“Virtue is a state of war, and to live in it we have always to combat with ourselves.”
“We may eventually come to realize that chastity is no more a virtue than malnutrition.”
“It is of no consequence of what parents a man is born, as long as he be a man of merit.”
“Wisdom is knowing what to do next, skill is knowing how to do it, and virtue is doing it.”
“Virtue rejects facility to be her companion. She requires a craggy, rough and thorny way.”
“That virtue we appreciate is as much ours as another s. We see so much only as we possess.”
“Virtue is its own reward. There's a pleasure in doing good which sufficiently pays itself.”
“The highest virtue found in the tropics is chastity, and in the colder regions, temperance.”
“People who are in a fortunate position always attribute virtue to what makes them so happy.”
“To be innocent is to be not guilty; but to be virtuous is to overcome our evil inclinations.”
“From Obedience and submission comes all our virtues, and all sin is comes from self-opinion.”
“Of all the benefits which virtue confers on us, the contempt of death is one of the greatest.”
“If we've learned anything in the past quarter century, it is that we cannot federalize virtue.”
“Better keep yourself clean and bright. You are the window through which you must see the world.”
“The wise man applauds he who he thinks most virtuous; the rest of the world applauds the wealthy.”
“A virtue to be serviceable must, like gold, be alloyed with some commoner, but more durable alloy.”
“The most virtuous are those who content themselves with being virtuous without seeking to appear so.”
“To realize that you do not understand is a virtue; Not to realize that you do not understand is a defect.”
“Virtue is more to be feared than vice, because its excesses are not subject to the regulation of conscience.”
“It is as hard to satirize well a man of distinguished vices, as to praise well a man of distinguished virtues.”
“Virtue is simply happiness, and happiness is a by-product of function. You are happy when you are functioning.”
“We do not place especial value on the possession of a virtue until we notice its total absence in our opponent.”
“The glory that goes with wealth and beauty is fleeting and fragile; virtue is a possession glorious and eternal.”
“Unless the reformer can invent something which substitutes attractive virtues for attractive vices, he will fail.”
“For what is done or learned by one class of women becomes, by virtue of their common womanhood, the property of all women.”
“To a superior race of beings the pretensions of mankind to extraordinary sanctity and virtue must seem equally ridiculous.”
“The first time you see Winston Churchill you see all his faults and the rest of your life you spend discovering his virtues.”
“The fact is that a man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous.”
“Man seems to be capable of great virtues but not of small virtues; capable of defying his torturer but not of keeping his temper.”
“Pleasure which must be enjoyed at the expense of another's pain, can never be enjoyed by a worthy mind. Pleasure's couch is virtues grave.”