What is the worthiest single trait human beings possess?

Wit.

Muse.

compassion

Creativity

Self-sacrifice . . . what Lincoln called "the last full measure of devotion . . . "

No greater love hath any man than this, that he will lay down his life for his brother.

CJ,

I need some compassion... :wink:

I'll truly believe that creativity encompasses them all.

No no no, love encompasses them all.

Love is all you need!

um, ain't it?

That's true extra - love is all we need.
You however, have my compassion

I tend to agree with Wit, as real wit includes perspective and compassion, though it may not be so apparent. On the other hand, there may be no Action from either of those, and Set's choice demands action. On the other hand, I am a little weary of the idea that love always means Sacrifice. Denial of self is not always such a virtue to me, any more, though I agree some self sacrifice is supreme.

Ok, I dunno yet. My jury is out for a while.

After hours of careful and half-asleep deliberation, stumbling into a desert town on a broken down donkey, my jury had no choice other than to side with this verdict: compassion indeed.

compassion and ethical reasoning

common sense

I'm not so sure about "crativity," because we are also capable of making weapons that can killd millions with one blow. I would have to go with "LOVE." Then, creativity can follow.

I'll have to ditto c.i. Just love for love's sake. When given freely with no expectations I think the other qualities of creativity, compassion, empathy, honestly, fairness and graciousness follow.

"Worthy",which is the title,and it isn't mine, has a component of value.

A worthy action is an action which has value to others.Others being,in the last analysis,human kind.

A worthy action can have no thought of a return value.

The single most valuable thing to human kind is the ageing process and the ultimate demise of the individual.That is not only obvious but painfully so and,on a philosophy thread,we cannot shirk the painful for fear of undermining the meaning of the word 'philosophy' and,by extension,the very language itself.That would be unworthy if it is assumed that human kind needs purity of language which not everybody would assume.

Stendahl once remarked that we are all going to pass away and thus it is boring and best forgotten about and the way to forget about it is to maintain good cheer.Hence his wit.

There are dangers with words like "love" or "compassion" and a range of others of a similar nature.They may well be strategies.They often are.
They might even be nets or snares and self serving.

Wit is simply an attempt to maintain good cheer in rather desperate circumstances and with true wit love and compassion are taken for granted.A truly witty person has love and compassion built in and worn so lightly that they are hardly visible,if at all.

Philosophers,fiendish beings though they may be,indeed have to be,think in extremes.They might imagine being shot at dawn for example as a useful metaphor for life itself.In answering the question posed by the title of this thread over a glass of port or somesuch after a fine dinner they could well come to the conclusion that they would prefer witty company to love or compassion both of which are likely to render them even more miserable.

How often have we seen James Bond,say,in the direst need of love and compassion opt for wit.And we have flocked in our millions to see it.It is a portrayal,not a very good one I would say,designed to offer a cheerful approach under stress as catharsis for a public self evidently a trifle tired of other values.

So I would vote for wit every time and were I to be before the firing squad at dawn I would have the wits for company especially if they were all being shot alongside me.

When the first vulture alighted on the top of the cross to which Spendius was fastened he turned his face-
"towards Autaritus,and said slowly to him with an unaccountable smile:
'Do you remember the lions on the road to Sicca?'"

Language.

No question. Language.

I think tact is the most important trait as it requires the ability understand and be sensitive to an opposing position without requiring you to relinquish your own strongly held beliefs.

Boomerang: I would think that ties into compassion. Is there a subtlety you have that I'm not grasping?

Eorl: Language? Interesting choice. Why?

Spendius: Nice post. I'm still not sure I grasp your point about how wit is superior to love and compassion, though. Could you rephrase? Thanks.

For myself, I'd have to say empathy. Empathy forms the basis of ethics, and I truly believe that if there were a tangible bond between all members of humanity, the world would evolve into a perfect society within a generation. Right now, we have a slight ability to "walk in another's shoes", but that is often silenced in the heat of the moment. If there were a stronger bond that was harder to ignore, however, there could be no crime at all. This might seem to be the stuff of science -fiction, but I think it's a laudable fantasy.