#virtue

[Men] prefer the foolish belief and the passions of the earth [to the enlightenment of their souls]. They believe the absurd and shrink from the truth." "No, they do not. They are afraid, that is all. And they must remain on earth until they come to the way of leaving it." "And how do they leave? How is the ascent made? Must one learn virtue?" Here she laughs. "You have read too much, and learned too little. Virtue is a road, not a destination. Man cannot be virtuous. Understanding is the goal. When that is achieved, the soul can take wing. ↗

— Iain Pears

#enlightenment #fear #mankind #philosophy #soul

Terror is only justice: prompt, severe and inflexible; it is then an emanation of virtue; it is less a distinct principle than a natural consequence of the general principle of democracy, applied to the most pressing wants of the country. ↗

— Maximilien Robespierre

#consequence #country #democracy #distinct #general

Blind submission in women is considered a virtue, while submission to wrong is itself wrong, and resistance to wrong is virtue alike in women as in man. ↗

— Ernestine Rose

#blind #considered #itself #man #resistance

If a woman possesses manly virtues one should run away from her; and if she does not possess them she runs away from herself. ↗

— Friedrich Nietzsche

#does #her #herself #manly #possess

Accuracy is to a newspaper what virtue is to a lady, but a newspaper can always print a retraction. ↗

— Charles Revson

#always #lady #newspaper #print #virtue

It is in our faults and failings, not in our virtues, that we touch each other, and find sympathy. It is in our follies that we are one. ↗

— Jerome K. Jerome

#each #failings #faults #find #follies

It is dangerous for mortal beauty, or terrestrial virtue, to be examined by too strong a light. The torch of Truth shows much that we cannot, and all that we would not, see. ↗

— Samuel Johnson

#cannot #dangerous #examined #light #mortal

Virtue herself is her own fairest reward. ↗

— Silius Italicus

#her #herself #own #reward #virtue

Being forced to work, and forced to do your best, will breed in you temperance and self-control, diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a hundred virtues which the idle will never know. ↗

— Charles Kingsley

#best #breed #cheerfulness #content #diligence

To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea. ↗

— James Madison

#chimerical #form #government #happiness #idea