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We all want to be respected, admired, even celebrated—but that craving can easily twist into vanity. In this episode, we go straight to the heart of the tension between ambition and humility and uncover the forgotten virtue that helps us balance the two: magnanimity. It’s the greatness of soul that aims high without losing humility—the art of desiring honor for the right reasons, and in the right measure. We explore why honor alone can never make a person happy, what true recognition actually looks like, and how magnanimity transforms our hunger for esteem into the pursuit of genuine excellence.

Read the relevant Articles from the Summa Theologica here:

The first article we discuss:

Part 1 of 2, Question 2, Article 2. Whether man’s happiness consists in honours.

The second article we discuss:

Part 2 of 2, Question 129, Article 1. Whether magnanimity is about honours.

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