What are the core tenets of Freemasonry?

Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth form the primary tenets of the profession, accompanied by the cardinal virtues of Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence, and Justice 1. Through Brotherly Love, members are taught to regard the human species as one family created by an Almighty Parent, while Relief establishes the duty to alleviate distress and restore peace to the troubled mind, and Truth serves as the foundation of virtue and sincerity 1. Regarding Temperance, Masonic law requires moderation in all things rather than total abstinence, leaving personal indulgence to individual conscience within reasonable limits 3. Fortitude teaches resistance to temptation, Prudence guides reason in human conduct, and Justice maintains civil equity and right 1.

Beyond these moral principles, the lodge is symbolically supported by three pillars representing Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty 23. William Hemming's 1813 lectures for the Grand Lodge of England define these as Wisdom to direct undertakings, Strength to support difficulties, and Beauty to adorn the inward man 3. In the Scottish Rite, Albert Pike expands these supports into divine attributes, viewing them as Infinite Divine Intelligence, Infinite Divine Will, and Infinite Divine Harmony 4.

While these moral lessons and virtues are regularly taught, Wilmshurst argues that reducing Freemasonry merely to elementary principles like brotherly love, relief, truth, temperance, and justice mistakes its true scope, holding that the Craft's higher purpose is to guide candidates toward the deeper spiritual truths taught in the ancient Mysteries 5.