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Virtue Proverbs

What is virtue? It is to hold yourself to your fullest development as a person and as a responsible member of the human community. ~ Arthur Dobrin

The superior man thinks always of virtue; the common man thinks of comfort. ~ Confucius

It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues. ~ Abraham Lincoln Quotes

All of us are experts at practicing virtue at a distance. ~ Theodore M. Hesburgh

Virtue is like precious odors, most fragrant when they are incensed or crushed. ~ Francis Bacon

People praise virtue, but they hate it, they run away from it. It freezes you to death, and in this world you’ve got to keep your feet warm. ~ Denis Diderot

I have never seen a man as fond of virtue as of women. ~ Confucius

Virtue would not go to such lengths if vanity did not keep her company. ~ François de la Rochefoucauld

Virtue has never been as respectable as money. ~ Mark Twain

Be generous, good and just, when anything is to be gained by virtue. ~ Billy Boy Franklin

Some, by admiring other men’s virtues, become enemies to their own vices. ~ Bias of Priene

Most virtue is a demand for greater seduction. ~ Natalie Clifford Barney

When you can’t have anything else, you can have virtue. ~ Don Marquis

He who governs by way of virtue can be compared to the North Pole Star, which keeps its place while all the other stars position themselves around it. ~ Confucius

Few people have the virtue to withstand the highest bidder. ~ George Washington

Virtues are dangerous as vices insofar as they are allowed to rule over one as authorities and not as qualities one develops oneself. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

The person who talks most of his own virtue is often the least virtuous. ~ Jawaharlal Nehru

Often devotion to virtue arises from sated desire. ~ Laurence Hope Nicolson

The only reward of virtue is virtue. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sweet are the slumbers of the virtuous man! ~ Joseph Addison

Virtue is praised, but hated. People run from it, for it is ice-cold and in this world you have to keep your feet warm. ~ Denis Diderot

We should not judge a man’s virtue by his great abilities, but by the use he makes of them. ~ Francois De La Rochefoucauld

He that has energy enough to root out a vice should go further, and try to plant a virtue in its place. ~ Charles Caleb Colton

Virtues, like essences, lose their fragrance when exposed. ~ William Shenstone

Wisdom is knowing what to do next, skill is knowing how to do it, and virtue is doing it. ~ David Starr Jordan

Virtue is its own revenge. ~ E.Y. Harburn

Virtue is more clearly shown in the performance of fine actions than in the nonperformance of base ones. ~ Aristotle

God will certainly reward virtue and punish vice, either here or hereafter. ~ Benjamin Franklin Quotes

Virtue has its own reward, but no sales at the box office. ~ Mae West

Virtue consists, not in abstaining from vice, but in not desiring it. ~ George Bernard Shaw

Virtue is reason which has become energy. ~ Friedrich Schlegel

Virtue is like health: the harmony of the whole man. ~ Thomas Carlyle

Virtue can only flourish among equals. ~ Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Virtue cannot separate itself from reality without becoming a principle of evil. ~ Albert Camus

If one is not virtuous he becomes vicious. ~ John Christian Bovee

Virtue by premeditation isn’t worth much. ~ Georg C. Lichtenberg

Nothing in our times has become so unattractive as virtue. ~ Edward Dahlberg

The most virtuous are those who content themselves with being virtuous without seeking to appear so. ~ Plato

Virtue must be valuable, if men and women of all degrees pretend to have it. ~ Edgar Watson Howe

Virtue is more to be feared than vice, because its excesses are not subject to the regulation of conscience. ~ Adam Smith

There are some persons on whom virtue sits almost as ungraciously as vice. ~ Dominique Bouhours

Virtue is simply happiness, and happiness is a by-product of function. You are happy when you are functioning. ~ William S. Burroughs

Virtue is the strongest shield. ~ Motto

Assume a virtue if you have it not. ~ William Shakespeare

Some virtues are only seen in affliction and others only in prosperity. ~ Joseph Addison Quotes

Even virtue is fairer when it appears in a beautiful person. ~ Virgil

Virtue alone is the unerring sign of a noble soul. ~ Nicolas Boileau

We need greater virtues to sustain good fortune than bad. ~ Francois De La Rochefoucauld

