Life is ebb and flow. Sometimes you need more of something–say, compassion–and sometimes, as now, less.
Most of us, I suppose, can readily imagine lying to liars, and cheating cheaters, even if in principle we value honesty.
Having a code is better than not having a code, but I think humanity can only fully mature when we come to express ourselves through thoughtful awareness based upon spontaneous and genuine empathy.
I will add, that I just realized the value of courtesy today. I can at times be rude. I was raised that way, and have worked, not always successfully, to overcome it.
But I felt the marrow of it this morning, the meaning of it, the importance of it, how essential even apparently small details are to the process of increasing ones Goodness.
I have always thought of awful British people with impeccable manners, and thought that an excessive infatuation with courtesy implied artificiality. It can certainly be that. But at its optimal, it is nothing more or less than practically expressed empathy and concern for others.