As an example, “elegance” is one of my top core values however it does not necessarily serve a greater good and often is misrepresented as luxurious, materialistic, or showy. However to me it represents minimalism, simplicity and a beautiful expression of the essential.

One thing I did want to comment on though was the “treating every person that you meet as if they are the most important person in the world” idea. This idea may be effective for people who have poor self esteem but for most people I think, it will be a transparent approach. I have met people who speak to me this way and their attitude usually comes off as very phony. A person that doesn’t even know me can’t possible think that I am the “most important person in the world” so why would they be treating me as such? Or they give the impression that they want something from you. Treating people the way you would want to be treated is respectful enough in my opinion, anything more is going too far and circumspect! Of course this only applies to random people you may meet on any given day and not friends, family or close co-workers. They, after all, know the real you!

I was trying to think about my values, which is quite hard, actually! What did occur to me, having read this article, was that I never wanted to have a disagreement with people I cared about.

I recently fell out with a friend of mine, who said some very cutting things to me. However, having read this article I had a think back to it, and realized that there were reasons for our disagreement but that life is too short to hate others or to be upset, especially if it comes down to huge misunderstandings (which it was in this case).

I have just made a phone call to my friend, who replied positively, and we are meeting tomorrow to have a chat. So thanks for the inspirational article, even if it inspired me in a way which wasn’t really intended.

I’m actually making my list of virtues (what you call values) right now. Not only am I making a list, but I’m backing it up with inspirational phrases and maxims from Irish sources like the Irish Triads, Roman sources like writings by Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus, Greek sources like Delphic Maxims, and a host of modern sources as well. When I get them all together I’m going to make a book. I make books as art; so it would be a personal book – like a medieval prayer book – for personal use. I’m going to use it for daily meditations and reflections to start living the virtues I hold dear.