Virtue index · Classical virtue
Magnanimity (greatness of soul)
Greatness of soul: aiming at great and worthy deeds, bearing good and ill fortune with equal mind, and being generous to rivals and the defeated.
Definitions from the tradition
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics IV.3: The great-souled man thinks himself worthy of great things, being worthy of them; he is moderate toward good and bad fortune, and is the crown of the virtues.
Cicero, De Officiis I.66-69: A brave and great spirit is shown in disregard of outward things and in undertaking great and difficult tasks for the common good.
Aquinas, Summa Theologiae II-II, q. 129: Magnanimity stretches out the mind to great things, trusting in God’s gifts; joined with humility, it aims high while knowing every good is received.
Scripture, 2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV): “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version as given in the library’s text. Other definitions are summarized, not quoted.
Opposing vices
- Pusillanimity: Smallness of soul: shrinking from the great things one is capable of.
- Ambition and presumption: Grasping at honors or tasks beyond one’s worth.
Works that show magnanimity (57)
The IliadHomerAchilles returns Hector’s body to Priam in Book XXIV, honoring the grief of an old enemy.c. 8th century BCEThe Nicomachean EthicsAristotleBook IV portrays the great-souled man.c. 340 BCEThe Republic and The LawsMarcus Tullius CiceroIn the Dream Scipio is taught to seek the reward of virtue itself rather than the narrow, short-lived praise of men.c. 54-51 BCThe Age of Alexander: Nine Greek LivesPlutarchPlutarch shows Alexander’s generosity toward the family of Darius.c. 100 CELives of the Noble Grecians and RomansPlutarchPericles, Timoleon, and Camillus show greatness of soul toward rivals and the city that wronged them.c. AD 100-120Chronicle of the Fourth Crusade and the Conquest of ConstantinopleGeoffrey de VillehardouinThe aged, sightless Doge takes the cross and has himself set ashore under the standard of St. Mark to lead the assault.c. 1207-1213The Story of the Volsungs (Volsunga Saga)Anonymous (Old Norse)Sigurd tells Regin that a stout heart counts for more than a sharp sword when men meet their foes in fight.13th centuryDe Monarchia (with R. W. Church's essay on Dante)Dante Alighieri; R. W. ChurchBook II praises Roman heroes such as Cincinnatus and Fabricius who set aside private gain for the common good.c. 1312-1318The MabinogionAnonymous (Middle Welsh)Bendigeid Vran lies down across the river so that his whole host can cross over his body.11th-14th century (manuscripts c. 1350-1410)The Fall of Constantinople, 1453: Eyewitness AccountsNicolo Barbaro, George Sphrantzes, Doukas, and othersMehmed II undertook the great design of moving his fleet overland and carried a siege that earlier sultans had abandoned.1453Gargantua and PantagruelFrançois RabelaisIn his speech to the vanquished, Gargantua frees the prisoners and treats Picrochole's people with clemency instead of revenge.1532-1564Speech to the Troops at TilburyElizabeth IShe thinks foul scorn that any prince of Europe should invade her realm and promises to reward every soldier's valour in the field.1588Henry IV, Part 1William ShakespeareHal praises the dead Hotspur, covers his face with his own favours, and later frees Douglas for his valour.c. 1596-97 (published 1598)The St Crispin's Day SpeechWilliam ShakespeareHenry offers passports and money to any man unwilling to fight rather than compelling an unwilling soldier.1599On the Magnet (De Magnete)William GilbertHe sets out his 'New & unheard of doctrine' that the earth is a magnet despite expecting scorn from those sworn to received opinions.1600AreopagiticaJohn MiltonHe asks Parliament to show the greatness of mind of a government willing to hear criticism and recall its own Order.1644The Commonwealth of OceanaJames HarringtonThe Lord Archon uses his sole power to found a free commonwealth and then gives that power up, as Lycurgus and Timoleon did.1656The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Selections)Edward GibbonConstantine answers the wounded Justiniani that the danger is pressing and his presence necessary, holding to his post when others withdraw (Chapter LXVIII).1776-1789The Newburgh AddressGeorge WashingtonHolding the loyalty of the army at the war's end, Washington uses it to keep the soldiers obedient to Congress rather than to gain power for himself.1783First Inaugural Address (Jefferson)Thomas JeffersonAfter a bitter defeat of his opponents