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