Famously Said Random quote

Quotes about virtue

884 quotes from 395 people

Most readBy personPage 17 of 59

What we do belongs to what we are; and what we are is what becomes of us.
Henry van Dyke1852–1933Ships and Havens, ch. 2 (1898).
- Character
I believe empathy is the most essential quality of civilization.
Roger Ebert1942–2013First published in the “Roger Ebert’s Journal” column (19 May 2010)
Only those few people who practice it believe in goodness.
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach1830–1916Aphorisms (1880/1893), p. 29.
The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else. If it had been possible he would have settled the matter otherwise, and without bloodshed.
Umberto Eco1932–2016“Why Are They Laughing In Those Cages?”, in Travels in Hyperreality: Essays‎ (1986), Ch. III: The Gods of the Underworld, p. 122
- Courage
What a man’s mind can create, man’s character can control.
Thomas Edison1847–1931
You must believe me when I tell you that I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love.
Edward VIII1894–1972Abdication broadcast (11 December 1936)
How I wish that somewhere there existed an island for those who are wise and of goodwill! In such a place even I would be an ardent patriot.
Albert Einstein1879–1955Letter to Paul Ehrenfest, early December 1914. Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol. 8, Doc. 39. Quoted in The New Quotable Einstein by Alice Calaprice (2005), p. 3
- Wisdom
The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly.
Albert Einstein1879–1955Letter to Morris Raphael Cohen, professor emeritus of philosophy at the College of the City of New York, defending the appointment of Bertrand Russell to a teaching position (19 March 1940).
- Courage
- Intelligence
What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight — it’s the size of the fight in the dog.
Dwight D. Eisenhower1890–1969Remarks at Republican National Committee Breakfast (31 January 1958)
- Courage
Consequences are unpitying. Our deeds carry their terrible consequences, quite apart from any fluctuations that went before — consequences that are hardly ever confined to ourselves.
George Eliot1819–1880Adam Bede (1859)
- Responsibility
Our vanities differ as our noses do: all conceit is not the same conceit, but varies in correspondence with the minutiae of mental make in which one of us differs from another.
George Eliot1819–1880Middlemarch (1871–1872), Book II: Old and Young, Chapter XVIn context
- Character
- Pride
One must be poor to know the luxury of giving!
George Eliot1819–1880Middlemarch (1871–1872), Book II: Old and Young, Chapter XVIIIn context
- Charity
- Money
Will not a tiny speck very close to our vision blot out the glory of the world, and leave only a margin by which we see the blot? I know no speck so troublesome as self.
George Eliot1819–1880Middlemarch (1871–1872), Book IV: Three Love Problems, Chapter XLIIIn context
- Character
People glorify all sorts of bravery except the bravery they might show on behalf of their nearest neighbors.
George Eliot1819–1880Middlemarch (1871–1872), Book VIII: Sunset and Sunrise, Chapter LXXIIIn context
- Courage
There is no creature whose inward being is so strong that it is not greatly determined by what lies outside it.
George Eliot1819–1880Middlemarch (1871–1872), FinaleIn context
- Character