To be human is to be born into the world with something to achieve, namely, the fullness of one's human nature, and it is through the virtues [such as love, trustworthiness, courage, honesty, humility, gratitude, openness, conviction, compassion, cheerfulness, simplicity, hopefulness, generosity, courtesy, candidness, flexibility, appreciativeness, confidence, loyalty, justice, serenity, respect, humor, forgiveness, truthfulness, cooperativeness and the ability to temper desire] that one does so . . . The virtues are the only guarantee against a wasted life.
— Paul Waddell, Shadow Dance by David Richo