You are a man, not God; you ar...

You are a man, not God; you are human, not an angel. How can you expect to remain always in a constant state of virtue, when this was not possible even for an angel of Heaven, nor for the first man in the Garden?

~Thomas p Kempis~

When virtue has slept, she wil...

When virtue has slept, she will get up more refreshed.

~Friedrich Nietzsche~

When men grow virtuous in thei...

When men grow virtuous in their old age, they only make a sacrifice to God of the devil's leavings.

~Jonathan Swift, Thoughts on Various Subjects, 1711~

What, after all, is a halo?&#1...

What, after all, is a halo?  It's only one more thing to keep clean.

~Christopher Fry~

We would frequently be ashamed...

We would frequently be ashamed of our good deeds if people saw all of the motives that produced them.

~La Rochefoucauld, Maxims, 1665~

We are double-edged blades, an...

We are double-edged blades, and every time we whet our virtue the return stroke strops our vice.

~Henry David Thoreau~

Water which is too pure has no...

Water which is too pure has no fish.

~Ts'ai Ken T'an~

Virtues are dangerous as vices...

Virtues are dangerous as vices insofar as they are allowed to rule over one as authorities and not as qualities one develops oneself.

~Friedrich Nietzsche~

Virtue would not go to such le...

Virtue would not go to such lengths if vanity did not keep her company.

~François de la Rochefoucauld~

Virtue that wavers is not virt...

Virtue that wavers is not virtue.

~John Milton~

Virtue often trips and falls o...

Virtue often trips and falls on the sharp-edged rock of poverty.

~Eugene Sue~

Virtue is praised, but hated. ...

Virtue is praised, but hated. People run from it, for it is ice-cold and in this world you have to keep your feet warm.

~Denis Diderot, Rameau's Nephew, 1762~

Virtue is like a rich stone, b...

Virtue is like a rich stone, best plain set.

~Sir Francis Bacon~

Virtue is its own reward. Ther...

Virtue is its own reward. There's a pleasure in doing good which sufficiently pays itself.

~Sir John Vanbrugh~

Virtue is insufficient temptat...

Virtue is insufficient temptation.

~George Bernard Shaw~

Virtue is health, vice is sick...

Virtue is health, vice is sickness.

~Petrarch~

Virtue is an angel, but she is...

Virtue is an angel, but she is a blind one, and must ask of Knowledge to show her the pathway that leads to her goal.

~Horace Mann~

Virtue has its own reward, but...

Virtue has its own reward, but no sale at the box office.

~Mae West~

Virtue consists, not in abstai...

Virtue consists, not in abstaining from vice, but in not desiring it.

~George Bernard Shaw~

Unless I accept my faults I wi...

Unless I accept my faults I will most certainly doubt my virtues.

~Hugh Prather~