Virtue and Vice
Outline · 2 ›
1.The nature and definition of virtue and vice
Epictetus, The Golden Sayings of EpictetusVol. 2
- p. 130–131Vice has nothing in common with virtue.read · scan
Traditional BalladsVol. 40
- p. 76–78Elf queen shows the narrow path of righteousness, the broad path of wickedness that some call the road to heaven.read · scan
Samuel Johnson, Preface to ShakespeareVol. 39
- p. 229–230Later speculation sought the seminal principles of vice and virtue, unattempted in Shakespeare's day.read · scan
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human UnderstandingVol. 37
- p. 289Practical philosophers paint virtue amiably to draw men from vice; speculative ones seek the source of moral distinctions.read · scan
- p. 296Moralists expect all vices and virtues to resolve into general principles.read · scan
Hippolyte Taine, Introduction to the History of English LiteratureVol. 39
- p. 417Vice and virtue are products explained by simpler underlying facts.read · scan
1a.Virtue as knowledge, reason, harmony or conformity to nature
Plato, CritoVol. 2
- p. 36–37Not life but a good life is chiefly to be valued, and a good life is a just and honorable one.read · scan
Plato, PhaedoVol. 2
- p. 56–57Courage and temperance are attributes of the philosopher; common virtue is contradictory.read · scan
- p. 57–58True virtue is companion of wisdom; virtue built on exchanging fears and pleasures is only a shadow.read · scan
- p. 85–86Souls are said to have virtue and intelligence or folly and vice, though souls do not differ in degree of being souls.read · scan
- p. 86–88Virtue as harmony and vice as discord cannot hold, since no soul is more harmonized than another.read · scan
Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9
- p. 317Every deviation from rectitude is equally criminal, every approach to it praiseworthy.read · scan
Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations of Marcus AureliusVol. 2
- p. 259–260Rational animal's constitution has virtues: justice and temperance.read · scan
- p. 286One's art is to be good, achieved by principles about the universe and the constitution of man.read · scan
- p. 292Injustice, intemperance, anger, grief and fear are deviations from nature; the ruling faculty is made for piety and justice.read · scan
- p. 294Live according to nature and be no stranger in one's native land.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, HellVol. 20
- p. 45Virgil recalls Aristotle's Ethics: incontinence, malice and brutishness are three dispositions against Heaven, incontinence the least guilty.read · scan
- p. 106–110Virtue is named as man's proper aim.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, PurgatoryVol. 20
- p. 212Love is the seed of every virtue and of every act deserving punishment.read · scan
Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36
- p. 194–196They define virtue as life ordered according to nature and ruled by reason.read · scan
- p. 196Virtue is life ordered by nature's prescript, including easing others' misery as humanity and pity.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 105Honour and virtue are the ornaments of the soul; without them the fairest body is not esteemed.read · scan
Sir Walter Raleigh, Preface to the History of the WorldVol. 39
- p. 86–89Beatitude lies in a divine life, not in knowing divine things; devils know more than men.read · scan
René Descartes, Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting the Reason and Seeking the Truth in the SciencesVol. 34
- p. 9Ancient moralists praise virtues but give no criterion; their 'virtue' may be apathy, pride or despair.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48
- p. 25–26Science of ethics is superior in consolation.read · scan
- p. 118Thinking well is the principle of morality.read · scan
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human UnderstandingVol. 37
- p. 319Philosophy aims to correct manners and vices but may reason us out of virtue; scepticism opposes vices and follies.read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Profession of Faith of a Savoyard VicarVol. 34
- p. 276–277Virtue cannot rest on reason alone as love of order; the good man orders himself to the general order, the wicked to self-interest.read · scan
Edmund Burke, A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and BeautifulVol. 24
- p. 91Calling virtue beautiful removes the science of duties from reason, relations and necessities to visionary foundations.read · scan
William Wordsworth, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 664–666The end of man's existence is virtue; he chose glorious deed over ignoble revelry.read · scan
William Ellery Channing, On the Elevation of the Laboring ClassesVol. 28
- p. 323Thought and virtue are inseparable; conscience includes reason, and without thought conscientiousness becomes pernicious excess.read · scan
Thomas Carlyle, Sir Walter ScottVol. 25
- p. 406–407Health as harmony of faculties gives just balance and just feeling toward all men and things.read · scan
George Long, The Philosophy of AntoninusVol. 2
- p. 339–340Man should choose good and virtuous ends of life and be true to them; individual and universal interest are one.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, An Address Delivered before the Senior Class in Divinity CollegeVol. 5
