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On Wisdom: Principles: Harmony

1. All delight in harmony, symmetry, and just proportion. 2. Dissonance and asymmetry cry out for resolution, depicting even more powerfully what is not there. 3. Harmony among objects is called beauty. Harmony among or within people is called goodness. 4. Sincerity results in harmony between what one says and what one knows. Integrity results in harmony between what one does and what one believes. 5. Equity and justice are forms of symmetry. 6. Harmony requires humility, since one ought not oneself be out of proportion. 7. The external rewards of harmony are security, prosperity, and ultimately survival. The internal rewards are pleasure and inner peace. 8. Harmony is never perfect, nor is it ever entirely absent. It is always more or less. 9. External harmony increases internal harmony. Internal harmony increases external harmony. Thus when one says something true, one increases the harmony of the whole world. And when one struggles against another's oppression, one struggles against one's own. Next: The Principles of Wisdom: Love Previous: The Principles of Wisdom: Reason On Wisdom: Table of Contents