Saint Augustine! well hast thou said,
That of our vices we can frame
A ladder, if we read more

Saint Augustine! well hast thou said,
That of our vices we can frame
A ladder, if we will but tread
Beneath our feet each deed of shame.

If individuals have no vices, their virtues may be of use to us.

If individuals have no vices, their virtues may be of use to us.

Vice gets more in this vicious world
Than piety.

Vice gets more in this vicious world
Than piety.

Ill habits gather by unseen degrees,As brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas.

Ill habits gather by unseen degrees,As brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas.

Virtue, I grant you, is an empty boast;
But shall the dignity of vice be lost?

Virtue, I grant you, is an empty boast;
But shall the dignity of vice be lost?

There will be vice as long as there are men.

There will be vice as long as there are men.

Every vice makes its guilt the more conspicuous in proportion to
the rank of the offender.
[Lat., Omne read more

Every vice makes its guilt the more conspicuous in proportion to
the rank of the offender.
[Lat., Omne animi vitium tanto conspectius in se
Crimen habet, quanto major qui peccat habetur.]

The worst vice of a fanatic is his sincerity.

The worst vice of a fanatic is his sincerity.

Who has a book of all that monarchs do,
He's more secure to keep it shut than shown;
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Who has a book of all that monarchs do,
He's more secure to keep it shut than shown;
For vice repeated is like the wand'ring wind,
Blows dust in others' eye, to spread itself;
And yet the end of all is bought thus dear,
The breath is gone, and the sore eyes see clear
To stop the air would hurt them.