Virtue itself ‘scapes not calumnious strokes.
Virtue is more zealously persecurod by ill men than it is beloved by the good.
Virtue is a state of war, and that living in it means onealways has some battle to wage against oneself.[La vertu est un état de guerre, et que, pour y vivre, on a toujours quelque combat à rendre contre soi.]
Every man is the arbiter of his own virtues but let no man prescribe for another man’s wellbeing.
What we experience in dreams, provided we experience it often, pertains at last just as much to the general belonging of our soul as anything “actually” experienced; by virtue thereof we are richer or poorer.
What is virtue but the Trade Unionism of the married?
We value virtue but do not discuss it. The honest bookkeeper, the faithful wife, the earnest scholar get little of our attention compared to the embezzler, the tramp, the cheat.
Virtue, perhaps, is nothing more than politeness of soul.
Virtue is harder to be got, than knowledge of the world; and, if lost in a young man, is seldom recovered.
Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful.
Virtue consists, not in abstaining from vice, but in not desiring it.
Virtue cannot separate itself from reality without becoming a principle of evil.