People who are in a fortunate position always attribute virtue to what makes them so happy. ~ John Kenneth Galbraith

Virtue is the only true nobility. ~ Thomas Fuller

Virtue is a state of war, and to live in it we have always to combat with ourselves. ~ Jean Jacques Rousseau

Virtue is like a rich stone, best plain set. ~ Francis Bacon

Virtue is harmony. ~ Pythagoras

That virtue we appreciate is as much ours as another’s. We see so much only as we possess. ~ Henry David Thoreau

There are nine hundred and ninety-nine patrons of virtue to one virtuous man. ~ Henry David Thoreau

From Obedience and submission comes all our virtues, and all sin is come from self-opinion. ~ Michel Eyquem De Montaigne

Virtue is more to a man than either water or fire. ~ Confucius Quotes

Our virtues are usually just disguised vices. ~ Francois De La Rochefoucauld

Any of us can achieve virtue, if by virtue we merely mean the avoidance of the vices that do not attract us. ~ Robert S. Lynd

Recommend to your children virtue; that alone can make happy, not gold. ~ Ludwig van Beethoven

Virtue, the strength and beauty of the soul, is the best gift of Heaven: a happiness that even above the smiles and frowns of fate. ~ John Armstrong

Virtue is insufficient temptation. ~ George Bernard Shaw

Blushing is the color of virtue. ~ Diogenes

Men’s evil manners live in brass, their virtues we write in water. ~ William Shakespeare Quotes

It is as hard to satirize well a man of distinguished vices, as to praise well a man of distinguished virtues. ~ Jonathan Swift

Virtue is not a thing you can have by halves; it is or it is not. ~ Honore de Balzac

The virtuous control themselves. ~ Buddha Quotes

The virtue in most request is conformity. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Virtue is too often merely local. ~ Samuel Johnson

The world rewards the appearance of virtue more often than it reward the virtue itself. ~ Francois De La Rochefoucauld

The greatest virtues are those which are most useful to other persons. ~ Aristotle

If you can be well without health, you may be happy without virtue. ~ Edmund Burke

Virtue is an angel, but she is a blind one, and must ask Knowledge to show her the pathway that leads to her goal. ~ Horace Mann

As you do not sweeten your mouth by saying honey, so you do not grow virtuous by merely talking of virtue. ~ Ivan Panin

How sternly we reproach virtue for its failings, how indulgent we are to the better qualities of vice! ~ Honore de Balzac

When men grow virtuous in their old age, they only make a sacrifice to God of the devil’s leavings. ~ Alexander Pope

What is virtue but the Trade Unionism of the married? ~ George Bernard Shaw Quotes

To be innocent is to be not guilty; but to be virtuous is to overcome our evil inclinations. ~ William Penn

The glory that goes with wealth and beauty is fleeting and fragile; virtue is a possession glorious and eternal. ~ Sallust

We try to make a virtue of the vices that we are unwilling to correct. ~ Francois De La Rochefoucauld

In Hollywood a girl’s virtue is much less important than her hairdo. ~ Marilyn Monroe

Virtuous and vicious everyone must be; few in extremes, but all in degree. ~ Alexander Pope

Be virtuous and you will be eccentric. ~ Mark Twain Quotes

If you have performed an act of great and disinterested virtue, conceal it; if you publish it, you will neither be believed here, nor rewarded hereafter. ~ Charles Caleb Colton

Virtue, like a dowerless beauty, has more admirers than followers. ~ Marguerite Gardiner

There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men. ~ Henry David Thoreau

Man seems to be capable of great virtues but not of small virtues; capable of defying his torturer but not of keeping his temper. ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

A person’s greatest virtue is his ability to correct his mistakes and continually make a new person of himself. ~ Yang-Ming Wang

What most persons consider as virtue, after the age of 40 is simply a loss of energy. ~ Voltaire Quotes

We do not place especial value on the possession of a virtue until we notice its total absence in our opponent. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Great necessities call out great virtues. ~ Abigail Adams

