Quotes About Virtue

Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable.

With pride, there are many curses. With humility, there come many blessings.

Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking.

Above all, you must fight conceit, envy, and every kind of ill-feeling in your heart.

Virtues are acquired through endeavor, which rests wholly upon yourself.

The virtue of justice consists in moderation, as regulated by wisdom.

The aim of the wise is not to secure pleasure, but to avoid pain.

The good and the wise lead quiet lives.

We must not be wise and prudent according to the flesh. Rather, we must be simple, humble and pure.

He is good and wise who always speaks the truth, acts on the dictates of virtue, and tries to make others good and happy.

Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall, when the wise are banished from the public councils, because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded, because they flatter the people, in order to betray them.

He is a hard man who is only just, and a sad one who is only wise.

For this is the mark of a wise and upright man, not to rail against the gods in misfortune.

The highest point of philosophy is to be both wise and simple; this is the angelic life.

Teach a child what is wise, that is morality. Teach him what is wise and beautiful, that is religion!

He who is not just is severe, he who is not wise is sad.

Do not test out your mind on the grounds that you are examining what seductive and impure thoughts look like, imagining that, as you do this, you will not be overcome by them. Even the wise have in this way been thrown into confusion and become infatuated.

A hero is born among a hundred, a wise man is found among a thousand, but an accomplished one might not be found even among a hundred thousand men.

Who then is free? The wise man who can command himself.

Make the wise man within you your living ideal.

Being a good person begins with being a wise person. Then, when you follow your conscience, will you be headed in the right direction.

Character is the starting point from which we go on. When I say a man has character, I mean that when you go to that man and say, 'What are the facts in this case?' he will tell you the truth, justly, truly, and wisely as he knows, with the minimum of exhibitionism and the maximum of devotion to the common cause.

To do nothing evil is good; to wish nothing evil is better.

Try to keep your soul always in peace and quiet, always ready for whatever our Lord may wish to work in you. It is certainly a higher virtue of the soul, and a greater grace, to be able to enjoy the Lord in different times and different places than in only one.