Quotes About Virtue

Remember, my sisters, that if we are not good we are much more to blame than others.

for the devil never slumbers. And the nearer we are to perfection, the more careful we must be, since his temptations are then much more cunning because there are no others that he dare send us;

cómo podrá el verdadero humilde pensar que es él tan bueno como los que llegan a ser contemplativos?

the soul of the righteous man is nothing but a paradise, in which, as God tells us, He takes His delight.

For the devil does not allow a single bad habit to disappear and the very weakness of our mortal nature destroys the virtues in us.

never seem unable to find a reason for thinking I am being virtuous when I make excuses for myself.

All that evil requires is an absence of virtue, where somebody didn't make a stand.

If you wish to glimpse inside a human soul and get to know a man, don't bother analyzing his ways of being silent, of talking, of weeping, or seeing how much he is moved by noble ideas; you'll get better results if you just watch him laugh. If he laughs well, he's a good man. —FYODOR DOSTOYEVSKY

Nothing marks a man's character better than his attraction to intelligence.

There is no such thing as pure good or pure evil, least of all in people. In the best of us there are thoughts or deeds that are wicked, and in the worst of us, at least some virtue. An adversary is not one who does loathsome acts for their own sake. He always has a reason that to him is justification. My cat eats mice. Does that make him bad? I don't think so, and the cat doesn't think so, but I would bet the mice have a different opinion.

Truth does not blush.

By humiliation alone can Saints be made.

If my little acts of virtue can be mistaken for imperfections, imperfections can just as easily be mistaken for virtue.

No obstante, sigo teniendo la misma confianza audaz de llegar a ser una gran santa, pues no me apoyo en mis méritos -que no tengo ninguno-, sino en Aquel que es la Virtud y la Santidad mismas. Sólo él, contentándose con mis débiles esfuerzos, me elevará hasta él y, cubriéndome con sus méritos infinitos, me hará santa.

La caridad perfecta consiste en soportar los defectos de los otros, en no asombrarse por sus flaquezas, en edificarse con los más pequeños actos de virtud que se les vea practicar, pero, sobre todo, he comprendido que la caridad no debe permanecer encerrada en el fondo del corazón: «No se enciende una lámpara para meterla debajo de un cajón, sino que se la pone sobre el candelero para que ilumine a TODOS los que están en la casa».

Several passages of Scripture outline for us the kind of growth healthy church members should hope to see in themselves and others. For example, Galatians 5:22–25 lists for us the fruit of the Spirit, evidences of Spirit-wrought virtue and character that typify those who live not according to their own power and sinful nature but by the Spirit. We are to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Pet. 3:18).

The non-doing of any evil, the performance of what's skillful, the cleansing of one's own mind: This is the Buddhas' teaching. Not disparaging, not injuring, restraint in line with the Patimokkha, moderation in food, dwelling in seclusion, commitment to the heightened mind: This is the Buddhas' teaching. Dhp 183, 185

Let a good man do good deeds with the same zeal that the evil man does bad ones.

A man is not called wise because he talks and talks again; but if he is peaceful, loving and fearless then he is in truth called wise

All that we are is made up of our thoughts; it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speak or act with a pure thought, happiness will follow him, like a shadow that never leaves him.

Like a beautiful flower, full of colour but without scent, are the fine but fruitless words of him who does not act accordingly.

Speak the truth, do not yield to anger give, if thou art asked for little by these three steps thou wilt go near the gods.

There never was, there never will be, a man who is always praised, or a man who is always blamed.

A man eminent in learning has not even a little virtue if he fears to practise it. What precious things can be shown to a blind man when he holds a lamp in his hand?