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#virtue — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #virtue, aggregated by home.social.

  1. A quotation from Horace

    The Rash, the Lazy, Lover, none’s so wild,
    But may be tame, and may be wisely mild,
    If they consult true Vertue’s Rules with care,
    And lend to good advice a patient ear.
     
    [Invidus, iracundus, iners, vinosus, amator,
    nemo adeo ferus est, ut non mitescere possit,
    si modo culturae patientem commodet aurem.]

    Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
    Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 1 “To Maecenas,” l. 38ff (1.1.38-40) (20 BC) [tr. Creech (1684)]

    More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/horace/78567/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #horace #advice #anger #brutality #character #coarseness #culture #degradation #drunkenness #envy #faults #gluttony #lust #moralcharacter #norms #reform #rehabilitation #selfcontrol #selfimprovement #sloth #society #temperament #vice #virtue #wisdom #wrath

  2. A quotation from Horace

    The Rash, the Lazy, Lover, none’s so wild,
    But may be tame, and may be wisely mild,
    If they consult true Vertue’s Rules with care,
    And lend to good advice a patient ear.
     
    [Invidus, iracundus, iners, vinosus, amator,
    nemo adeo ferus est, ut non mitescere possit,
    si modo culturae patientem commodet aurem.]

    Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
    Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 1 “To Maecenas,” l. 38ff (1.1.38-40) (20 BC) [tr. Creech (1684)]

    More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/horace/78567/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #horace #advice #anger #brutality #character #coarseness #culture #degradation #drunkenness #envy #faults #gluttony #lust #moralcharacter #norms #reform #rehabilitation #selfcontrol #selfimprovement #sloth #society #temperament #vice #virtue #wisdom #wrath

  3. A quotation from Horace

    The Rash, the Lazy, Lover, none’s so wild,
    But may be tame, and may be wisely mild,
    If they consult true Vertue’s Rules with care,
    And lend to good advice a patient ear.
     
    [Invidus, iracundus, iners, vinosus, amator,
    nemo adeo ferus est, ut non mitescere possit,
    si modo culturae patientem commodet aurem.]

    Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
    Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 1 “To Maecenas,” l. 38ff (1.1.38-40) (20 BC) [tr. Creech (1684)]

    More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/horace/78567/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #horace #advice #anger #brutality #character #coarseness #culture #degradation #drunkenness #envy #faults #gluttony #lust #moralcharacter #norms #reform #rehabilitation #selfcontrol #selfimprovement #sloth #society #temperament #vice #virtue #wisdom #wrath

  4. A quotation from Horace

    The Rash, the Lazy, Lover, none’s so wild,
    But may be tame, and may be wisely mild,
    If they consult true Vertue’s Rules with care,
    And lend to good advice a patient ear.
     
    [Invidus, iracundus, iners, vinosus, amator,
    nemo adeo ferus est, ut non mitescere possit,
    si modo culturae patientem commodet aurem.]

    Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
    Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 1 “To Maecenas,” l. 38ff (1.1.38-40) (20 BC) [tr. Creech (1684)]

    More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/horace/78567/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #horace #advice #anger #brutality #character #coarseness #culture #degradation #drunkenness #envy #faults #gluttony #lust #moralcharacter #norms #reform #rehabilitation #selfcontrol #selfimprovement #sloth #society #temperament #vice #virtue #wisdom #wrath

  5. A quotation from Arthur Conan Doyle

    It is of the first importance not to allow your judgment to be biased by personal qualities. A client is to me a mere unit, a factor in a problem. The emotional qualities are antagonistic to clear reasoning. I assure you that the most winning woman I ever knew was hanged for poisoning three little children for their insurance-money, and the most repellent man of my acquaintance is a philanthropist who has spent nearly a quarter of a million upon the London poor.

    Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) British writer and physician
    Story (1890-02), “The Sign of the Four,” ch. 2 [Holmes], Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine, Vol. 45 (US) / 1 (UK)

    More about this quote: wist.info/doyle-arthur-conan/8…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #arthurconandoyle #sherlockholmes #holmes #sherlock #appearances #attachment #attraction #bias #emotion #judgment #objectivity #virtue

  6. A quotation from Brennan Manning

    The noonday devil of the Christian life is the temptation to lose the inner self while preserving the shell of edifying behavior. Suddenly I discover that I am ministering to AIDS victims to enhance my resume. I find I renounced ice cream for Lent to lose five excess pounds. I drop hints about the absolute priority of meditation and contemplation to create the impression that I am a man of prayer. At some unremembered moment I have lost the connection between internal purity of heart and external works of piety. In the most humiliating sense of the word, I have become a legalist. I have fallen victim to what T.S. Eliot calls the greatest sin: to do the right thing for the wrong reason.

    Brennan Manning (1934-2013) American author, laicized priest, theologian, speaker [Richard Francis Xavier Manning]
    The Ragamuffin Gospel, ch. 7 “Paste Jewelry and Sawdust Hot Dogs” (1990)

    More about this quote: wist.info/manning-brennan/8348…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #brennanmanning #appearances #faithandworks #intention #legalism #legalist #motivation #motive #performance #purpose #sin #virtue #wordsanddeeds #works

  7. A quotation from Josh Billings

    I hav known people who waz virtewous just bekauze they waz lazy, they hadn’t snap enuff in them tew brake one of the 10 commandments.
     
    [I have known people who were virtuous just because they were lazy; they hadn’t snap enough in them to break one of the Ten Commandments.]

    Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
    Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1874-01 (1874 ed.)

    More about this quote: wist.info/billings-josh/83437/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #joshbillings #bother #Decalogue #effort #indolence #initiative #laziness #motivation #sloth #vice #virtue

  8. I've shared my thoughts on Alasdair MacIntyre before, but a follower asked me to comment on a Philosophize This! segment on a couple of books he published after After Virtue, and so I did.

    philosophics.blog/2026/04/15/r

    I share a link to the video content as well as a NotebookLM podcast summary.

    #pilodsophy #psychology #critique #blog #video #podcast #society #culture #normativeethics #morality #ethics #MacIntyre #books #greece #aristotle #virtue #liberalism #modernity #commentary #reaction

  9. A quotation from Robert Louis Stevenson

    It is the mark of a good action that it appears inevitable in the retrospect. We should have been cut-throats to do otherwise. And there’s an end. We ought to know distinctly that we are damned for what we do wrong; but when we have done right, we have only been gentlemen, after all. There is nothing to make a work about.

    Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
    Essay (1880-01/02?), “Reflections and Remarks on Human Life,” § 6 “Right and Wrong”

    More about this quote: wist.info/stevenson-robert-lou…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #robertlouisstevenson #obviousdecision #dotherightthing #doinggood #duty #good #gooddeed #inevitability #naturalcourse #retrospect #virtue

  10. A quotation from Cicero

    Let us spurn the rewards of today and look to future glory; let us deem best what is most honorable; let us hope for what we want, but bear what befalls us; finally, let us consider that even the bodies of brave men and great citizens are mortal; but that activity of the mind and the glory of virtue are for ever.
     
    [Praesentis fructus neglegamus, posteritatis gloriae serviamus; id esse optimum putemus quod erit rectissimum; speremus quae volumus, sed quod acciderit feramus; cogitemus denique corpus virorum fortium magnorum hominum esse mortale, animi vero motus et virtutis gloriam sempiternam.]

    Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
    Pro Sestio [For Publius Sestius], ch. 68 / sec. 143 (56-02 BC) [tr. @sentantiq (2011)]

    More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/cicero-marcus-tulliu…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #cicero #prosestio #aspirations #courage #endurance #future #glory #honor #immortality #mortality #persistence #posterity #reputation #tomorrow #virtue

  11. A quotation from Cicero

    Let us spurn the rewards of today and look to future glory; let us deem best what is most honorable; let us hope for what we want, but bear what befalls us; finally, let us consider that even the bodies of brave men and great citizens are mortal; but that activity of the mind and the glory of virtue are for ever.
     
