Virtue Quotes

Most popular virtue quotes

It is easy to be virtuous in prospective. - Jean Antoine Petit-Senn quote.
It is easy to be virtuous in prospective.
Loud indignation against vice often stands for virtue with bigots. - Jean Antoine Petit-Senn quote.
Loud indignation against vice often stands for virtue with bigots.

bigotry

Our virtues live upon our incomes; our vices consume our capital. - Jean Antoine Petit-Senn quote.
Our virtues live upon our incomes; our vices consume our capital.

vice

Those virtues which cost us dear prove that we love God; those which are easy to us prove that He loves us. - Jean Antoine Petit-Senn quote.
Those virtues which cost us dear prove that we love God; those which are easy to us prove that He loves us.

God

Virtue is its own reward. - Ovid quote.
Virtue is its own reward.

proverbs

Virtue consists not in abstaining from vice, but in not desiring it. - George Bernard Shaw quote.
Virtue consists not in abstaining from vice, but in not desiring it.

vice & virtue

Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder. - George Washington quote.
Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.
There is no road or ready way to virtue. - Sir Thomas Browne quote.
There is no road or ready way to virtue.
Silver and gold are not the only coin; virtue too passes current all over the world. - Euripides quote.
Silver and gold are not the only coin; virtue too passes current all over the world.
In all circumstances, try to cultivate virtue. - Gautama Buddha quote.
In all circumstances, try to cultivate virtue.
Virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue comes money and every other good of a man, public as well as private. - Socrates quote.
Virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue comes money and every other good of a man, public as well as private.
All human virtues increase and strengthen themselves by the practice and experience of them. - Socrates quote.
All human virtues increase and strengthen themselves by the practice and experience of them.
The superior man thinks always of virtue; the common man thinks of comfort. - Confucius quote.
The superior man thinks always of virtue; the common man thinks of comfort.
Virtue has never been as respectable as money. - Mark Twain quote.
Virtue has never been as respectable as money.

cynical

It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues. - Abraham Lincoln quote.
It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.

vice human nature vice & virtue

He is ill clothed that is bare of virtue. - Benjamin Franklin quote.
He is ill clothed that is bare of virtue.
All of us are experts at practicing virtue at a distance. - Reverend Theodore M. Hesburgh quote.
All of us are experts at practicing virtue at a distance.
In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful. - C. S. Lewis quote.
In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.

morals empathy character

It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit. - Noel Coward quote.
It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.

honesty

No virtue can be great if it is not constant.
There is a limit at which forbearance ceases to be a virtue. - Edmund Burke quote.
There is a limit at which forbearance ceases to be a virtue.

tolerance action patience

Being virtuous is no feat once temptation ceases.
— Danish proverb

Danish proverbs temptation proverbs

Perhaps no phenomenon contains so much destructive feeling as "moral indignation," which permits envy or hate to be acted out under the guise of virtue. - Erich Fromm quote.
Perhaps no phenomenon contains so much destructive feeling as "moral indignation," which permits envy or hate to be acted out under the guise of virtue.

judging hate

There are certain small faults that offset great virtues. There are certain great faults that are forgotten in small virtues.

vice

Many an attack of depression is nothing but the expression of regret at having to be virtuous. - Wilhelm Stekel quote.
Many an attack of depression is nothing but the expression of regret at having to be virtuous.
Saintliness is also a temptation. - Jean Anouilh quote.
Saintliness is also a temptation.

paradoxical temptation

The act of defending any of the cardinal virtues has today all the exhilaration of a vice. - G. K. Chesterton quote.
The act of defending any of the cardinal virtues has today all the exhilaration of a vice.
I refuse to make a hierarchy of human actions and ascribe worthiness to some and ill-repute to others. The terms vice and virtue have no significance for me. I do not confer praise or blame: I accept. - W. Somerset Maugham quote.
I refuse to make a hierarchy of human actions and ascribe worthiness to some and ill-repute to others. The terms vice and virtue have no significance for me. I do not confer praise or blame: I accept.

vice

Philanthropy is almost the only virtue which is sufficiently appreciated by mankind. - Henry David Thoreau quote.
Philanthropy is almost the only virtue which is sufficiently appreciated by mankind.

charity

Moderation is the silken string running through the pearl chain of all virtues.

moderation

Virtue, like a dowerless beauty, has more admirers than followers. - Lady Blessington quote.
Virtue, like a dowerless beauty, has more admirers than followers.
Good people are good because they've come to wisdom through failure.