All virtue is summed up in dealing justly. ~ Aristotle Quotes

The less a man thinks or knows about his virtues, the better we like him. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes

It is not the business of virtue to extirpate the affections of the mind, but to regulate them. ~ Joseph Addison

Absolute virtue is as sure to kill a man as absolute vice is, let alone the dullness of it and the pomposities of it. ~ Samuel Beckett

One’s outlook is a part of his virtue. ~ Amos Bronson Alcott


Sayings about Virtues

Wisdom and virtue are like the two wheels of a cart. ~ Japanese Proverb

Virtue comes not from chance but long study. ~ Italian Proverb

Vice often rides triumphantly in the coach of virtue. ~ German Proverb

Frugality is the sure guardian of our virtues. ~ Brahman Proverb

Vice hides under a cloak of virtue. ~ French Proverb

Beauty, unaccompanied by virtue, is as a flower without perfume. ~ French Proverb

Sell not virtue to purchase wealth. ~ English Proverb

Virtue is better than wealth. ~ Kenyan Proverb

The virtue of a woman does not go deep but her passion knows no limit. ~ Chinese Proverb

The door to virtue is heavy and hard to open. ~ Chinese Proverb

Virtue consists of action. ~ Dutch Proverb

Glory is the shadow of virtue. ~ Latin Proverb

Good behavior is a virtue for the man — bad behavior is the virtue of a woman. ~ Chinese Proverb

To give quickly is a great virtue. ~ Hindu Proverb

First secure an independent income, then practice virtue. ~ Greek Proverb

Vice is often clothed in virtue’s habit. ~ Traditional Proverb

The excess of virtue is a vice. ~ Greek Proverb

Virtue is not knowing but doing. ~ Japanese Proverb

Patience is the virtue of the donkeys. ~ French Proverb

Knowledge is the mother of all virtue; all vice proceeds from ignorance. ~ Traditional Proverb

With virtue you can’t be entirely poor; without virtue you can’t really be rich. ~ Chinese Proverb

Vices creep into our hearts under the name of virtue. ~ Latin Proverb

From our ancestors come our names from our virtues our honor. ~ Traditional Proverb

Coffee has two virtues, it’s wet and it’s warm. ~ Dutch Proverb

Virtue is not left to stand alone. ~ Chinese Proverb

The sin for which you repent is the father of virtue; but a virtue that you talk about, is the mother of sin. ~ Malagasy Proverb

Repentance is the spring beneath our virtues. ~ Chinese Proverb

Virtue practiced to be seen is not real virtue; vice which fears to be seen is real vice. ~ Chinese Proverb

Hidden virtues ring like a soft bell. ~ Japanese Proverb

Those who set their minds on virtue will do no evil. ~ Chinese Proverb

Great abilities produce great vices as well as virtues. ~ Greek Proverbs

That which is a sin in others is a virtue in ourselves. ~ Chilean Proverb

Never trust a woman who mentions her virtue. ~ French Proverb

Poverty destroys all virtues. ~ Indian Proverbs

Virtue never goes far without the company of idleness. ~ Jamaican Proverb

Virtue: climbing a hill; vice: running down. ~ Chinese Proverb

Ask me what are my virtues, not about the color of my skin. ~ Arabian Proverb

Virtue in the middle”, said the Devil when seated between two lawyers. ~ Danish Proverbs

The greatest virtue is like water; good for everything. ~ Chinese Proverb

Set out wisely at first; custom will make every virtue more easy and pleasant to you than any vice can be. ~ English Proverbs

By pride one causes virtue to decline. ~ Tibetan Proverb

Virtue carries an empty purse. ~ Japanese Proverbs

Patience is a virtue. ~ Traditional Proverb

Quotations about Virtue

What is virtue? It is to hold yourself to your fullest development as a person and as a responsible member of the human community. ~ Arthur Dobrin

The superior man thinks always of virtue; the common man thinks of comfort. ~ Confucius

It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues. ~ Abraham Lincoln Quotes

All of us are experts at practicing virtue at a distance. ~ Theodore M. Hesburgh

Virtue is like precious odors, most fragrant when they are incensed or crushed. ~ Francis Bacon

