The flower market by Victor Gabriel Gilbert
The rule of honor is a fitting response to the rule of money because it defines a lifestyle that naturally leads men to esteem and seek after those things that are excellent. It introduces into the market square a set of values that includes quality, beauty, goodness, and charity. This rule is open to the calming influence of the cardinal virtues, which inject balance and psychological well-being into society and economy.
Painting by Nikolai Dmitriev-Orenburgsky
So powerful is this rule that we can observe that when honor is spread throughout all levels of society, the rule of money loses its attraction. Certain professions, for example, are sustained much more by true honor than money, as can be seen in the university professor or military officer. When honor reigns, money’s influence wanes, institutions are zealous of their reputation, families uphold their names, and culture flourishes.
John Horvat, Return to Order: From a Frenzied Economy to an Organic Christian Society—Where We’ve Been, How We Got Here, and Where We Need to Go (York, Penn.: York Press, 2013), 266.
