Learn Valuable Lessons From
These Ethical Will Examples

Your Ethical Will informs you extensively about the ethical will gives numerous historical and contemporary ethical will examples. As an added bonus, here are a few more. See what you can learn from each of these short ethical letters. Perhaps your situation is similar to what one of the authors here shares in his or her ethical essay.

"To my family,
I want to share with you a part of my life that I have considered highly important. You might have wondered why, every morning without fail, I spent fifteen minutes in my study, reading a book - any book that interests me - even though I might have a busy and stressful day ahead. I have done this for years, in large part to remind me that there are beautiful, eternal things in life that go beyond a single day's work - things like wisdom, truth, and the universal human condition. No matter what I had to do on a given day, I would take the time to acknowledge the big picture, the universal aspects of the human experience."

"Afterward, I could put my work in its proper perspective and recognize that the world would not collapse, even if I did not do as well I would have liked. This habit helped me, and it might help some of you as well. Read and reflect; all other matters in your life will improve as a result.
Your husband and father,
George."

George's letter addressed the ethical issues behind an everyday habit - aspects of a person's actions that are seldom talked about on a regular basis. But as a result of his openness, his family understands him better now; his wife and children know that his early-morning reading is not a mere idiosyncracy, but rather a crucially important aspect of his worldview.

Let's take a look at another of our spiritual ethical will examples:

"Take a look at that old record of Mozart, and think about what you see. It is a cumbersome old thing, you might think, and one can rarely find anything that will play it these days. You might see it as a curiosity from a bygone era, and that's all. Here is what I see. I see a time when this was the height of technology, when it was the envy of every youngster to be able to bring an orchestra into his or her own room. I see the tremendous devotion my father showed when he bought this record for me, despite having to spend a substantial chunk of his week's pay on it. I see the joy that radiated from my heart when I first heard the wonderful melodies on this record. It is a joy to share these thoughts with you, for it is an integral part of my spiritual legacy.
Lovingly,
Anne"

If your ethical will intends to communicate the personal significance of certain material objects to you, then you and Anne are facing the same task: how to write an ethical will that offers your loved ones an idea of exactly how much you value that special possession. If you can communicate the object's embodiment of cherished past experienced and deep-seated moral values, then the people who will inherit that object will not only treat it with far more care than they would otherwise. They will also see it for the treasure it rightly is.

We hope these ethical will examples gave you some food for thought and have assisted your endeavors to prepare an ethical will.