So what is perfection? The only realm where perfection could have any significance is the realm of self-esteem, or more to the root, the realm of choice. Perfection in human terms is a reachable, ideal state of moral purity. To guard our view of ourselves is to be consciously aware of the moral root and value of our every motive and action. The perfection proper for a man to seek is to maintain existential consonance: to leave no contradiction unsolved, to always act in accordance with what is understood as moral and right. Integrity is moral perfection—one’s overall flow with what reality requires.
Integrity is not applicable in individual contexts, which one can exercise in one context and defy in the next; that is the realm of honesty. Integrity exists in the context of life in general; either we have it or we don’t. It is a living consonance, which transcends all issues. Having integrity is to have understood and integrated conscious life-serving premises in allof one’s experiences. It is an integration of our overall actions by one common theme, that being the furtherance and preservation of human life, primarily our own. To have integrity is to consistently choose by metaphysically honestmeans, existentially consonantends. In other words, it is to be aware of the moral implications of every action, and to act in their favor. It is the next step; a prelude to full volitional maturity and intransigence.
Just like happiness, integrity has its own set of necessary elements to be sound. It requires the identification of every facet of our existence which is under conscious control, as well as the continuous search for new ones, and the mastery of a life-serving pattern for each. We automatize these so they become routine, and then we are free to enhance them for the rest of our lives.