Definitions: (1) a standard of perfection; a principle to be aimed at; (2) behavior or thought based on a conception of things as they should be or as one would wish them to be; (3) striving to achieve one’s best possible exemplification
Derivation: Late Middle English, in Platonic philosophy “existing as an archetype”
Quotes:
• Sorrow looks back. Worry looks around. Faith looks up. — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American philosopher
• Ideas may take origin in the stimuli of the outer world, but ideals are born only in the creative realms of the inner world. (111:4.10) — The Urantia Book {1995}
Inspiration: Jesus did not shy away from the hard facts of day-to-day living. He faced them by pursuing spiritual realities. Therefore he was able to attain an uncompromising religious life in the very midst of a realistic world.
Color: yellow