Goodness wisdom failure

There are those who would misteach us that to stick in a rut is consistency — and a virtue, and that to climb out of the rut is inconsistency — and a vice. - Mark Twain quote.
There are those who would misteach us that to stick in a rut is consistency — and a virtue, and that to climb out of the rut is inconsistency — and a vice.
Woman's virtue is man's greatest invention. - Cornelia Otis Skinner quote.
Woman's virtue is man's greatest invention.
It used to be a good hotel, but that proves nothing – I used to be a good boy. - Mark Twain quote.
It used to be a good hotel, but that proves nothing – I used to be a good boy.
He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
— John 8:7

biblical

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
— James 4:7

biblical

Only the young die good.
The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one. - Ralph Waldo Emerson quote.
The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one.

friendship

The more virtuous any man is, the less easily does he suspect others to be vicious. - Cicero quote.
The more virtuous any man is, the less easily does he suspect others to be vicious.

gossip

To abstain from sin when one can no longer sin is to be forsaken by sin, not to forsake it. - Augustine of Hippo quote.
To abstain from sin when one can no longer sin is to be forsaken by sin, not to forsake it.
A bit
of virtue
will never
hurt you.
Rarely do great beauty and great virtue dwell together. - Petrarch quote.
Rarely do great beauty and great virtue dwell together.

beauty

All sober inquirers after truth, ancient and modern, pagan and Christian, have declared that the happiness of man, as well as his dignity, consists in virtue. - John Adams quote.
All sober inquirers after truth, ancient and modern, pagan and Christian, have declared that the happiness of man, as well as his dignity, consists in virtue.

dignity happiness

Elegance is inferior to virtue. - Mary Wollstonecraft quote.
Elegance is inferior to virtue.

elegance

The essence of greatness is the perception that virtue is enough. - Ralph Waldo Emerson quote.
The essence of greatness is the perception that virtue is enough.

greatness

A man must be excessively stupid, as well as uncharitable, who believes there is no virtue but on his own side, and that there are not men as honest as himself who may differ from him in political principles. - Joseph Addison quote.
A man must be excessively stupid, as well as uncharitable, who believes there is no virtue but on his own side, and that there are not men as honest as himself who may differ from him in political principles.

politics stupidity

If prosperity is regarded as the reward of virtue it will be regarded as the symptom of virtue. - G. K. Chesterton quote.
If prosperity is regarded as the reward of virtue it will be regarded as the symptom of virtue.

prosperity

Most virtue is a demand for greater seduction. - Natalie Clifford Barney quote.
Most virtue is a demand for greater seduction.
Whilst shame keeps its watch, virtue is not wholly extinguished in the heart. - Edmund Burke quote.
Whilst shame keeps its watch, virtue is not wholly extinguished in the heart.
The rouge of sin is often applied with virtue as a mirror.

sin

There can be no virtue without temptation; for virtue is victory over temptation. - Lyman Abbott quote.
There can be no virtue without temptation; for virtue is victory over temptation.

temptation

There isn't any virtue where there has never been any temptation.  Virtue is just temptation, overcome. - Margaret Deland quote.
There isn't any virtue where there has never been any temptation.  Virtue is just temptation, overcome.

temptation

Virtue would not go nearly so far if vanity did not keep her company. - François de La Rochefoucauld quote.
Virtue would not go nearly so far if vanity did not keep her company.

