Virtuous Quotes - Page 15

• The virtuous carry out the settlement, but those without virtue pursue their claims.

  Laozi

  Taoism, Virtue, Claims

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• The word patriotism, or its equivalents and derivations, is upon everyone's lips at the present time. It is a magic word which is thought by most people to cover any multitude of sins. To be patriotic in whatever cause is tantamount to being virtuous, while no worse charge can be brought against a man in popular estimation than to say he is unpatriotic.

  Ernest Belfort Bax

  Patriotic, Men, People

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• There is no more beautiful sight than a young woman who glows with the light of the spirit who is confident and courageous because she is virtuous.

  Elaine S. Dalton

  Beautiful, Spiritual, Light

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• It appears evident, therefore, that those actions only can truly be called virtuous, and deserving of moral approbation, which the agent believed to be right, and to which he was influenced, more or less, by that belief.

  Thomas Reid

  Psychology, Agents, Ethics

  Thomas Reid (1827). “Essays on the powers of the human mind: An essay on quantity. An analysis of Aristotl's logic”, p.630

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• Happiness lies in virtuous activity, and perfect happiness lies in the best activity, which is contemplative

  Aristotle

  Lying, Philosophical, Perfect

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• Never suppose that in any possible situation or under any circumstances that it is best for you to do a dishonorable thing however slightly so it may appear to you... Encourage all your virtuous dispositions, and exercise them whenever an opportunity arises, being assured that they will gain strength by exercise ... and that exercise will make them habitual.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Truth, Lying, Exercise

  Thomas Jefferson, Jerry Holmes (2002). “Thomas Jefferson: A Chronology of His Thoughts”, p.60, Rowman & Littlefield

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• Sin is a dangerous toy in the hands of the virtuous. It should be left to the congenitally sinful, who know when to play with it and when to let it alone.

  H. L. Mencken

  Hands, Play, Toys

  H.L. Mencken (2012). “Mencken Chrestomathy”, p.281, Vintage

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• There is nothing more becoming any wise man, than to make choice of friends, for by them thou shalt be judged what thou art: let them therefore be wise and virtuous, and none of those that follow thee for gain; but make election rather of thy betters, than thy inferiors.

  Walter Raleigh

  Friendship, Wise, Art

  Sir Walter Raleigh (1829). “Miscellaneous works”, p.557

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• To be ordinary is the greatest virtue - because when you are just ordinary, nothing to claim, of this world or that, the ego disappears. The ego feeds on imbalance, the ego feeds on extremes. The ego lives on the polarities - in the middle it disappears. And in every area, in every direction of life, remember this: just stop in the middle and soon you will find the mind has stopped, the ego has stopped. Nothing to claim, it disappears. And when it disappears you have become virtuous. Now the door is open for the divine. In the middle you meet him; at the extremes you miss.

  Rajneesh

  Doors, Missing, Ego

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• The aggregate happiness of the society, which is best promoted by the practice of a virtuous policy, is, or ought to be, the end of all government . . . .

  George Washington

  Government, Practice, Liberty

  George Washington, John Clement Fitzpatrick, David Maydole Matteson (1792). “The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799”, p.142

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• [M]en will be free no longer then while they remain virtuous.

  Samuel Adams

  Liberty, Virtue

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• Hygiene is the corruption of medicine by morality. It is impossible to find a hygienist who does not debase his theory of the healthful with a theory of the virtuous. ... The aim of medicine is surely not to make men virtuous; it is to safeguard them from the consequences of their vices.

  H. L. Mencken

  Science, Men, Hygiene

  H. L. Mencken (2009). “Prejudices: Third Series”, p.269, Cosimo, Inc.

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• Since you own your life, you are responsible for your life. You do not rent your life from others who demand your obedience. Nor are you a slave to others who demand your sacrifice. You choose your own goals based on your own values. Success and failure are both the necessary incentives to learn and to grow. Your action on behalf of others, or their action on behalf of you, is only virtuous when it is derived from voluntary, mutual consent. For virtue can only exist when there is free choice.

  Ken Schoolland

  Life, Sacrifice, Goal

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• The virtuous man delights in this world and he delights in the next

  Gautama Buddha

  Men, Delight, World

  Gautama Buddha (2013). “The Dhammapada”, p.6, Simon and Schuster

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• Show me a person without prejudice of any kind on any subject and I'll show you someone who may be admirably virtuous but is surely no gardener. Prejudice against people is reprehensible, but a healthy set of prejudices is a gardener's best friend. Gardening is complicated, and prejudice simplifies it enormously.

  Allen Lacy

  People, Healthy, Gardening

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• The old doctrine that God wanted man to do something for him, and that he kept a watchful eye upon all the children of men; that he rewarded the virtuous and punished the wicked, is gradually fading from the mind. We know that some of the worst men have what the world calls success. We know that some of the best men lie upon the straw of failure. We know that honesty goes hungry, while larceny sits at the banquet. We know that the vicious have every physical comfort, while the virtuous are often clad in rags.

  Robert Green Ingersoll

  Children, Honesty, Lying

  Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The Works of Robert G.Ingersoll. [Dresden Ed.]”

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• Young women you will be the ones who will provide the example of virtuous womanhood and motherhood. You will continue to be virtuous lovely praiseworthy and of good report. You will also be the ones to provide an example of family life in a time when families are under attack, being redefined and disintegrating. You will understand your roles and your responsibilities and thus will see no need to lobby for rights.

  Elaine S. Dalton

  Responsibility, Motherhood, Rights

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• Why is it immoral for you to desire, but moral for others to do so? Why is it immoral to produce a value and keep it, but moral to give it away? And if it is not moral for you to keep a value, why is it moral for others to accept it? If you are selfless and virtuous when you give it, are they not selfish and vicious when they take it?

  Ayn Rand

  Selfish, Giving, Desire

  Ayn Rand (1988). “The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z”, p.31, Penguin

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• Americans, both politicians and voters, may have become corrupted by big government beyond redemption. A virtuous government requires a virtuous people. A frugal government requires a self-reliant people. A free country requires people who value liberty more than money.

  Charley Reese

  Country, Government, Self

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• The malice of the wicked was reinforced by the weakness of the virtuous.

  Winston Churchill

  Wicked, Weakness, Malice

  Winston Churchill (1986). “The Gathering Storm”, p.16, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• In this world, either you're virtuous or you enjoy yourself. Not both, lady, not both.

  Ayn Rand

  World, Enjoy, This World

  Ayn Rand (2016). “Atlas Shrugged”, p.228, Hamilton Books

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• I think that there is far too much work done in the world, that immense harm is caused by the belief that work is virtuous, and that what needs to be preached in modern industrial countries is quite different from what always has been preached.

  Bertrand Russell

  Country, Thinking, Different

  Bertrand Russell (2004). “In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays”, p.1, Psychology Press

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• Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore we must be saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness.

  Reinhold Niebuhr

  Love, Beautiful, Forgiveness

  Reinhold Niebuhr (2010). “The Irony of American History”, p.63, University of Chicago Press

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• The only reason why anything virtuous or lively survives in us is this, 'the LORD is there'" (Ez. 35:10)

  Charles Spurgeon

  Reason Why, Lord, Lively

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• The virtuous man contents himself with dreaming that which the wicked man does in actual life.

  Sigmund Freud

  Dream, Men, Honor

  Sigmund Freud (2016). “Dream Psychology: Psychoanalysis for Beginners (Annotated)”, p.17, Sigmund Freud

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