he declares that all are Republicans and all are Federalists and promises to conciliate those who did not vote for him.1801McCulloch v. MarylandSupreme Court of the United StatesMarshall states Maryland's compact theory in its own words and answers it at length rather than dismissing a sovereign state's argument.1819Hayne's Reply to Webster (Speech on Foot's Resolution)Robert Y. HayneHe opens his account of the Revolution by honoring New England's conduct before claiming equal honor for the South, and says he does not question the private character of the Hartford delegates.1830Second Reply to HayneDaniel WebsterHe recalls the early harmony of Massachusetts and South Carolina and wishes it restored even while refuting Hayne.1830UlyssesAlfred, Lord TennysonHe seeks some work of noble note before death, worthy of men that strove with Gods.written 1833; published 1842The Philosophy of HistoryG. W. F. HegelHegel's account of world-historical individuals such as Caesar dwells on the greatness of soul and passion required to accomplish great things, while noting what it costs them.1837The Thousand and One Nights (Lane's translation, Volume I)Anonymous; translated by Edward William LaneThe envied man, made king, gives the neighbour who threw him into a well a thousand pieces of gold and reproaches him for nothing.1838-1841The Three MusketeersAlexandre DumasD'Artagnan offers the lieutenant's commission to Athos, Porthos and Aramis before accepting it himself.1844Speeches on the Compromise of 1850Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and Daniel WebsterWebster spoke as an American rather than as a Massachusetts man, granting Southern grievances at the cost of his standing at home.1850Bleak HouseCharles DickensJarndyce gives Esther to Woodcourt along with a new Bleak House, releasing her from her promise.1852–53The Song of HiawathaHenry Wadsworth LongfellowHe welcomes the Black-Robe and his companions as guests and commands his people to protect them.1855The Old Regime and the RevolutionAlexis de TocquevilleThe appendix praises the estates of Languedoc, whose members undertook great public works for their province by their own effort.1856The Lincoln-Douglas DebatesAbraham Lincoln and Stephen A. DouglasBoth men kept to the agreed rules of seven long debates before hostile as well as friendly crowds, and each yielded the platform on time for the other's reply.1858MiddlemarchGeorge EliotFarebrother pleads Fred's cause with Mary Garth though he loves her himself.1871–72Personal MemoirsUlysses S. GrantGrant records his feelings at Appomattox, declining to rejoice at the downfall of a foe who fought valiantly.1885-1886Plessy v. FergusonSupreme Court of the United StatesHarlan wrote alone against seven colleagues, stating his view at length though no other justice would join him.1896The Arabian Nights EntertainmentsAndrew Lang (ed.)Parizade climbs the mountain without looking back at the mocking voices that turned her brothers to stone, and frees them.1898Up from SlaveryBooker T. WashingtonHe resolves in Chapter XI never to let any man, of any color, make him hate.1901 (serialized 1900-01)The Souls of Black FolkW. E. B. Du BoisDu Bois credits Booker T. Washington's real achievements before contesting his program, modeling generous disagreement.1903A Little PrincessFrances Hodgson BurnettShe resolves to behave like a princess when she is poorest and answers Miss Minchin without spite.1905LepantoG. K. ChestertonThe poem's hero seeks a great deed, and its climax is his setting thousands of chained captives free.1911The Problems of PhilosophyBertrand RussellChapter XV praises the enlargement of the self that comes from contemplating the universe rather than seeing all things in relation to private interest.1912Saint JoanGeorge Bernard ShawShe sets out to crown the Dauphin and free France from Vaucouleurs with nothing but her conviction.1923Gitlow v. New YorkSupreme Court of the United StatesHolmes defends a hearing even for doctrines he plainly regards as redundant discourse, trusting the community to weigh them.1925Near v. MinnesotaSupreme Court of the United StatesHughes makes no defense of the paper's contents yet extends to it the same shield the Constitution gives every newspaper that exposes official misconduct.1931A Mathematician's ApologyG. H. HardyHardy defends the noble ambition of leaving behind something of permanent value, which he finds supremely in mathematics.1940Lassie Come-HomeEric KnightThe Duke declares the returned dog is not his and gives Sam a kennelman's place, so the family keeps both