Literature and history are replete with allegories that speak to virtue "not as something to be possessed, but as the central part of human nature- not as something to have but as something to be" [1]. To Aristotle, virtue in man is the activity of reason and rationally ordered habits. Yet when one examines the fundamental traits of human character - honesty, compassion, courage and perseverance - reality is not be found. Yet if global strategies for the management of transfusion-related risks are to be fostered, reality - what is real or existent or underlies appearances - must be taken fully into accountThat reality is not unchangeable must be recognised. Merely note the transformation in blood transfusion practices in the course of the twentieth century in Europe where multi-component use of a single blood donation, in its closing days, stands in stark contrast to the uninterrupted connection of a donor's artery to the patient's vein in its early years.
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