- p. 26The sentiment of virtue reveals beauty, instructs man in the good, and makes him wish to be virtue itself.read · scan
- p. 32–33The moral nature is the law of laws; courage, piety, love and wisdom alone can teach.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-RelianceVol. 5
- p. 72–73Virtue is the governor, the creator, the reality; all real things are real by the virtue they contain.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Over-SoulVol. 5
- p. 134Soul through will is virtue; through affection, love.read · scan
Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, What Is a Classic?Vol. 32
- p. 124–125Virtue defined as reason put in practice; Moliere's Avare shows vice destroying affection between father and son.read · scan
James Russell Lowell, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1384–1385Faith in an ideal Good under names like Freedom, Law, Country is a wisdom and virtue above all skills.read · scan
1b.Virtue as the mean, and virtues turning into vices by excess
Confucius, The Sayings of ConfuciusVol. 44
- p. 20–21The highest goodness is holding the golden mean, which has long been rare among the people.read · scan
- p. 24–25Waste begets self-will, thrift meanness; a gentleman is calm and dignified; courtesy restrains fussiness and unruly courage.read · scan
- p. 34–35Excess and deficiency are equally faulty; disciples' characters are assessed (simple, dull, smooth, coarse).read · scan
- p. 58Love, knowledge, truth, uprightness, courage, strength sink into vices without learning.read · scan
- p. 67The gentleman is kind but not wasteful, covetous not sordid, high-minded not proud, awe-inspiring not fearsome.read · scan
Ecclesiastes; or, The PreacherVol. 44
- p. 342–343Be not overmuch righteous nor wicked; patience is better than pride and anger dwells in fools.read · scan
Marcus Tullius Cicero, On FriendshipVol. 9
- p. 26Virtue itself involves anxiety at opposing vices; it is supple and responsive, not rigid as iron.read · scan
Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9
- p. 215Denounces the combination of meanness and luxury as a vice to be shunned, and warns a young man against it.read · scan
Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations of Marcus AureliusVol. 2
- p. 201Comparison of bad acts: intemperate offence through pleasure worse than offence through anger.read · scan
The Song of RolandVol. 49
- p. 151–153Olivier charges Roland's daring and pride with folly, distinguishing true valor from rashness.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, PurgatoryVol. 20
- p. 234A vice is cleansed together with its opposite excess; Statius' prodigality is punished with the avaricious.read · scan
Michel de Montaigne, Of the Institution and Education of ChildrenVol. 32
- p. 50–51Virtue is nurse of all human pleasures, moderating them and teaching temperate use of goods and constant loss.read · scan
Thomas Hobbes, Of Man, Being the First Part of LeviathanVol. 34
- p. 412–413Virtues are means to peaceable living; Hobbes rejects the view that virtue is a mediocrity of passions.read · scan
Molière, Tartuffe, or The HypocriteVol. 26
- p. 280–281Cleante urges Orgon to distinguish virtue from its counterfeit and keep the golden mean.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48
- p. 119Greatness lies in touching opposite virtues at once, like Epaminondas's valour and kindness, not in excess of one.read · scan
- p. 120–121Pushed to extremes virtues turn to vices; virtue is sustained by balance of two opposed vices.read · scan
- p. 125Humility discourse breeds pride in the vain; the mean is virtue.read · scan
John Dryden, All for Love; or, The World Well LostVol. 18
- p. 14Excess of modesty becomes affectation, modesty depraved into vice.read · scan
William Penn, Some Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1
- p. 334–335Balanced character counsel: reserved but not sour, bold not rash, humble not servile; be grateful and own injuries.read · scan
Alexander Pope, Solitude; On a Certain Lady at Court; Essay on ManVol. 40
- p. 415Passions aimed at nobler ends take some virtue's name; stoic apathy is rejected.read · scan
Edmund Burke, A Letter to a Noble LordVol. 24
- p. 397Distinguishes parsimony from higher economy, which requires judgment, sagacity and discrimination.read · scan
Friedrich von Schiller, Letters upon the Aesthetic Education of ManVol. 32
- p. 254In refined ages gentleness degenerates into effeminacy and politeness into platitude.read · scan
1c.Virtue as motive and duty: the moral worth of the will
See also: Will 5 · Duty 1a
Buddhist WritingsVol. 45
- p. 669–670Deeds from covetousness, hatred and infatuation are contrasted with those from freedom from them.read · scan
- p. 670–671The wise priest avoids deeds rooted in covetousness, hate and infatuation.read · scan
The Bhagavad-Gita; or, Song CelestialVol. 45
- p. 794–795Scorn those who follow virtue for its gifts; the right-thinking mind surpasses the right act.read · scan
Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of ChristVol. 7
- p. 252–253Even giving away goods, penance and knowledge are nothing without abandoning self-love; he who feels himself unprofitable is truly free.read · scan
