Valour Without Renown

“A time may come soon when none will return. Then there will be need of valour without renown, for none shall remember the deeds that are done in the last defence of your homes. Yet the deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised."
- J.R.R. Tolkien

I love this quote from The Lord of the Rings because it provides a much needed perspective on integrity.

Integrity is essentially doing the right thing, even when no one is looking.

And in a world where everyone has access to everyone else and social media allows for overnight virality, we see the growing desire for acknowledgement, renown, and praise.

People seek the praise, regardless of how they get it.

I’m sure you’ve seen some of the thousands of videos of content creators exploiting struggling people for the sake of their own success.

“Good" people doing “nice” things for homeless men and women on the street and filming it to show the world the good deeds they’re doing.

Giving away loads of cash, being extremely kind and caring, going above and beyond for them, etc.

It almost feels heartwarming but… doesn’t.

Because the driving force behind the videos is the praise and acknowledgement that comes from having millions of people see the good deed they’re doing and tell them how amazing they are.

And if there wasn’t a camera to show the world what they were doing, they wouldn’t do it.

But where I think this quote hits the hardest is in our own daily lives.

In every choice we’re faced with and every decision we make.

The things we do that no one else sees.

When there’s no one to applaud if we make the right choice and no one to call us out if we make the wrong one.

We face these choices everyday.

Nobody would know if you spent your Saturday in bed until 3pm scrolling TikTok before DoorDashing McDonalds… or if you got up and went for a walk, cooked a healthy meal and got stuff done.

But just because no one knows your choice doesn’t make the decision any less important.

I could cut corners at work and probably never get caught.

But that doesn’t mean I got away with it… because even if no one finds out, I’ve already sacrificed my integrity and become the victim of my own actions.

I get it… it feels good to be acknowledged and praised.

And if there’s no one there to see you make the hard right choice, it can seem like it’s not worth the difficulty of doing at all.

But if we want to be men and women of integrity, our actions should remain constant, whether there are eyes on us or not.

So next time you’re faced with a decision and there’s no one there to witness the glory or downfall of your choice, know that your deeds are no less valiant because they’re unpraised.

Thanks for reading.