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?

Vice itself lost half its evil, by losing all its grossness.

Vice itself lost half its evil, by losing all its grossness.

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

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

Every vice is only an exaggeration of a necessary and virtuous function.

Every vice is only an exaggeration of a necessary and virtuous function.

He possessed beauty without vanity, strength without insolence; courage without ferocity; and all the virtues of man without his vices

He possessed beauty without vanity, strength without insolence; courage without ferocity; and all the virtues of man without his vices

What maintains one vice would bring up two children.

What maintains one vice would bring up two children.

I prefer an interesting vice to a virtue that bores

I prefer an interesting vice to a virtue that bores

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.]

If you don't want anyone to know it, don't do it.

If you don't want anyone to know it, don't do it.