Of the four classical virtues—courage, justice, prudence, and temperance—the last is arguably the most demanding. Bravely standing by friends, treating others as we wish to be treated, seeking wisdom and the right path: these can be tough, yes, but some find temperance the most daunting virtue of all.
Usually we associate a lack of temperance with drug abuse, alcoholism, and smoking: the addict who shoves a needle into his arm, the neighbor who downs a fifth of vodka every evening, the cousin who fires up his cigarette with a rueful “Yeah, yeah, I know it’s a bad habit.” We tend to forget that other intemperate excesses—gluttony, lust, an immoderate balance between leisure and work, an obsession with video games or social media— are damaging as well.