    [Praesentis fructus neglegamus, posteritatis gloriae serviamus; id esse optimum putemus quod erit rectissimum; speremus quae volumus, sed quod acciderit feramus; cogitemus denique corpus virorum fortium magnorum hominum esse mortale, animi vero motus et virtutis gloriam sempiternam.]

    Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
    Pro Sestio [For Publius Sestius], ch. 68 / sec. 143 (56-02 BC) [tr. @sentantiq (2011)]

    More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/cicero-marcus-tulliu…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #cicero #prosestio #aspirations #courage #endurance #future #glory #honor #immortality #mortality #persistence #posterity #reputation #tomorrow #virtue

  12. A quotation from Cicero

    Let us spurn the rewards of today and look to future glory; let us deem best what is most honorable; let us hope for what we want, but bear what befalls us; finally, let us consider that even the bodies of brave men and great citizens are mortal; but that activity of the mind and the glory of virtue are for ever.
     
    [Praesentis fructus neglegamus, posteritatis gloriae serviamus; id esse optimum putemus quod erit rectissimum; speremus quae volumus, sed quod acciderit feramus; cogitemus denique corpus virorum fortium magnorum hominum esse mortale, animi vero motus et virtutis gloriam sempiternam.]

    Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
    Pro Sestio [For Publius Sestius], ch. 68 / sec. 143 (56-02 BC) [tr. @sentantiq (2011)]

    More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/cicero-marcus-tulliu…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #cicero #prosestio #aspirations #courage #endurance #future #glory #honor #immortality #mortality #persistence #posterity #reputation #tomorrow #virtue

  13. A quotation from Cicero

    Let us spurn the rewards of today and look to future glory; let us deem best what is most honorable; let us hope for what we want, but bear what befalls us; finally, let us consider that even the bodies of brave men and great citizens are mortal; but that activity of the mind and the glory of virtue are for ever.
     
    [Praesentis fructus neglegamus, posteritatis gloriae serviamus; id esse optimum putemus quod erit rectissimum; speremus quae volumus, sed quod acciderit feramus; cogitemus denique corpus virorum fortium magnorum hominum esse mortale, animi vero motus et virtutis gloriam sempiternam.]

    Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
    Pro Sestio [For Publius Sestius], ch. 68 / sec. 143 (56-02 BC) [tr. @sentantiq (2011)]

    More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/cicero-marcus-tulliu…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #cicero #prosestio #aspirations #courage #endurance #future #glory #honor #immortality #mortality #persistence #posterity #reputation #tomorrow #virtue

  14. A quotation from Robert Ingersoll

    Men are not superior by reason of the accidents of race or color. They are superior who have the best heart — the best brain. Superiority is born of honesty, of virtue, of charity, and above all, of the love of liberty. The superior man is the providence of the inferior. He is eyes for the blind, strength for the weak, and a shield for the defenseless. He stands erect by bending above the fallen. He rises by lifting others.

    Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
    Speech (1883-10-22), “Liberty,” Address on the Civil Rights Act, Lincoln Hall, Washington, D. C.

    More about this quote: wist.info/ingersoll-robert-gre…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #robertingersoll #robertgreeningersoll #aid #assistance #bullying #compassion #greatness #help #inferiority #injustice #liberty #loveyourneighbor #protection #protector #providence #service #society #strength #superiority #virtue

  15. A quotation from Thomas More

       Will thou know what wonders strange be in the land that late was found?
       Will thou learn thy life to lead, by divers ways that godly be?
       Will thou of virtue and vice understand the very ground?
       Will thou see this wretched world, how full it is of vanity?
     
