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Quotes about virtue

884 quotes from 395 people

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Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind.
William Shakespeare1564–1616Hamlet (c. 1600), Act III, Scene I, spoken by OpheliaIn context
- Charity
“Shyness is only the effect of a sense of inferiority in some way or other. If I could persuade myself that my manners were perfectly easy and graceful, I should not be shy.”
Jane Austen1775–1817Sense and Sensibility (1811), Chapter XVIIIn context
- Character
There is safety in reserve, but no attraction. One cannot love a reserved person.
Jane Austen1775–1817Emma (1815), Volume II, Chapter VIIn context
- Character
- Love
I can so clearly distinguish between the criminal and his crime; I can so sincerely forgive the first while I abhor the last
Charlotte Brontë1816–1855Jane Eyre (1847), Chapter VIIn context
- Forgiveness
They say cowardice is infectious; but then argument is, on the other hand, a great emboldener
Robert Louis Stevenson1850–1894Treasure Island (1883), Part One: The Old Buccaneer, Chapter IVIn context
- Courage
Even in his lowest swoop the mountain eagle is still higher than other birds upon the plain, even though they soar.
Herman Melville1819–1891Moby-Dick (1851), Chapter XCVIIn context
- Character
Sublime is the dominion of the mind over the body, that, for a time, can make flesh and nerve impregnable, and string the sinews like steel, so that the weak become so mighty.
Harriet Beecher Stowe1811–1896Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852), Volume I, Chapter VIIIn context
- Courage
For in truth it is life that gives unto life⁠—while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness.
Kahlil Gibran1883–1931The Prophet (1923), On GivingIn context
- Charity
There’s no art
To find the mind’s construction in the face:
He was a gentleman on whom I built
An absolute trust.
William Shakespeare1564–1616Macbeth (c. 1606), Act I, Scene IV, spoken by DuncanIn context
- Character
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
William Ernest Henley1849–1903Invictus (1875)In context
- Courage
- Fear
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings⁠—nor lose the common touch
Rudyard Kipling1865–1936If— (1910)In context
- Character
Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!
Claude McKay1889–1948If We Must Die (1919)In context
- Courage
For ’tis the mind that makes the body rich;
And as the sun breaks through the darkest clouds,
So honour peereth in the meanest habit.
What, is the jay more precious than the lark
Because his feathers are more beautiful?
William Shakespeare1564–1616The Taming of the Shrew (c. 1591), Act IV, Scene III, spoken by PetruchioIn context
- Beauty
- Character
Wilt thou draw near the nature of the gods?
Draw near them then in being merciful.
Sweet mercy is nobility’s true badge.
William Shakespeare1564–1616Titus Andronicus (c. 1592), Act I, Scene I, spoken by TamoraIn context
- Character
- Forgiveness
His nature is too noble for the world.
He would not flatter Neptune for his trident
Or Jove for’s power to thunder.
William Shakespeare1564–1616Coriolanus (c. 1608), Act III, Scene I, spoken by MeneniusIn context
- Character