People praise virtue, but they hate it, they run away from it. It freezes you to death, and in this world you’ve got to keep your feet warm. ~ Denis Diderot

I have never seen a man as fond of virtue as of women. ~ Confucius

Virtue would not go to such lengths if vanity did not keep her company. ~ François de la Rochefoucauld

Virtue has never been as respectable as money. ~ Mark Twain

Be generous, good and just, when anything is to be gained by virtue. ~ Billy Boy Franklin

Some, by admiring other men’s virtues, become enemies to their own vices. ~ Bias of Priene

Most virtue is a demand for greater seduction. ~ Natalie Clifford Barney

When you can’t have anything else, you can have virtue. ~ Don Marquis

He who governs by way of virtue can be compared to the North Pole Star, which keeps its place while all the other stars position themselves around it. ~ Confucius

Few people have the virtue to withstand the highest bidder. ~ George Washington

Virtues are dangerous as vices insofar as they are allowed to rule over one as authorities and not as qualities one develops oneself. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

The person who talks most of his own virtue is often the least virtuous. ~ Jawaharlal Nehru

Often devotion to virtue arises from sated desire. ~ Laurence Hope Nicolson

The only reward of virtue is virtue. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sweet are the slumbers of the virtuous man! ~ Joseph Addison

Virtue is praised, but hated. People run from it, for it is ice-cold and in this world you have to keep your feet warm. ~ Denis Diderot

We should not judge a man’s virtue by his great abilities, but by the use he makes of them. ~ Francois De La Rochefoucauld

He that has energy enough to root out a vice should go further, and try to plant a virtue in its place. ~ Charles Caleb Colton

Virtues, like essences, lose their fragrance when exposed. ~ William Shenstone

Wisdom is knowing what to do next, skill is knowing how to do it, and virtue is doing it. ~ David Starr Jordan

Virtue is its own revenge. ~ E.Y. Harburn

Virtue is more clearly shown in the performance of fine actions than in the nonperformance of base ones. ~ Aristotle

God will certainly reward virtue and punish vice, either here or hereafter. ~ Benjamin Franklin Quotes

Virtue has its own reward, but no sales at the box office. ~ Mae West

Virtue consists, not in abstaining from vice, but in not desiring it. ~ George Bernard Shaw

Virtue is reason which has become energy. ~ Friedrich Schlegel

Virtue is like health: the harmony of the whole man. ~ Thomas Carlyle

Virtue can only flourish among equals. ~ Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Virtue cannot separate itself from reality without becoming a principle of evil. ~ Albert Camus

If one is not virtuous he becomes vicious. ~ John Christian Bovee

Virtue by premeditation isn’t worth much. ~ Georg C. Lichtenberg

Nothing in our times has become so unattractive as virtue. ~ Edward Dahlberg

The most virtuous are those who content themselves with being virtuous without seeking to appear so. ~ Plato

Virtue must be valuable, if men and women of all degrees pretend to have it. ~ Edgar Watson Howe

Virtue is more to be feared than vice, because its excesses are not subject to the regulation of conscience. ~ Adam Smith

There are some persons on whom virtue sits almost as ungraciously as vice. ~ Dominique Bouhours

Virtue is simply happiness, and happiness is a by-product of function. You are happy when you are functioning. ~ William S. Burroughs

Virtue is the strongest shield. ~ Motto

Assume a virtue if you have it not. ~ William Shakespeare

Some virtues are only seen in affliction and others only in prosperity. ~ Joseph Addison Quotes

Even virtue is fairer when it appears in a beautiful person. ~ Virgil

Virtue alone is the unerring sign of a noble soul. ~ Nicolas Boileau

We need greater virtues to sustain good fortune than bad. ~ Francois De La Rochefoucauld

People who are in a fortunate position always attribute virtue to what makes them so happy. ~ John Kenneth Galbraith

Virtue is the only true nobility. ~ Thomas Fuller

Virtue is a state of war, and to live in it we have always to combat with ourselves. ~ Jean Jacques Rousseau

