Quotes About Virtue

good individuals cannot exist without good education, and good education cannot exist without good laws

Nothing consumes itself so much as generosity, because while you practise it you're losing the wherewithal to go on practising it.

For since a Prince by birth has fewer occasions and less need to give offence, he ought to be better loved, and will naturally be popular with his subjects unless outrageous vices make him odious.

Such men depend solely upon two very uncertain and unstable things: the will and the Fortune of him who granted them the state. But they do not know how, and are unable, to maintain their position. They do not know how to hold their state, since if men are not of great intelligence and virtue, it is not reasonable that they should know how to command, having always lived as private citizens.

A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man. His good example has such an influence that the good men strive to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life so contrary to his example.

exactly to those paths which others have taken, or attain to the virtues of those whom they would resemble, the wise man should always follow the roads that have been trodden by the great, and imitate those who have most excelled, so that if he cannot reach their perfection, he may at least acquire something of its savour.

E fu di tanta virtù, etiam in privata fortuna, che chi ne scrive, dice: quod nihil illi deerat ad regnandum praeter regnum.

a veces, lo que parece virtud es causa de ruina, y lo que parece vicio solo acaba por traer el bienestar y la seguridad.

And although it appears that the World has become effeminate and Heaven disarmed, yet this arises without doubt more from the baseness of men who have interpreted our Religion in accordance with Indolence and not in accordance with Virtu. For if they were to consider that it (our Religion) permits the exaltation and defense of the country, they would see that it desires that we love and honor her (our country), and that we prepare ourselves so that we can be able to defend her.

Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.

And again, he need not make himself uneasy at incurring a reproach for those vices without which the state can only be saved with difficulty, for if everything is considered carefully, it will be found that something which looks like virtue, if followed, would be his ruin; whilst something else, which looks like vice, yet followed brings him security and prosperity.

Un hombre prudente debe discurrir siempre por las vías trazadas por los grandes hombres e imitar a aquellos que han sobresalido extraordinariamente por encima de los demás, con el fin de que, aunque no se alcance su virtud, algo nos quede, sin embargo, de su aroma.

Los hombres rara vez tienen el valor suficiente para ser o extremadamente buenos o extremadamente malos.

for a man who wishes to act entirely up to his professions of virtue soon meets with what destroys him among so much that is evil

Ka mjaft virtyte që të çojnë drejtë greminës dhe vese që të sjellin mirëqënie dhe siguri.

Bien sûr, on ne peut nommer valeur le fait de tuer les citoyens de sa patrie, de trahir ses amis, d'être parjure, impitoyable et impie ; ces manières de faire peuvent donner du pouvoir, mais non de la gloire.

Quelli li quali per vie virtuose, simili a costoro, diventono principi, acquistono el principato con difficultà, ma con facilità lo tengano;

porque nunca hay que dejarse caer creyendo que vas a encontrar a alguien que te recoja. Esto o no sucede o, si sucede, pierdes tu seguridad, porque ese tipo de defensa es vil y no depende de ti. Sólo son buenas, seguras y duraderas las defensas que dependen de ti mismo y de tu virtud.

Ma, per venire a quelli che per propria virtù e non per fortuna sono diventati principi, dico che li più eccellenti sono Moisè, Ciro, Romulo, Teseo e simili.

Çünkü insanlar, eÄŸer iyi olmalar?n? gerektiren bir zorunluluk yoksa, kötü insanlar olarak kar??m?za ç?kar.

It cannot be called virtue to kill one's fellow citizens, to betray one's friends, to be without loyalty, without mercy, without religion; by such methods one can acquire power, but not glory.

Para la tradición moralista un buen príncipe desde el punto de vista político debía cumplir con cuatro virtudes centrales para todo hombre (prudencia, fortaleza, justicia y moderación) más una serie de virtudes específicamente principescas (como honestidad, magnanimidad o liberalidad). Se recomendaba además que la práctica política nunca entrara en conflicto con los principios morales.

Liberality exercised in a way that does not bring you the reputation for it, injures you; for if one exercises it honestly and as it should be exercised, it may not become known, and you will not avoid the reproach of its opposite.

merciful, faithful, humane, religious, upright