- p. 296–297Men are judged by deeds and talents, not by the virtue, patience and devotion from which they act; corrupt affections corrupt actions.read · scan
John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning EducationVol. 37
- p. 34A good man must be made so within, not by fear of a father's anger.read · scan
- p. 42True measure of virtue is knowing one's duty and obeying one's maker, in hope of reward.read · scan
Benjamin Franklin, His AutobiographyVol. 1
- p. 10–11His father convinced him that usefulness does not excuse dishonesty.read · scan
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human UnderstandingVol. 37
- p. 365–366Actions are criminal only as proofs of criminal principles in the mind; character connects action and blame.read · scan
- p. 366–367Moral qualities of actions depend on their indicating internal character, passions and affections.read · scan
John Woolman, The Journal of John WoolmanVol. 1
- p. 176Resolves to act on an inward principle of virtue and pursue business only as truth allows.read · scan
- p. 235–236Woolman examines his motives in business, visits and worship, probing for selfishness, custom and reputation-seeking; shows scrupulous moral self-scrutiny and sincerity of duty.read · scan
- p. 236–237Asks whether love of truth and righteousness, not party interest or dignity, motivates civic participation; links affliction to moral instruction.read · scan
Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of MoralsVol. 32
- p. 305Courage, moderation and self-control lack unconditional worth; the villain's coolness makes him more abominable.read · scan
- p. 309Moral worth lies in motive: the despairing man who preserves life from duty shows worth; selfish prudence lacks it.read · scan
- p. 310Moral worth of character is brought out when action is beneficent from duty and not from temperament.read · scan
- p. 318Moral worth lies in unseen inward principles rather than visible actions.read · scan
- p. 322An act of honesty free from foreign motive eclipses one affected by advantage.read · scan
- p. 337Empirical motives corrupt morality's purity; a counterfeit morality patched from mixed sources does not resemble virtue seen in her true form.read · scan
- p. 344Morality consists in acting on maxims that could be universal laws, in harmony with the kingdom of ends.read · scan
- p. 344–345Fidelity to promises and principled benevolence have intrinsic worth, lying in the disposition of the will rather than in effects.read · scan
- p. 346Virtue's lofty claims are justified by the privilege of sharing in universal legislation and membership in the kingdom of ends.read · scan
- p. 348Sublimity of morality lies in independence of maxims from springs of action.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 88Casuistical question whether a dishonest act can be praiseworthy in a good cause.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, New England ReformersVol. 5
- p. 268True virtue loses vigor when subjected to reverence for laws.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, WorshipVol. 5
- p. 292–293The honored man chooses virtue that outrages the virtuous; the highest virtue is always against the law.read · scan
Robert Louis Stevenson, Samuel PepysVol. 28
- p. 300Pepys's morals depended on others' opinion rather than an inner rule of virtue.read · scan
1d.Virtue as activity or as unconscious welldoing
Confucius, The Sayings of ConfuciusVol. 44
- p. 12Rank without bounty, ritual without reverence, mourning without grief are worthless.read · scan
Buddhist WritingsVol. 45
- p. 685–686Acting nobly or ill in body, voice and mind determines fate; thoughtlessness is the fault.read · scan
- p. 686–687Failure to act nobly through thoughtlessness is the offense charged.read · scan
- p. 754–755The verse urges that mortal years be fruitful in good works, like many garlands from a profusion of flowers.read · scan
- p. 781The Teacher likens her mind to a garland-maker inclined to noble deeds; a mortal's years should be fruitful in good works.read · scan
Epictetus, The Golden Sayings of EpictetusVol. 2
- p. 177Practice principles rather than talk of them; Socrates avoided ostentation; being unruffled at being called ignorant signals real progress in virtue.read · scan
- p. 177–178Do not boast of temperance or endurance; virtue lies in putting teachings into practice, not in commentary or pride.read · scan
Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations of Marcus AureliusVol. 2
- p. 194Avoid display of virtue, be easily reconciled with offenders, and be simple and unaffected.read · scan
- p. 223The best benefactor is like a vine that bears fruit and seeks nothing more; others count favours as debts.read · scan
- p. 223A good man does a good act unboasting, like horse, dog, bee or vine, though as a social animal he perceives it.read · scan
- p. 234–235The motion of virtue is not that of the elements but something more divine, going happily on its road.read · scan
- p. 268Virtue and vice lie in the activity of the rational social animal.read · scan
- p. 279No longer talk of what a good man ought to be, but be such.read · scan
Michel de Montaigne, Of BookesVol. 32
