BYJ's Virtues 101 - Prudence

Recently have no luxury of reading and writing for long. Thought might as well just write down whatever is on my mind at the moment.

The other day I ran across bb's blog and overheard some unpleasant comments made in KOB. This made me think about BYJ again. Of course, everyone knows by now that it is yet another BYJ syndrome of mine to relate any events, big or small, to BYJ.

What made BYJ popular? Some would say it's his heavenly look. Some would say it's his sensual body. Some would say it's his perfecting performance. Some would say it's his fascinating work. Or maybe it's his luck, or his charming personality. All of these are true, but one thing I would like to point out, is one of the keys to his success - PRUDENCE!

In my past education I was taught that there are four cardinal virtues in life - Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance. And all the other virtues are derived from or grouped around them. The very first one of the four is Prudence. See how pivotal it is. Our BYJ mastered it by heart. By the way,take a good look at BYJ and you'll see that he has demonstrated all of the four cardinal virtues in his life.

A simple definition of Prudence is "right reason in action", writes St. Thomas Aquinas, following Aristotle. We need to dispose good practical reasons in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it. In another word, we need to think thrice before we take an action or say anything.

BYJ himself once commented about his success, was mostly due to his prudence (translated into Chinese is 谨言慎行). He has been prudence in selecting his roles, prudence in accepting CMs, prudence in commenting on political events, prudence in explaining morals of his movies, even prudence in answering questions in interviews, such as why he stopped eating spicy rice cakes. He is often viewed as slow in speaking, but I would think that is because he has been fast in thinking and prudence in examining what words and expressions would be proper to be released out of himself.

What makes a person popular? A simple answer would be a person who makes people happy. A person who does not hurt others. Imagine BYJ being judgmental, critical, negative to people around him, will he stay popular? I am sure as smart as BYJ, he knows this deeply. Why does BYJ smiles all the time? Won't he be tired of it? I've got an simple answer - because BYJ is prudent - courtesy is always welcome. No matter how tiring it takes, BYJ will always smile to his fans. Now matter how badly we fans begged him to stop smiling and do whatever he wishes to do, BYJ will always smile to his fans. Why? He answered "because I am happy", but I say Prudence! Even that answer was out of prudence.

Note prudence is not to be confused with timidity or fear, nor with duplicity or dissimulation. It guides the other virtues by setting rule and measure. BYJ's smiles are coming out of his Loving heart + Self control! They are all governed and measured by the prudence - careful thinking and control of his actions and speeches. One hurting word, one frown, will erase the effect of a thousand smiles. BYJ knows it clearly and he will never let it happen!

Can we learn something from him? We are all smart people. It will just take a little more effort of us to learn a little bit from the man we set our eyes on, then it is hopeful that this world may be a little happier.

Sounds like a pretty good lecturing, huh? Yes, it has been H's habit of lecturing herself since she has memory.