vanity

Virtue is a mean state between two vices, the one of excess and the other of deficiency. - Aristotle quote.
Virtue is a mean state between two vices, the one of excess and the other of deficiency.
Moral virtue is the child of habit. - Aristotle quote.
Moral virtue is the child of habit.
Virtue is like precious odors, most fragrant when they are incensed or crushed. - Francis Bacon quote.
Virtue is like precious odors, most fragrant when they are incensed or crushed.
Virtue is like a rich stone, best plain set. - Francis Bacon quote.
Virtue is like a rich stone, best plain set.
Virtue is, perhaps, no more than a kind of politeness of the soul. - Honoré de Balzac quote.
Virtue is, perhaps, no more than a kind of politeness of the soul.
We should make virtue our master, not our servant. - Josh Billings quote.
We should make virtue our master, not our servant.
Virtue knows that it is impossible to get on without compromise, and tunes herself, as it were, a trifle sharp to allow for an inevitable fall in playing. - Samuel Butler quote.
Virtue knows that it is impossible to get on without compromise, and tunes herself, as it were, a trifle sharp to allow for an inevitable fall in playing.
Virtue has always been conceived of as victorious resistance to one's vital desire. - James Branch Cabell quote.
Virtue has always been conceived of as victorious resistance to one's vital desire.
Virtue is the music of the soul, the harmony of the passions.
Virtue is not left to stand alone.  He who practices it shall have neighbors. - Confucius quote.
Virtue is not left to stand alone.  He who practices it shall have neighbors.
Virtue, thriving most where little seen. - William Cowper quote.
Virtue, thriving most where little seen.
We can acquire some virtues by feigning them for a long time. - Marie von Eschenbach quote.
We can acquire some virtues by feigning them for a long time.
Virtue's paths are first rugged, then pleasant. - Thomas Fuller quote.
Virtue's paths are first rugged, then pleasant.

proverbs

Virtue, sir, consists in actions, and not in words.
The virtue which requires to be ever guarded is scarce worth the sentinel. - Oliver Goldsmith quote.
The virtue which requires to be ever guarded is scarce worth the sentinel.
The greatest offense against virtue is to speak ill of it. - William Hazlitt quote.
The greatest offense against virtue is to speak ill of it.
It is of the essence of virtue that the good is not to be done for the sake of a reward. - Abraham Joshua Heschel quote.
It is of the essence of virtue that the good is not to be done for the sake of a reward.
Whether the succeeding generation is to be more virtuous than their predecessors, I cannot say; but I am sure they will have more worldly wisdom, and enough, I hope, to know that honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom. - Thomas Jefferson quote.
Whether the succeeding generation is to be more virtuous than their predecessors, I cannot say; but I am sure they will have more worldly wisdom, and enough, I hope, to know that honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.

wisdom

Men's evil manners live in brass; their virtues
We write in water. - William Shakespeare quote.
Men's evil manners live in brass; their virtues
We write in water.
Virtue must shape itself in deed. - Alfred, Lord Tennyson quote.
Virtue must shape itself in deed.
The weakest of all weak things is a virtue that has not been tested in the fire. - Mark Twain quote.
The weakest of all weak things is a virtue that has not been tested in the fire.
Virtue is the roughest way,
But proves at night a bed of down.
The classical virtues are all decision-making heuristics to make one optimize for the long term rather than for the short term. - Naval Ravikant quote.
The classical virtues are all decision-making heuristics to make one optimize for the long term rather than for the short term.
Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue. - Gautama Buddha quote.
Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue.

wisdom

The virtues, like the Muses, are always seen in groups. A good principle was never found solitary in any breast. - Gautama Buddha quote.
The virtues, like the Muses, are always seen in groups. A good principle was never found solitary in any breast.
Virtue is persecuted more by the wicked than it is loved by the good. - Gautama Buddha quote.
Virtue is persecuted more by the wicked than it is loved by the good.
We cannot attribute to fortune or virtue that which is achieved without either. - Niccolò Machiavelli quote.
We cannot attribute to fortune or virtue that which is achieved without either.

fortune

Glory follows virtue as if it were its shadow. - Cicero quote.
Glory follows virtue as if it were its shadow.

glory

He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it. - Confucius quote.
He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it.

leadership

To be able under all circumstances to practice five things constitutes perfect virtue; these five things are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness.
Virtue is never left to stand alone. He who has it will have neighbours. - Confucius quote.
Virtue is never left to stand alone. He who has it will have neighbours.
The person who talks most of his own virtue is often the least virtuous. - Jawaharlal Nehru quote.
The person who talks most of his own virtue is often the least virtuous.
I am not virtuous. Our sons will be if we shed enough blood to give them the right to be. - Jean-Paul Sartre quote.
I am not virtuous. Our sons will be if we shed enough blood to give them the right to be.
There are no national virtues. We are alone, each one of us. If we are good, we are good ourselves. If we are bad, the virtues of others will not make us better. We cannot borrow morals. They are ours or they do not exist for us.

nationalism

It takes a lot of skills to be virtuous without being boring. - Nassim Nicholas Taleb quote.
It takes a lot of skills to be virtuous without being boring.

boring people

The weak may be virtuous but you may never know.