Virtue is like a rich stone, best plain set. ~ Francis Bacon

Virtue is harmony. ~ Pythagoras

That virtue we appreciate is as much ours as another’s. We see so much only as we possess. ~ Henry David Thoreau

There are nine hundred and ninety-nine patrons of virtue to one virtuous man. ~ Henry David Thoreau

From Obedience and submission comes all our virtues, and all sin is come from self-opinion. ~ Michel Eyquem De Montaigne

Virtue is more to a man than either water or fire. ~ Confucius Quotes

Our virtues are usually just disguised vices. ~ Francois De La Rochefoucauld

Any of us can achieve virtue, if by virtue we merely mean the avoidance of the vices that do not attract us. ~ Robert S. Lynd

Recommend to your children virtue; that alone can make happy, not gold. ~ Ludwig van Beethoven

Virtue, the strength and beauty of the soul, is the best gift of Heaven: a happiness that even above the smiles and frowns of fate. ~ John Armstrong

Virtue is insufficient temptation. ~ George Bernard Shaw

Blushing is the color of virtue. ~ Diogenes

Men’s evil manners live in brass, their virtues we write in water. ~ William Shakespeare Quotes

It is as hard to satirize well a man of distinguished vices, as to praise well a man of distinguished virtues. ~ Jonathan Swift

Virtue is not a thing you can have by halves; it is or it is not. ~ Honore de Balzac

The virtuous control themselves. ~ Buddha Quotes

The virtue in most request is conformity. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Virtue is too often merely local. ~ Samuel Johnson

The world rewards the appearance of virtue more often than it reward the virtue itself. ~ Francois De La Rochefoucauld

The greatest virtues are those which are most useful to other persons. ~ Aristotle

If you can be well without health, you may be happy without virtue. ~ Edmund Burke

Virtue is an angel, but she is a blind one, and must ask Knowledge to show her the pathway that leads to her goal. ~ Horace Mann

As you do not sweeten your mouth by saying honey, so you do not grow virtuous by merely talking of virtue. ~ Ivan Panin

How sternly we reproach virtue for its failings, how indulgent we are to the better qualities of vice! ~ Honore de Balzac

When men grow virtuous in their old age, they only make a sacrifice to God of the devil’s leavings. ~ Alexander Pope

What is virtue but the Trade Unionism of the married? ~ George Bernard Shaw Quotes

To be innocent is to be not guilty; but to be virtuous is to overcome our evil inclinations. ~ William Penn

The glory that goes with wealth and beauty is fleeting and fragile; virtue is a possession glorious and eternal. ~ Sallust

We try to make a virtue of the vices that we are unwilling to correct. ~ Francois De La Rochefoucauld

In Hollywood a girl’s virtue is much less important than her hairdo. ~ Marilyn Monroe

Virtuous and vicious everyone must be; few in extremes, but all in degree. ~ Alexander Pope

Be virtuous and you will be eccentric. ~ Mark Twain Quotes

If you have performed an act of great and disinterested virtue, conceal it; if you publish it, you will neither be believed here, nor rewarded hereafter. ~ Charles Caleb Colton

Virtue, like a dowerless beauty, has more admirers than followers. ~ Marguerite Gardiner

There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men. ~ Henry David Thoreau

Man seems to be capable of great virtues but not of small virtues; capable of defying his torturer but not of keeping his temper. ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

A person’s greatest virtue is his ability to correct his mistakes and continually make a new person of himself. ~ Yang-Ming Wang

What most persons consider as virtue, after the age of 40 is simply a loss of energy. ~ Voltaire Quotes

We do not place especial value on the possession of a virtue until we notice its total absence in our opponent. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Great necessities call out great virtues. ~ Abigail Adams

All virtue is summed up in dealing justly. ~ Aristotle Quotes

The less a man thinks or knows about his virtues, the better we like him. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes

It is not the business of virtue to extirpate the affections of the mind, but to regulate them. ~ Joseph Addison

Absolute virtue is as sure to kill a man as absolute vice is, let alone the dullness of it and the pomposities of it. ~ Samuel Beckett

One’s outlook is a part of his virtue. ~ Amos Bronson Alcott