    [Vis nova monstra, novo dudum nunc orbe reperto?
       Vivendi varia uis ratione modos?
    Vis qui virtutum fontes, vis unde malorum
       Principia? et quantum rebus inane latet?]

    Thomas More (1478-1535) English lawyer, social philosopher, statesman, humanist, Christian martyr
    Utopia, “A Meter of Four Verses in the Utopian Tongue,” “Cornelius Graphey to the Reader” (1516 ed.) [tr. Open Utopia (Duncombe) (2012)]

    More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/more-thomas/83122/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #thomasmore #utopia #discovery #exploration #foreigners #strangeness #virtue #wonder

  16. A quotation from Bill Watterson

    CALVIN: Hobbes, do you think our morality is defined by our actions, or by what’s in our hearts?
    HOBBES: I think our actions show what’s in our hearts.
    CALVIN: (after consideration) I resent that!

    Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
    Calvin and Hobbes (1990-10-18)

    More about this quote: wist.info/watterson-bill/83114…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #billwatterson #calvinandhobbes #actions #bestintentions #conscience #goodintentions #heart #integrity #intentions #morality #motivations #motives #virtue #wellintentioned #wordsanddeeds #aspersions #guilt #shame

  17. A quotation from Hannah Arendt

    The sad truth of the matter is that most evil is done by people who never made up their minds to be or do either evil or good.

    Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
    Life of the Mind, Vol. 1 “Thinking,” Part 3, ch. 18 “The two-in-one” (1977)

    More about this quote: wist.info/arendt-hannah/1350/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #arendt #hannaharendt #amorality #apathy #banality #banalityofevil #decision #evil #good #indecision #lukewarm #moralchoice #moralcode #thoughtlessness #virtue #vice #evildoer #wrongdoing #rightandwrong #moralagency #responsiblity #takeresponsibility

  18. A quotation from Hannah Arendt

    The sad truth of the matter is that most evil is done by people who never made up their minds to be or do either evil or good.

    Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
    Life of the Mind, Vol. 1 “Thinking,” Part 3, ch. 18 “The two-in-one” (1977)

    More about this quote: wist.info/arendt-hannah/1350/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #arendt #hannaharendt #amorality #apathy #banality #banalityofevil #decision #evil #good #indecision #lukewarm #moralchoice #moralcode #thoughtlessness #virtue #vice #evildoer #wrongdoing #rightandwrong #moralagency #responsiblity #takeresponsibility

  19. A quotation from Hannah Arendt

    The sad truth of the matter is that most evil is done by people who never made up their minds to be or do either evil or good.

    Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
    Life of the Mind, Vol. 1 “Thinking,” Part 3, ch. 18 “The two-in-one” (1977)

    More about this quote: wist.info/arendt-hannah/1350/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #arendt #hannaharendt #amorality #apathy #banality #banalityofevil #decision #evil #good #indecision #lukewarm #moralchoice #moralcode #thoughtlessness #virtue #vice #evildoer #wrongdoing #rightandwrong #moralagency #responsiblity #takeresponsibility

  20. A quotation from Hannah Arendt

    The sad truth of the matter is that most evil is done by people who never made up their minds to be or do either evil or good.

    Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
    Life of the Mind, Vol. 1 “Thinking,” Part 3, ch. 18 “The two-in-one” (1977)

    More about this quote: wist.info/arendt-hannah/1350/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #arendt #hannaharendt #amorality #apathy #banality #banalityofevil #decision #evil #good #indecision #lukewarm #moralchoice #moralcode #thoughtlessness #virtue #vice #evildoer #wrongdoing #rightandwrong #moralagency #responsiblity #takeresponsibility

  21. A quotation from Hannah Arendt

    The sad truth of the matter is that most evil is done by people who never made up their minds to be or do either evil or good.

    Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
    Life of the Mind, Vol. 1 “Thinking,” Part 3, ch. 18 “The two-in-one” (1977)

    More about this quote: wist.info/arendt-hannah/1350/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #arendt #hannaharendt #amorality #apathy #banality #banalityofevil #decision #evil #good #indecision #lukewarm #moralchoice #moralcode #thoughtlessness #virtue #vice #evildoer #wrongdoing #rightandwrong #moralagency #responsiblity #takeresponsibility

  22. A quotation from The Bible

    Lord, who may enter your Temple?
       Who may worship on Zion, your sacred hill?
    Those who obey God in everything
       and always do what is right,
    whose words are true and sincere,
       and who do not slander others.
    They do no wrong to their friends
       nor spread rumors about their neighbors.
    They despise those whom God rejects,
       but honor those who obey the Lord.
    They always do what they promise,
       no matter how much it may cost.
    They make loans without charging interest
       and cannot be bribed to testify against the innocent.
    Whoever does these things will always be secure.
       
    מִזְמ֗וֹר לְדָ֫וִ֥ד יְ֭הֹוָה מִי־יָג֣וּר בְּאׇהֳלֶ֑ךָ מִֽי־יִ֝שְׁכֹּ֗ן בְּהַ֣ר קׇדְשֶֽׁךָ׃]
    הוֹלֵ֣ךְ תָּ֭מִים וּפֹעֵ֥ל צֶ֑דֶק וְדֹבֵ֥ר אֱ֝מֶ֗ת בִּלְבָבֽוֹ׃
    לֹֽא־רָגַ֨ל ׀ עַל־לְשֹׁנ֗וֹ לֹא־עָשָׂ֣ה לְרֵעֵ֣הוּ רָעָ֑ה וְ֝חֶרְפָּ֗ה לֹא־נָשָׂ֥א עַל־קְרֹבֽוֹ׃
    נִבְזֶ֤ה ׀ בְּֽעֵ֘ינָ֤יו נִמְאָ֗ס וְאֶת־יִרְאֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֣ה יְכַבֵּ֑ד נִשְׁבַּ֥ע לְ֝הָרַ֗ע וְלֹ֣א יָמִֽר׃
    [כַּסְפּ֤וֹ ׀ לֹא־נָתַ֣ן בְּנֶשֶׁךְ֮ וְשֹׁ֥חַד עַל־נָקִ֗י לֹ֥א־לָ֫קָ֥ח עֹֽשֵׂה־אֵ֑לֶּה לֹ֖א יִמּ֣וֹט לְעוֹלָֽם׃ {פ}


    The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
    Book 19. Psalms 15: 1ff (Ps 15:1-5) [GNT (1992 ed.)]

    More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/bible-ot/83099/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #thebible #bible #oldtestament #psalms #psalm15 #commandments #goodman #goodperson #paragon #salvation #virtue

  23. A quotation from Montesquieu

    For it is clear that in a monarchy, where the person who executes the laws holds himself above them, less virtue is required than in a popular government, where the person who executes the laws is aware that he himself is subject to them and that he will feel their weight.
     
    [Car il est clair que, dans une monarchie, où celui qui fait exécuter les loix se juge au-dessus des loix, on a besoin de moins de vertu que dans un gouvernement populaire, où celui qui fait exécuter les loix, sent qu’il y est soumis lui-même, & qu’il en portera le poids.]

    Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
    Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 3, ch. 3 (3.3) (1748) [tr. Stewart (2018)]

    More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/montesquieu/83090/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #Montesquieu #abovethelaw #autocracy #democracy #equalprotectionunderthelaw #equalrights #immunity #law #monarchy #populargovernment #power #republic #subject #virtue

  24. People seem to love philosophical trolley problems, but they expose more about ontological grammar than a morality profile.

    philosophics.blog/2026/03/28/h

    The first of a 2-part series on the trolley problem. Part 2 will extend the issue out of the lab and into reality with autonomous devices.

