Francois Rene de Chateaubriand Quotes

Birth is nothing without virtue, and we have no claim to share in the glory of our ancestors unless we endeavor to resemble them.

Virtue is that perfect good, which is the complement of a happy life; the only immortal thing that belongs to mortality.

If there is one word that describes the meaning of character, it is the word honor. Without honor, civilization would not long exist. Without honor, there could be no dependable contracts, no lasting marriages, no trust or happiness. What does the word honor mean to you? To me, honor is summarized in this expression by the poet Tennyson, "Man's word [of honor] is God in man."

Virtue is more to man than either water or fire. I have seen men die from treading on water and fire, but I have never seen a man die from treading the course of virtue.

There is such a thing as honest pride and self-respect.

Morality is not the doctrine of how we may make ourselves happy, but how we may make ourselves worthy of happiness.

I'm actually a very moral guy.

I can be forced to live without happiness, but I will never consent to live without honor.

The superior man... does not set his mind either for or against anything, he will pursue whatever is right. The superior man thinks of virtue, the common man of comfort.

When you can't have anything else, you can have virtue.

For he who is honest is noble, Whatever his fortunes or birth.

A good moral character is the first essential. It is highly important not only to be learned but to be virtuous.

True happiness flows from the possession of wisdom and virtue and not from the possession of external goods.

The best and only safe road to honor, glory, and true dignity is justice.

"On my honor" - what an ennobling phrase! Three short words, nine letters, but the summation of all we call character. From the Boy Scout's Oath.

Character is in turn the enduring source of virtue. It stands by itself and excites admiration in others. It is not obedience to authority, and while it is often consistent with and reinforced by religious belief, it is not piety.

So much greater is our thirst for glory than for virtue.

Only by perfect virtue can the perfect path, in all its courses, be made a fact.

Is not virtue a negation of becoming?

Every one of us ... knows better than he practices, and recognizes a better law than he obeys.

It is a very poor consolation to be told that the man who has given one a bad dinner, or poor wine, is irreproachable in private life. Even the cardinal virtues cannot atone for half-cold entrees.

Temperance is love surrendering itself wholly to Him who is its object; courage is love bearing all things gladly for the sake of Him who is its object; justice is love serving only Him who is its object, and therefore rightly ruling; prudence is love making wise distinction between what hinders and what helps itself.

A good character is the only guarantee of everlasting, carefree happiness.

There is no greater wealth than Virtue,And no greater loss than to forget it.

If virtue precede us every step will be safe.