- p. 94Regrets the lost book of Brutus on Virtue; prefers seeing theory joined with practice, the preacher beyond the sermon.read · scan
John Webster, The Duchess of MalfiVol. 47
- p. 809Duchess argues man is happiest when his actions exemplify virtue, whatever his birth; Bosola calls it beggarly.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48
- p. 168The elect are ignorant of their virtues and the outcast of the greatness of their sins.read · scan
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Minna von Barnhelm, or The Soldier's FortuneVol. 26
- p. 313–314People seldom talk of the virtue they have but often of what they lack; Tellheim is brave and upright without boasting.read · scan
William Wordsworth, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 649–651Those who do duty's work by youthful love and truth without knowing it.read · scan
Thomas Carlyle, CharacteristicsVol. 25
- p. 324True virtue is unconscious welldoing; self-contemplation and boastful or anxious virtue are symptoms of disease.read · scan
- p. 325Moral philosophy arises only when heroic virtue has become self-aware and declines; much talk of virtue is suspect.read · scan
- p. 326–327Sentimentality and sophistry mark virtue grown self-conscious and sick; the healthy moral nature simply lives in goodness.read · scan
George Long, The Philosophy of AntoninusVol. 2
- p. 323Virtue and vice lie in activity, not passivity; ethical philosophy is worthless unless the teacher has lived it, as the practical moralist Antoninus did.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, The American ScholarVol. 5
- p. 14–15Living one's truths is a total act; justice and affection shown in daily affairs.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-RelianceVol. 5
- p. 62–63Virtues are commonly done as penances or apologies; Emerson wants a genuine life, not expiation or spectacle.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Over-SoulVol. 5
- p. 144Talents without inspiration seem almost vice and hinder advance in truth.read · scan
Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, MontaigneVol. 32
- p. 113Doubts the goodness of deeds done for noise; a physician who wished plague to display his art would deserve whipping.read · scan
1e.The unity or plurality of the virtues, and the four cardinal virtues
Confucius, The Sayings of ConfuciusVol. 44
- p. 46The full-grown man combines wisdom, freedom from greed, boldness, skill and courtesy; remembers right at gain and risks life in danger.read · scan
Plutarch, CoriolanusVol. 12
- p. 148Romans treat valor and virtue as the same thing, naming virtue after one excellence.read · scan
Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations of Marcus AureliusVol. 2
- p. 208Justice, truth, temperance and fortitude are the highest goods.read · scan
- p. 209Ask what virtue is needed toward each thing: gentleness, manliness, truth, fidelity, contentment.read · scan
- p. 220–221Events cannot prevent being just, magnanimous, temperate and prudent.read · scan
- p. 226One who conceives prudence, temperance, justice and fortitude as good would not tolerate contrary talk.read · scan
- p. 277Fix yourself in the few virtuous names as on islands of the Happy.read · scan
Saint Augustine, The Confessions of St. AugustineVol. 7
- p. 57–58He observed unity in virtue and discord in vice, and mistook these for good and evil natures.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, PurgatoryVol. 20
- p. 262–266Evangelical and cardinal virtues appear as dancing maidens; faith and charity lead each other.read · scan
Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36
- p. 179A chesslike game shows vices fighting virtues, revealing vices' discord among themselves and unity of virtues.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 475Exemplary virtues of heroes (Ulysses' subtlety, Aeneas' piety, Cato's prudence) combine to make a perfect worthy man.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48
- p. 15–16Questions dividing virtues into four rather than six or one; a one-word maxim hides virtues as in a chest.read · scan
John Dryden, Dedication of the AeneisVol. 13
- p. 24–25Piety comprehends all duties and virtues, including valor; valor alone can accompany impiety and vice.read · scan
Benjamin Franklin, His AutobiographyVol. 1
- p. 80–81Concludes the list of virtues and arranges them so earlier ones ease acquiring later ones.read · scan
Edmund Burke, A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and BeautifulVol. 24
- p. 90Great virtues like fortitude, justice, wisdom inspire admiration and terror; the softer virtues of compassion and kindness are lovable.read · scan
- p. 125Distinguishes amiable virtues that win love from politic and military virtues that win admiration only.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 236–238Personified Courage, Benevolence, Learning, Worth and Hospitality join the procession of seasons.read · scan
- p. 338–339No two virtues imply each other, even when alike as twin brothers; character resists neat classification.read · scan
George Long, The Philosophy of AntoninusVol. 2
- p. 341Virtue alone is indivisible, one and satisfying; its parts are only practical conveniences; it is the perfecting of practical conduct.read · scan