    #philosophy #psychology #morality #ontologicalgrammar #harm #trolleyproblem #choice #legibility #acculturation #society #ethics #deontology #virtue #consequences #utility #value #stoicism #blog #podcast

  25. A quotation from Bertrand Russell

    I think the gist of the matter is that a saint can live without politeness, and indeed that politeness is incompatible with a saintly character. But the man who is always to be sincere must be free from spite and envy and malice and pettiness. Most of us have a dose of these vices in our composition and therefore have to excerise tact to avoid giving offence. We cannot all be saints, and if saintliness is impossible, we may at least try not to be too disagreeable.

    Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
    Essay (1933-02-01) “On Tact,” New York American

    More about this quote: wist.info/russell-bertrand/601…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #bertrandrussell #compensation #diplomacy #disagreeability #friction #imperfection #offense #politeness #pragmatism #prudence #saint #sincerity #tact #virtue

  26. “I cannot think of many things more anathema to #civic #virtue and a #freesociety than to try and do away with #introspection. And, in a way, that’s what #slopulism offers: external enemies, shadowy machinations, and very little interiority.”

    RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:5zca2ola2zxpkw37w4f3wxtu/post/3mhgoaegdns2g

  27. A quotation from Montesquieu

    When virtue is banished, ambition invades the hearts of those who are disposed to receive it, and avarice possesses the whole community.
     
    [Lorsque cette vertu cesse, l’ambition entre dans les cœurs qui peuvent la recevoir, & l’avarice entre dans tous.]

    Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
    Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 3, ch. 3 (3.3) (1748) [tr. Nugent (1750)]

    More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/montesquieu/82760/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #montesquieu #ambition #avarice #civicvirtue #community #democracy #equality #greed #nation #patriotism #politicalvirtue #republic #selfcenteredness #selfishness #virtue

  28. A quotation from Montesquieu

    When virtue is banished, ambition invades the hearts of those who are disposed to receive it, and avarice possesses the whole community.
     
    [Lorsque cette vertu cesse, l’ambition entre dans les cœurs qui peuvent la recevoir, & l’avarice entre dans tous.]

    Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
    Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 3, ch. 3 (3.3) (1748) [tr. Nugent (1750)]

    More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/montesquieu/82760/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #montesquieu #ambition #avarice #civicvirtue #community #democracy #equality #greed #nation #patriotism #politicalvirtue #republic #selfcenteredness #selfishness #virtue

  29. A quotation from Montesquieu

    When virtue is banished, ambition invades the hearts of those who are disposed to receive it, and avarice possesses the whole community.
     
    [Lorsque cette vertu cesse, l’ambition entre dans les cœurs qui peuvent la recevoir, & l’avarice entre dans tous.]

    Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
    Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 3, ch. 3 (3.3) (1748) [tr. Nugent (1750)]

    More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/montesquieu/82760/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #montesquieu #ambition #avarice #civicvirtue #community #democracy #equality #greed #nation #patriotism #politicalvirtue #republic #selfcenteredness #selfishness #virtue

  30. A quotation from Montesquieu

    When virtue is banished, ambition invades the hearts of those who are disposed to receive it, and avarice possesses the whole community.
     
    [Lorsque cette vertu cesse, l’ambition entre dans les cœurs qui peuvent la recevoir, & l’avarice entre dans tous.]

    Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
    Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 3, ch. 3 (3.3) (1748) [tr. Nugent (1750)]

    More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/montesquieu/82760/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #montesquieu #ambition #avarice #civicvirtue #community #democracy #equality #greed #nation #patriotism #politicalvirtue #republic #selfcenteredness #selfishness #virtue

  31. A quotation from Montesquieu

    When virtue is banished, ambition invades the hearts of those who are disposed to receive it, and avarice possesses the whole community.
     
    [Lorsque cette vertu cesse, l’ambition entre dans les cœurs qui peuvent la recevoir, & l’avarice entre dans tous.]

    Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
    Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 3, ch. 3 (3.3) (1748) [tr. Nugent (1750)]

    More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/montesquieu/82760/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #montesquieu #ambition #avarice #civicvirtue #community #democracy #equality #greed #nation #patriotism #politicalvirtue #republic #selfcenteredness #selfishness #virtue

  32. A quotation from Mark Twain

    [S]he brought some of those apples. I was obliged to eat them, I was so hungry. It was against my principles, but I find that principles have no real force except when one is well-fed.

    Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
    Story (1893), “Extracts from Adam’s Diary,” The Niagara Book

    More about this quote: wist.info/twain-mark/3927/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #twain #marktwain #convictions #hunger #moralcode #morality #needs #principles #virtue #maslowhierarchy #needs

  33. A quotation from Philip K. Dick

    The authentic human being is one of us who instinctively knows what he should not do and, in addition, will balk at doing it. He will refuse to do it, even if this brings down dread consequences to him and those whom he loves. This, to me, is the ultimately heroic trait of ordinary people. They say “no” to the tyrant and they calmly take the consequences of this resistance. Their deeds may be small, and almost always unnoticed, unmarked by history. Their names are not remembered, nor did these authentic humans expect their names to be remembered. I see their authenticity in an odd way: not in their willingness to perform great heroic deeds, but in their quiet refusals to commit villainies. In essence, they cannot be compelled to be what they are not.

    Philip K. Dick (1928-1982) American writer
    Speech (1978) “How To Build A Universe That Doesn’t Fall Apart Two Days Later”

    More about this quote: wist.info/dick-philip-k/39294/

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  34. A quotation from La Rochefoucauld

    Self-interest will set all sorts of virtues and vices in motion.
     
    [L’intérêt met en œuvre toutes sortes de vertus et de vices.]

    François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
    Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶253 (1665-1678) [tr. FitzGibbon (1957)]

    More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/la-rochefoucauld-fra…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #larochefoucauld #enlightenedselfinterest #interest #motivation #selfinterest #selfserving #selfishness #vice #virtue

  35. A quotation from Montesquieu

    Political virtue is a renunciation of oneself, which is always a very painful thing. One can define this virtue as love of the laws and the homeland. This love, requiring a continuous preference of the public interest over one’s own, produces all the individual virtues; they are only that preference.
     
    [La vertu politique est un renoncement à soi-même, qui est toujours une chose très-pénible. On peut définir cette vertu, l’amour des loix & de la patrie. Cet amour, demandant une préférence continuelle de l’intérêt public au sien propre, donne toutes les vertus particulieres: elles ne sont que cette préférence.]

    Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
    Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 4, ch. 5 (4.5) (1748) [tr. Cohler/Miller/Stone (1989)]

    More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/montesquieu/82465/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #Montesquieu #homeland #lawabiding #lawfulness #patriotism #politicalvirtue #privateinterest #publicinterest #renunciation #selfsacrifice #virtue

  36. A quotation from John Adams

    Power always Sincerely, conscientiously, de très bon Foi, believes itself Right. Power always thinks it has a great Soul and vast Views, beyond the Comprehension of the Weak; and that it is doing God Service when it is violating all his Laws.

    John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797–1801)
    Letter (1816-02-02) to Thomas Jefferson

    More about this quote: wist.info/adams-john/27193/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #johnadams #beneficence #cause #contempt #divinelaw #ego #patronizing #perspective #power #rectitude #righteousness #selfrighteousness #superiority #tyranny #vanity #virtue

  37. I hate #purity, I hate #goodness, I don't want any #virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone to be #corrupt to the bones.

    George Orwell, 1984

    #quote #quotes

  38. A quotation from La Rochefoucauld

    We try to make virtues of the faults we do not wish to correct.
     
    [Nous essayons de nous faire honneur des défauts que nous ne voulons pas corriger.]

    François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
    Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶442 (1665-1678) [tr. Kronenberger (1959)]

    More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/la-rochefoucauld-fra…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #larochefoucauld #boasting #correction #failings #faults #fixing #merit #promotion #rebranding #selfcorrection #selfimprovement #vices #virtue #weaknesses