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.

There will be vice as long as there are men.

There will be vice as long as there are men.

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.

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.

He hadn't a single redeeming vice.

He hadn't a single redeeming vice.

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

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

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

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

We make a ladder for ourselves of our vices, if we trample those
same vices underfoot.
[Lat., De read more

We make a ladder for ourselves of our vices, if we trample those
same vices underfoot.
[Lat., De vitiis nostris scalam nobis facimus, si vitia ipsa
calcamus.]

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.