Quotes About Virtue

Shakespeare's ambiguous lubricity in Venus is less disturbing than the bleakly moral emphasis of Lucrece , where virtue is so low-spirited, its exclamation so lachrymose and its justification the nasty realpolitik of Roman Republicanism. The sun has not dried the dew on the grass in Venus , but the ill-lit world of Livy's Rome darkens Lucrece . The first poem lives out of doors; the second is in a permanent chiaroscuro.

hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to virtue

Learn this moral: first establish your right to the good things of this world, grab the biggest share of prosperity possible less ten per cent for charity, then mouth pious nothings into a microphone in the comfort of your town or country house.

Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man's original virtue,' wrote Oscar Wilde in The Soul of Man Under Socialism.

Exactly what the powers of hell feed on: the best instincts in man.

He had very few dealings with the government. That was neither a virtue nor a vice; it was simply good luck.

There is evil in the best of us, of course; but perhaps just a little bit more in the worst of us.

The fate of Susan Pevensie indicates some sort of crazed, deranged Manichaeism. Here's a simple test: What is the greatest Christian virtue? Well, it's charity, isn't it? It's love. If somebody who knew nothing about Christian doctrine, and who had been told that Lewis was a great Christian teacher, read all the way through those books, would he get that message? No.

It's the oldest human problem, Lyra, an' it's the difference between good and evil. Evil can be unscrupulous, and good can't. Evil has nothing to stop it doing what it wants, while good has one hand tied behind its back. To do the things it needs to do to win, it'd have to become evil to do 'em.

And I came to believe that good and evil are names for what people do, not for what they are.

an' it's the difference between good and evil. Evil can be unscrupulous, and good can't. Evil has nothing to stop it doing what it wants, while good has one hand tied behind its back. To do the things it needs to do to win, it'd have to become evil to do 'em.

I stopped believing there was a power of good and a power of evil that were outside us. And I came to believe that good and evil are names for what people do, not for what they are. All we can say is that this is a good deed, because it helps someone, or that's an evil one, because it hurts them. People are too complicated to have simple labels.

La alabanza o la condena, la virtud o la culpa, han de aplicarse a nuestros actos, no a nuestra ascendencia ni a nuestra adscripción a este o aquel grupo.

Or when a good character does something bad? It's probably better to think about good or bad actions rather than good or bad characters. People are complicated.

Nothing has a more sinister effect on art than the artist's desire to prove that he's good. The terrible temptation of idealism! You must achieve mastery over your idealism, over your virtue as well as over your vice, aesthetic mastery over everything that drives you to write in the first place - your outrage, your politics, your grief, your love!

There it was: the tactless severity of vital male youth, not a single doubt about his coherence, blind with self-confidence and the virtue of knowing what matters most. The ruthless sense of necessity. The annihilating impulse in the face of an obstacle. Those grand grandstand days when you shrink from nothing and you're only right. Everything is a target; you're on the attack; and you, and you alone, are right.

Danger lies in the extreme. A man who is always cruel is evil, a man who is always compassionate will be taken advantage of. It is more a question of balance, or harmony, if you will.

Never violate a woman, nor harm a child. Do not lie, cheat, or steal. These things are for lesser men. Protect the weak against the evil strong. And never allow thoughts of gain to lead you into the pursuit of evil. That was the iron code of Druss the Legend.

Each of us here believes in the concept of honor: that it is man's duty to do that which is right and just, that might alone is not enough.

Jesus] not only kept Himself from engaging in evil, He also continually acted in ways that honored and glorified god. He not only continually avoided the negative, He always pursued the positive.

Trust in the LORD, and do good. PSALM 37:3

serious case of this syndrome, sympathizing and identifying with subversive characters while being mysteriously repelled by genuine virtue. Seen at public events with leftists radicals, LGBT groups, or proabortion outfits like Planned Parenthood, Obama's smile is broad and animated; he obviously feels comfortable and at home there. Yet he displays a palpable aversion to all that is emblematic of the success of Western Judeo-Christian civilization.

It was the most amazing feeling in the world. to know that something right happened, and to know that it had happened not through luck or command but simply because it was right.

Invoking the moral high ground somehow makes you lose it. Using a secret as a weapon makes you almost as bad as the transgressor.