Lassie and its pride.1940Their Finest HourWinston ChurchillHe refuses to settle old scores against the prewar governments he had long opposed and speaks generously of the defeated French. Opposing vice: Vengeance, Pusillanimity.1940Johnny TremainEsther ForbesJohnny protects Dove instead of taking revenge for the crucible.1943The Abolition of ManC. S. LewisLewis makes the chest, the seat of magnanimity and trained sentiment, the necessary link between reason and appetite in Lecture I.1943Man's Search for MeaningViktor E. FranklHe refuses collective blame, recording the decency of an SS camp commander who bought medicines for prisoners and the cruelty of some prisoner foremen.1946 (German, as Ein Psychologe erlebt das Konzentrationslager); English trans. Ilse Lasch 1959; enlarged 1962The Eagle of the NinthRosemary SutcliffMarcus pleads for the life of the defeated gladiator Esca at the Calleva games and later gives him his freedom.1954Inaugural AddressJohn F. KennedyKennedy welcomes the responsibility of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger and would not exchange places with any other generation.1961The Fall of Constantinople, 1453Steven RuncimanRunciman credits Mehmed with restoring the Orthodox patriarchate under Gennadios and rebuilding the city as a capital for all its peoples.1965Watership DownRichard AdamsHazel offers Woundwort a shared peace between the warrens before the attack, and the final settlement spares Efrafa.1972Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval EmpireJudith HerrinThe chapter on Cyril and Methodios describes the brothers creating an alphabet so that the Slavs could worship and read in their own tongue.2007Washington: A LifeRon ChernowHe resigns his commission at Annapolis in 1783 and later declines a third term as president.2010The New Roman Empire: A History of ByzantiumAnthony KaldellisThe narrative closes with Constantine XI choosing to die defending Constantinople in 1453 rather than abandon it.2023
In Plutarch’s Lives
Marcus Furius Camillus, Pericles, Alcibiades, Timoleon, Titus Quinctius Flamininus, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Demetrius Poliorcetes, Otho
Quotations
Frequently cited
“If I am a princess in rags and tatters, I can be a princess inside. It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth of gold, but it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one knows it.”
Frequently cited
“I resolved to stop accumulating and begin the infinitely more serious and difficult task of wise distribution.”
Frequently cited
“he was an old man, and albeit his eyes were unclouded, yet he saw naught, having lost his sight through a wound in the head. He was of a great heart.”
“Ill-weaved ambition, how much art thou shrunk!”
“May He, who made both Jew and Christian, shower down on you his choicest blessings!”
“I felt like anything rather than rejoicing at the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly, and had suffered so much for a cause, though that cause was, I believe, one of the worst for which a people ever fought”
Frequently cited
“I wish to speak to-day, not as a Massachusetts man, nor as a Northern man, but as an American, and a member of the Senate of the United States.”
“Ye took the better part and pardoned; I took the worse, and there lies the clay of mine enemy.”
Frequently cited
“Is not a Patron, my Lord, one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, and, when he has reached ground, encumbers him with help?”
Frequently cited
“he who will be chief, let him be a bridge.”
“Consider, then, O 'Efreet, the pardon of the envied to the envier, and his kindness to him, notwithstanding the injuries he had done him.”
“Old age hath yet his honour and his toil; Death closes all; but something ere the end, Some work of noble note, may yet be done, Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.”
Frequently cited
“great men cultivate love, and that only little men cherish a spirit of hatred.”
Frequently cited
“I would permit no man, no matter what his colour might be, to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him.”
“Now, would all this have happened if I had returned to England a rich woman? Surely not.”
Discussion questions
- How can magnanimity and humility live in the same person?
- Which great work in your reading was undertaken for the common good?
- What does it mean to be generous to a defeated opponent?
- Is it a fault to aim too low?
Other virtues: Prudence · Justice · Fortitude · Temperance · Faith · Hope · Charity · Piety · Honor · Industry · Humility · Friendship