Quotes About Virtue

Men utter a vast amount of slander against their physical nature, and attempt to repair deficient virtue by maiming their animal passions. These are to be trained, guided, restrained, but never crucified or exterminated, for they are the soil in which we were planted.

Our moral faculties must be placed highest, else they can no more flourish than could a plant growing under the shade and drip of trees.

No man rides so high and in such good company as the man that allies himself to a truth.

Christians should be like a flower store: the odor of sanctity should betray them wherever they are.

I would not make the world wise at the expense of a virtue.

The Barbarian hopes -- and that is the very mark of him -- that he can have his cake and eat it too. He will consume what civilisation has slowly produced after generations of selection and effort but he will not be at pains to replace such goods nor indeed has he a comprehension of the virtue that has brought them into being.

Speak ill of no man, but speak all the good you know of everybody.

I will speak ill of no man, and speak all the good i know of everyone

Immorality may be fun, but it isn't fun enough to take the place of one hundred percent virtue and three square meals a day.

Underneath this stone doth lieAs much beauty as could die;Which in life did harbor giveTo more virtue than doth live.

Whilst that for which all virtue now is sold,And almost every vice—almighty gold.

Be not ashamed of thy virtues honor's a good brooch to wear in a man's hat at all times.

Good men are the stars, the planets of the ages wherein they live, and illustrate the times

admired goodness, but was not outraged by wickedness

Ashenden admired goodness, but was not outraged by wickedness," wrote Maugham.

The best countries—and the best societies—are those where citizens are virtuous enough to sacrifice for the common good but unwilling to be forced to sacrifice for the "greater" good. Flourishing societies require a functional social fabric, created by citizens working together—and yes, separately—toward a meaningful life.

What does this mean for human beings? What makes a man virtuous is his capacity to engage in the activities that make him a man, not an animal—man has a telos, too. What is our telos? Our end, according to both Plato and Aristotle, is to reason, judge, and deliberate.

To Aristotle, "good" wasn't a subjective term, something for each of us to define for ourselves; "good" was a statement of objective fact. Something was "good" if it fulfilled its purpose. A good watch tells time; a good dog defends its master. What does a good human being do? Acts in accordance with right reason.

Like the Bible, Aristotle didn't define happiness as temporary joy. He saw happiness in a life well-lived.

Authoritarians rarely recognize their own authoritarianism. To them, authoritarianism looks like simple virtue.

The best countries—and the best societies—are those where citizens are virtuous enough to sacrifice for the common good but unwilling to be forced to sacrifice for the "greater" good.

How could they reach such a conclusion? Their reasoning was simple and profound. They posited that virtually every object in creation is directed toward an end—a telos, in Greek. The value of an object lies in its capacity to achieve the purpose for which it was designed. Facts and values aren't separate things—values are embedded within facts. For example, a watch is virtuous if it tells time properly; a horse is virtuous if it properly pulls a cart.

law, rooted in reason and enshrined by religion; individual natural rights, balanced by corresponding duties; a limited government of checks and balances designed to protect those rights in accordance with natural law; and inculcation of virtue, to be pursued by individuals and communities, again in accordance with the dictates of natural law.

The modern mind rebels at this notion—the notion of something's virtue tied to its inherent purpose. Nature, we believe, is blind and valueless—we don't blame a snake for biting or a baby for crying. But that's not what the ancients meant by virtue. They didn't mean our modern moral sense of "virtue"—being a nice person, or something similarly vague. They meant fulfilling the telos for which you were created.