Don Marquis Quotes

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.

Virtue - even attempted virtue - brings light; indulgence brings fog.

Virtue is no empty echo.

I'm actually a very moral guy.

The superior man does not, even for the space of a single meal, act contrary to virtue. In moments of haste, he cleaves to it. In seasons of danger, he cleaves to it.

We should make virtue our master, not our servant.

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

. . . Virtue, morality, and religion. This is the armor, my friend, and this alone that renders us invincible. These are the tactics we should study. If we lose these, we are conquered, fallen indeed . . . so long as our manners and principles remain sound, there is no danger.

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.

Is not virtue a negation of becoming?

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

He cannot be vertuous that is not rigorous.

Think nothing profitable to you which compels you to break a promise, to lose your self respect, to hate any person, to curse, to act the hypocrite.

Be virtuous and you will be eccentric.

If virtue precede us every step will be safe.

Virtue is its own reward.

A good man will not lie, although it be for his profit.

Virtue shuns ease as a companion. It demands a rough and thorny path.

Is virtue a thing remote? I wish to be virtuous, and lo! Virtue is at hand.

Virtue is her own reward.

To live a life of virtue, you have to become consistent, even when it isn't convenient, comfortable, or easy.

Integrity is praised, and starves.

Let him leave the imperial court, who wishes to be virtuous. Virtue and absolute power cannot coexist.