The cardinal virtues: prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance

The cardinal virtues are prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance. They are the four moral virtues that play a pivotal role, with all the others grouped around them (CCC 1805). That is where the name comes from: cardo is Latin for "hinge." Prudence helps you see the right thing to do, justice gives others what you owe them, fortitude keeps you steady when doing good gets hard, and temperance keeps pleasure in its place. Here is what each one means and how to grow in it.

What are the four cardinal virtues?

The Catechism calls a virtue "an habitual and firm disposition to do the good" (CCC 1803). A virtue makes doing good easier, the way practice makes a skill easier. Among the human virtues, four play a central role, and all the others are grouped around them (CCC 1805):

• Prudence: seeing what is truly good in a situation and choosing the right way to reach it.
• Justice: the constant, firm will to give God and your neighbor what is due to them.
• Fortitude, also called courage: firmness in difficulties and steadiness in pursuing the good.
• Temperance: moderating the pull of pleasures, so you use good things well.

Scripture names all four together. Speaking of wisdom, the Book of Wisdom says: "she teaches temperance and prudence, justice, and courage" (Wisdom 8:7, as quoted in CCC 1805). Greek philosophers such as Plato described the same four. The Church kept them because they describe a good human life, the kind anyone can recognize.

Why are they called "cardinal"?

A door swings on its hinges, and the rest of the moral life swings on these four. Justice toward God is called the virtue of religion: giving God the worship he is owed (CCC 1807). Chastity comes under temperance (CCC 2341). In the classic account of St Thomas Aquinas, truthfulness and gratitude also belong to justice, patience and perseverance to fortitude, and sobriety and modesty to temperance.

Prudence guides all of them. The Catechism calls it "the charioteer of the virtues," because it sets the rule and measure for the others (CCC 1806). Courage without prudence turns reckless. Temperance without prudence can turn into joyless rigidity. Prudence tells each virtue what this moment actually needs.

Prudence: seeing the right thing to do

Prudence is the virtue that helps your practical reason recognize your true good in every circumstance and choose the right means to reach it (CCC 1806). It is not the same as timidity or fear (CCC 1806). A prudent person can act boldly. They have simply looked first: "the prudent looks where he is going" (Proverbs 14:15).

Prudence shows up in ordinary decisions. Whether to take the job. What to say to a friend who is drinking too much. Whether to speak up in a meeting or wait. How to discipline a child who lied.

How to grow in prudence:

• Pause before you decide anything that matters. Ask God for light in your own words.
• Ask advice from someone wiser than you, and listen to it.
• Look back at your choices in the evening. Which ones went well, and why?
• Once you've weighed it, decide. Endless hesitation isn't prudence either.

Justice: giving each their due

Justice is "the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor" (CCC 1807). Toward God, it means worship: prayer, Sunday Mass, thanks. Toward people, it means respecting their rights and building fair relationships with them.

Most injustice is small and quiet. Showing up late and leaving early. Taking credit for a coworker's idea. Not paying back a friend. Talking down someone's reputation. Paying a worker less than the job is worth.

How to grow in justice:

• Keep small promises. Arrive when you said you would.
• Pay what you owe on time, and return what you borrowed.
• Give credit out loud to the people who earned it.
• If you've taken something or harmed someone's name, put it right as far as you can.
• Thank God each day. Gratitude is part of justice toward him.

Fortitude: steady when it gets hard

Fortitude "ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good" (CCC 1808). It helps you resist temptation, overcome obstacles and face fear, even the fear of death. Jesus promised it would be needed and that he would supply it: "In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

For most people, fortitude looks ordinary. Telling the truth when it costs you. Going to Confession when you're nervous. Staying faithful in a hard marriage. Getting up to pray when you don't feel like it. Saying no when everyone else says yes.

How to grow in fortitude:

• Do one hard right thing each day, on purpose, even a small one.
• Don't wait to feel brave. Courage usually comes after the first step, not before.
• Name your fear in prayer and ask for strength. "The Lord is my strength and my song" (Psalm 118:14).

Temperance: keeping pleasure in its place

Temperance "moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods" (CCC 1809). Food, drink, rest, entertainment and sexual pleasure in marriage are good gifts. Temperance doesn't despise them. It keeps you their master, so they serve your life instead of running it. Scripture asks us "to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world" (Titus 2:12).

How to grow in temperance:

• Choose one small, regular sacrifice: no snacks between meals, or no dessert on Fridays.
• Put the phone in another room at night.
• Stop at one drink, or one episode, while you still want another.
• Guard your eyes. Chastity is part of temperance, and it starts with what you let in. See chastity and how to overcome lust.

Lent is a natural time to practice temperance. Here are ideas for what to give up for Lent.

How do the cardinal virtues grow?

Human virtues are acquired through education, deliberate acts and perseverance, and they are purified and raised up by God's grace (CCC 1810). In plain terms: you grow in patience by being patient, over and over, and God helps you do it.

The Catechism is honest that this is hard for us, wounded as we are by sin. It points to the help God gives: ask for the grace of light and strength, go to the sacraments often, cooperate with the Holy Spirit, and follow his promptings to love what is good and avoid evil (CCC 1811).

Pick one virtue at a time. Ask where you most often fall: in anger, in laziness, in excess, in avoiding the hard conversation. That tells you which virtue to work on. Then choose one concrete act for this week. The seven deadly sins are a useful mirror here, since each one is the opposite of a virtue.

What about the theological virtues?

The cardinal virtues are human virtues. The theological virtues are faith, hope and charity (1 Corinthians 13:13). They are different in kind: they relate directly to God, and they are gifts he places in the soul rather than habits you build by effort alone (CCC 1812-1813). He first gives them at Baptism (CCC 1266).

The Catechism says the theological virtues give life to all the moral virtues (CCC 1813). Charity especially. Prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance done out of love for God become more than good character. They become holiness.

So begin with prayer, and then begin with one small act. Tonight, ask yourself which of the four you needed most today, and ask God for it tomorrow. If you'd like a simple shape for that daily prayer, try the daily examen.