reality check.....
If there was 1 trait that I would bestow upon the whole world of people, I would grant open-mindedness (unbiased, reasoning, examine-all-facts mentality). But I will break that down into 3 exquisite personal traits that help make up a respectful character and personality. I am being broad, here, but add more if I miss something important!
I'm getting into a bit of a rhetoric rumble here, and I would need to go more in depth with how I define such words as "perfect," "selfish," and "perspective" and I don't want to do that right now. I believe my point is made.
Introspection / improvement with doing the best with what you have
This refers to the intent and ability to seek imperfections and improve upon them without bias. Perhaps those who claim that all people are, by nature, sinners, mean to tell us that if we are ever so full of ourselves to think that we are in any reason capable of complete perfection, we risk putting ourselves in a place where we render ourselves unable to become better people; improvement is impossible in that stage. But then again, I believe many people already think that. In that situation, we throw away our "toolbox" which helps us fix that which is broke, and succeed. To improve oneself is to improve everybody around us, and to do that we need to use our tools(whatever we have) the best that we can. All too often, people fall short of fixing their shortcomings when they ignore their resources and refuse to analyze/examine their mistakes. This does not show care with doing the best with what one has.
Regard for alternate perspectives
We all live in our own cardboard box; we are each shown different things, experience different scenarios and events, and learn/think in different styles. The problem is that we all expect somebody else to see everything through our eyes, and it is all too easy to become frustrated when somebody else disagrees with us. This sounds very simple and obvious at first, but in extreme situations this is easily forgotten. In fact, people will readily ignore such a fact in many circumstances. Case in point: our presidential election. So this involves two things: tolerance, and understanding (effects here are threefold: one will learn more, one will argue[not fight] more effectively, and one will negotiate more effectively).
Relative selflessness
I think simple selflessness is not practically possible. We have needs, and seek that which allows us to survive; to say that one can be totally selfless would be a hypocrite. Even one who gives to charity or makes sacrifices that would appear harmful to one's self are acting under an ultimate selfishness; it is good to be selfish in certain extents ("feelings" of having helped out). The point is to be selfish in such a way that others are benefited as well, greed is minimized, harm done to others is minimized. Although now that I reread this passage, I admit that i've leaked a bit of an oxymoron, for "selfish" actually refers to that which does not include others, but which is based around only the one self. I hope you get my point.
I'm getting into a bit of a rhetoric rumble here, and I would need to go more in depth with how I define such words as "perfect," "selfish," and "perspective" and I don't want to do that right now. I believe my point is made.
Introspection / improvement with doing the best with what you have
This refers to the intent and ability to seek imperfections and improve upon them without bias. Perhaps those who claim that all people are, by nature, sinners, mean to tell us that if we are ever so full of ourselves to think that we are in any reason capable of complete perfection, we risk putting ourselves in a place where we render ourselves unable to become better people; improvement is impossible in that stage. But then again, I believe many people already think that. In that situation, we throw away our "toolbox" which helps us fix that which is broke, and succeed. To improve oneself is to improve everybody around us, and to do that we need to use our tools(whatever we have) the best that we can. All too often, people fall short of fixing their shortcomings when they ignore their resources and refuse to analyze/examine their mistakes. This does not show care with doing the best with what one has.
Regard for alternate perspectives
We all live in our own cardboard box; we are each shown different things, experience different scenarios and events, and learn/think in different styles. The problem is that we all expect somebody else to see everything through our eyes, and it is all too easy to become frustrated when somebody else disagrees with us. This sounds very simple and obvious at first, but in extreme situations this is easily forgotten. In fact, people will readily ignore such a fact in many circumstances. Case in point: our presidential election. So this involves two things: tolerance, and understanding (effects here are threefold: one will learn more, one will argue[not fight] more effectively, and one will negotiate more effectively).
Relative selflessness
I think simple selflessness is not practically possible. We have needs, and seek that which allows us to survive; to say that one can be totally selfless would be a hypocrite. Even one who gives to charity or makes sacrifices that would appear harmful to one's self are acting under an ultimate selfishness; it is good to be selfish in certain extents ("feelings" of having helped out). The point is to be selfish in such a way that others are benefited as well, greed is minimized, harm done to others is minimized. Although now that I reread this passage, I admit that i've leaked a bit of an oxymoron, for "selfish" actually refers to that which does not include others, but which is based around only the one self. I hope you get my point.