Quote:
14"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15To one he gave five talents[a] of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. 19"After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.' 21"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' 22"The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.' 23"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' 24"Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' 26"His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 28" 'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' Matthew 25:14-30
Fifth Quote (Parable/ Kreeft/ Pilgrim's Progress/Patron Saint):
(140) "Then he began to go forward; but
Discretion,
Piety,
Charity, and
Prudence would accompany him down to the foot of the hill. So they went on together, reiterating their former discourses, till they came to go down the hill. Then said Christian, As it was difficult coming up, so, so far as I can see, it is dangerous going down. Yes, said Prudence, so it is, for it is a hard matter for a man to
go down into the Valley of Humiliation, as thou art now, and to catch no slip by the way; therefore, said they, are we come out to accompany thee down the hill. So he began to go down, but very warily; yet he caught a slip or two."
Sixth Quote:
The theological virtues are concerned directly with God. The moral virtues deal with the conduct by which we are to come to God. A brief reflection upon the ways in which we may deviate from the road that leads to our goal will show the relation of the moral virtues to man's necessity. We may deviate either by failure of the intellect to grasp the bearing of our actions or by a failure of the will to act, either in the control of ourselves or in relation to other men, according to the true light that the intellect has.That our intellect may rightly see what things help toward our eternal salvation and what things hinder, there is the virtue of Prudence. Its direct work is upon the intellect, but thereby it provides a rule according to which the activities of the will may be regulated too. The will operates properly when it keeps to the right path, which the intellect, operating properly, sees. Like Charity, Prudence has suffered from a degradation of its name in common speech. Prudence is not a timid virtue. It is not that virtue by which we avoid all occasion for the use of the virtue of Fortitute. Prudence is a bold virtue. It sees the bearin gof conduct, not upon our immediate convenience, but upon our ultimate salvation. It is by the virtue of Prudence that the martyr clearly sees his way to martyrom. There are occasions when the avoidance of martydom would be highly impruent. The word prudence itself is simply another form of the word providence, and providence is from the Latin word "to see": it is the virtue that sees in advnnce and provides.(Theology and Sanity, Frank Sheed)
Prayer for Prudence
Jesus, artful Master of Parables,
Your prudence eluded the hypocrites.
Your actions were known before creation,
Displaying all the wisdom of Your prudence.
Eternity must have attended to minutia.
Being prudent in Your best interest,
You considered all potential consequences,
Securing the outcome of Your earthly life.
Grant me the prudence to always be cautious
And sensitive to the basic needs of others.
Jesus, You have shown great foresight,Prudence truly originates from Your Being.
Sources: Bible, CCC, Theology & Sanity, C.S. Lewis: Mere Christianity, Peter Kreeft, Pilgrim's Progress, Patron Saint of Prudence
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