- p. 344–345The four chief virtues are studied as means to living by nature; virtue is its own reward.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, New England ReformersVol. 5
- p. 258–259Virtue is not piecemeal; a single reform without total regeneration is a jewel among rags, and evil washes all institutions alike.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25
- p. 33–34Father's Socratic morality: justice, temperance, veracity, perseverance, labour, public good, and a life of exertion.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On LibertyVol. 25
- p. 271Self-regarding virtues rank second only to social virtues in importance.read · scan
Walter Bagehot, John MiltonVol. 28
- p. 168–170Contrasts two kinds of goodness, sensuous (David) and ascetic; sensitivity to outward stimulus brings liability to temptation and great errors.read · scan
- p. 170–171Sensuous goodness is tender, sympathetic and rich; ascetic goodness is pure and impeccable but proud, unsympathetic and ignorant of others.read · scan
- p. 171Ascetic purity comes with self-confidence, unsympathizing straitness and singular errors.read · scan
1f.The relativity and mixture of moral judgments
Confucius, The Sayings of ConfuciusVol. 44
- p. 63Confucius compares recluses who kept clean with those who bent the will, and declares he knows no fixed 'must or must not'.read · scan
Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9
- p. 262He answers the charge against his morals: relaxation is innocent, and what the best men practise is not made wrong by the worst.read · scan
Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36
- p. 215Other peoples call buying adversaries base cowardice; Utopians deem it praiseworthy.read · scan
- p. 215Killing few offenders is called mercy that saves many innocents; Zapoletes are described as savage and given to no goodness.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of King LearVol. 46
- p. 284Albany condemns Goneril's wickedness: 'Wisdom and goodness to the vile seem vile'; she is a fiend in a woman's shape.read · scan
John Webster, The Duchess of MalfiVol. 47
- p. 794–795Ferdinand asks whether virtue is a mere name and no essential thing, cursing the Duchess's lust.read · scan
Philip Massinger, A New Way to Pay Old DebtsVol. 47
- p. 872–873Wellborn insists poverty is not vice nor riches virtue.read · scan
Thomas Hobbes, Of Man, Being the First Part of LeviathanVol. 34
- p. 329One man calls wisdom or justice what another calls fear or cruelty.read · scan
- p. 348–349Intellectual virtues are mental abilities valued for eminence and by comparison; if all were equal nothing would be prized.read · scan
- p. 349Intellectual 'virtues' are of two sorts, natural and acquired; fancy without judgment is not commended as a virtue.read · scan
- p. 402Successful wickedness gets the name of virtue, and breach of faith is excused when it wins a kingdom.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48
- p. 104Theft, incest, infanticide and patricide have all been counted virtuous actions somewhere.read · scan
David Hume, Of the Standard of TasteVol. 27
- p. 204Writers everywhere praise justice, humanity, prudence and veracity; agreement partly reflects that the words virtue and vice imply praise and blame.read · scan
- p. 204–205General moral precepts are trivially true from the terms; the Koran's real morals show in praising treachery and cruelty.read · scan
- p. 221Blameable intolerance is counted as virtue and divine heroism by zealots.read · scan
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human UnderstandingVol. 37
- p. 369Moral sentiments of approbation and blame arise from natural feeling, tied to public peace and detriment; the distinction between vice and virtue is real.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 246–248Blesses those who live by feeling rather than by square and rule; admits human frailty and failings.read · scan
Thomas Babington Macaulay, MachiavelliVol. 27
- p. 376–377Timid vices like fraud are disreputable in the North while daring excesses are excused; Italians forgave crimes requiring skill and self-command.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, CirclesVol. 5
- p. 155–156Each virtue is extinguished in the light of a better.read · scan
- p. 156–157No virtue is final; the virtues of society are the vices of the saint.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, WorshipVol. 5
- p. 278Skepticism shows in distrust of human virtue and in ready suggestion of low motives for patriots.read · scan
- p. 279Respectable society excuses the public rogue while shunning the private thief, showing double standards toward vice.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25
- p. 29–31Morality lacks consistent principle when tied to blind tradition and a low ideal of excellence.read · scan
- p. 40English habit of assuming conduct aims at petty objects contrasts with elevated sentiment abroad.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On LibertyVol. 25
- p. 199Moral sentiments of praise and blame are traced to mixed, often base, motives.read · scan
Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Two Years Before the MastVol. 23
- p. 169Vice balances vice: thriftless men, unchaste women, intemperate Indians, abstemious Spaniards.read · scan
Outline · 2 ›