Virtues and Values are similar in meaning, yet can also be distinguished. A virtue is a quality of our self, or a way of being, which we regard as good, important, or of high value. There are different kinds of virtues: a kind of action, a self-expression, a way of being, or an attitude. Two examples of self-virtues would be honesty and love; each worth developing in oneself.
A value is what we believe has worth and importance, and is beneficial, both in our own life and in the world. Knowing our values helps us make better decisions. Life-values are how we envision the best that our life can be, or the best that our world can be. A life-value is a quality in life that we value, or what we’d like to have in our life, or what we envision as important in life. It’s what we believe is good and worth seeking in life, such as happiness and love. So if we value happiness, harmony and love in our life, then these are a few of our life-values.
World-values are qualities we value for the world; qualities or principles that should to be manifested in the world and are worth working towards. Two good examples of world-values are peace and fairness. It’s what we’d like to see in the world. So, life-values and world-values are nearly the same, because the qualities we value for our own life are probably the same values we have for the world in general; such as harmony and love.
In summary, a value is a quality, idea, or vision that is valued in life, in the world, or in oneself. A virtue is a value, but it’s a self-value – something we value in our own self and in others. In addition, we are self-responsible for developing and expressing virtues; though we can also nurture virtues in children and in others. Finally, how we are, as an emanating being, has a metaphysical effect in the world around us; so there is an important relation between personal-virtues and the world-to-be.
One of the greatest spiritual goals is to realize and develop self-virtues