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?

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

He hadn't a single redeeming vice.

He hadn't a single redeeming vice.

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.

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

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

The vices we scoff at in others, laugh at us within ourselves.

The vices we scoff at in others, laugh at us within ourselves.

There is no vice so simple but assumes
Some mark of virtue on his outward parts.

There is no vice so simple but assumes
Some mark of virtue on his outward parts.

Vices are often habits rather than passions.

Vices are often habits rather than passions.

Men wish to be saved from the mischiefs of their vices, but not from their vices.

Men wish to be saved from the mischiefs of their vices, but not from their vices.