All 3 Uses of
righteous
in
The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran
- The righteous is not innocent of the deeds of the wicked,
*righteous = someone behaving in a morally correct manner
- And if any of you would punish in the name of righteousness and lay the axe unto the evil tree, let him see to its roots; And verily he will find the roots of the good and the bad, the fruitful and the fruitless, all entwined together in the silent heart of the earth.†
righteousness = morally correct behavior
- But I say that even as the holy and the righteous cannot rise beyond the highest which is in each one of you, So the wicked and the weak cannot fall lower than the lowest which is in you also.†
Definitions:
-
(1)
(righteous as in: a righteous cause) morally correct; or morally justified
or:
acting or feeling morally superior -- especially when it isn't true (this meaning is more typically seen as a compound word beginning with "self-") -
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) Less commonly, righteous is used as a synonym for wonderful.