Eric's Respect and Admiration Page

Eric's Respect and Admiration Page

A friend recently asked me what I look for in a friend. Principally, I look for someone whom I respect and admire. But what do I admire in people?

In short, I admire extraordinary people -- people who are extraordinarily strong in mind (i.e., intellect), body (i.e., muscular/athletic/fit and absolutely dedicated to health and fitness), and soul (i.e., altruistic). Here's a more detailed list.

People with high-minded ideals who demonstrate through actions their commitment thereto -- I admire people who don't just have high ideals, but who demonstrate those ideals through their daily activities (e.g., I'm less impressed by people who work at a soup kitchen on Christmas day than I am of people who work at a soup kitchen on just any other regular day of the year). I admire people who try (intend) to do the right thing (regardless of whether they are successful) rather than people who might succeed in doing so, but accidentally. The old adage comes to mind that it's not whether you win or lose that's important, but how you play the game. I guess that I'm more impressed by intention than by a deed without intention. However, I think that the deed without intention concept doesn't happen too much. In general, people tend to be largely responsible for the results they gather from their actions, I think (i.e., "good fortune" is usually the result of hard work).
Commitment to health/fitness, especially as evidenced by their actions; Athleticism. There's only one truly irreplaceable possession and I think that it is pretty foolish to not take care of it. In order to take care of it, you have to take care of (e.g., exercise and avoid abusing) both the hardware (i.e., your body) and the software (emotion/spirit/feelings).
Intellectual capacity, thirst for knowledge and truth, and objectivity
People with a strong moral orientation who demonstrate it by their actions. I think that religion tends to be useful to young people as a place to start. Parents who are good role models are probably a little more important, though, as they can still get the job done without religion.
Frugality; people who appreciate the value of money, are not wasteful thereof, and have charity in their hearts and in their actions
Sincerity; Trustworthiness, Truthfulness; Openness and Honesty
Affectionate in thoughts, words, and deeds towards others who are close to them and whose companionship they especially value
An aversion to drugs (incl. alcohol and tobacco)
Altruistic in thought and deed
Kindness to all and especially tolerance for those who are mean-spirited towards them
Cheerfulness; playfulness; sense of humor
An appreciation for non-human residents of earth.
A willingness to do the "right" thing, even when it may be somewhat adverse to one's own material welfare (i.e., desire and willingness to look out for the greater good of society as a whole rather that just one's own well being)
Commitment to family members
Knowledge; Erudition. Education is a privilege. However, I still admire folks who have extraordinary knowledge, however obtained. So there are many folks in the world who through no fault of their own haven't had the opportunity to obtain much knowledge, that doesn't change the fact that I admire folks who know a lot. Just because I admire folks who have a great deal of knowledge, doesn't mean that those who don't can't be admired for other things. Keep in mind that there are minisculey few folks whom I have ever become aware who meet very many of these traits all at once. Indeed, in my mind, the person who had all these traits would be near perfect. We both know that perfect people don't exist. I admire people, however, who aspire to and demonstrate though their actions that they are actively endeavoring to become more "perfect", or more virtuous, or however you want to say it (Maslow would say "self-actualized").
Youthful mindset but a sophisticated well-developed personality. Children don't tend to have very well-developed personalities. They haven't had the time or the intellectual training to deliberately become very much more than basically what exposure to those around them has made them, along with any genetic predispositions they may have. Well developed personalities refers to the traits and behaviors that a person has as a result of their own effort (e.g., their own philosophies and beliefs as opposed to those of others).

Here's a list of people that I believe are largely worthy of emulation.

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This page last updated 01/03/02