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Quotes about virtue

884 quotes from 395 people

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As soon as any man says of the affairs of the State What does it matter to me? the State may be given up for lost.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau1712–1778The Social Contract (1762), Book III, Chapter XVIn context
The lion who breaks the enemy’s ranks is a minor hero compared to the lion who overcomes himself.
Rumi1207–1273I, 1389
- Character
- Courage
Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty.
John Ruskin1819–1900The Two Paths (1859)
What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do.
John Ruskin1819–1900The Crown of Wild Olive (1866)
- Character
- Wisdom
The water which has been refused to the cry of the weary and dying is unholy, though it had been blessed by every saint in heaven.
John Ruskin1819–1900The King of the Golden River (1841), Ch. 5
- Charity
No one gossips about other people’s secret virtues.
Bertrand Russell1872–1970
- Talking
The good life, as I conceive it, is a happy life. I do not mean that if you are good you will be happy; I mean that if you are happy you will be good.
Bertrand Russell1872–1970New Hopes for a Changing World (1951), Part I: Man and Nature, Ch. 1: Current Perplexities, p. 10
- Happiness
To save the world requires faith and courage: faith in reason, and courage to proclaim what reason shows to be true.
Bertrand Russell1872–1970The Prospects of Industrial Civilization (1923)
- Courage
Christianity offers reasons for not fearing death or the universe, and in so doing it fails to teach adequately the virtue of courage.
Bertrand Russell1872–1970Education and the Social Order (1932), p. 107
I believe that love of truth is the basis of all real virtue, and that virtues based upon lies can only do harm.
Bertrand Russell1872–1970The Prospects of Industrial Civilization (1923)
- Truth & Lies
If we long for our planet to be important, there is something we can do about it. We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers.
Carl Sagan1934–1996Cosmos (1980), p. 193
- Courage
Our loyalties are to the species and the planet. We speak for Earth. Our obligation to survive and flourish is owed not just to ourselves, but also to that Cosmos, ancient and vast, from which we spring.
Carl Sagan1934–1996Who Speaks for Earth? [Episode 13], 54 min 25 sec
- Nature
- Responsibility
Perhaps the only true dignity of man is his capacity to despise himself.
George Santayana1863–1952Introduction to The Ethics of Spinoza (1910)
- Character
I will not be modest. Humble, as much as you like, but not modest. Modesty is the virtue of the lukewarm.
Jean-Paul Sartre1905–1980The Devil and the Good Lord (1951), Act 4, sc. 5
Men take more pains to hide than to mend themselves.
George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax1633–1695Miscellaneous Thoughts and Reflections
- Character