This is the essential evil of vice: it debases a man.—Chapin.
Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,
As, to be hated, needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.
—Pope.
Vicious actions are not hurtful because they are forbidden, but forbidden because they are hurtful.—Franklin.
Virtue.—Virtue has many preachers, but few martyrs.—Helvetius.
Virtue alone is sweet society,
It keeps the key to all heroic hearts,
And opens you a welcome in them all.
—Emerson.
The virtue of a man ought to be measured not by his extraordinary exertions, but by his every-day conduct.—Pascal.
Virtue consisteth of three parts,—temperance, fortitude, and justice.—Epicurus.
Virtue maketh men on the earth famous, in their graves illustrious, in the heavens immortal.—Child.
When we pray for any virtue, we should cultivate the virtue as well as pray for it; the form of your prayers should be the rule of your life.—Jeremy Taylor.
To be ambitious of true honor, of the true glory and perfection of our natures, is the very principle and incentive of virtue.—Sir P. Sidney.