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Better keep yourself clean and bright. You are the window through which you must see the world.
Better keep yourself clean and bright. You are the window through which you must see the world.
Virtue is a state of war, and to live in it we have always to combat with ourselves.
Virtue is a state of war, and to live in it we have always to combat with ourselves.
The more virtuous any man is, the less easily does he suspect
others to be vicious.
[Lat., Nam read more
The more virtuous any man is, the less easily does he suspect
others to be vicious.
[Lat., Nam ut quisque est vir optimus, ita difficillime esse
alios improbos suspicatur.]
It is a revenge the devil sometimes takes upon the virtuous, that he entraps them by the force of the read more
It is a revenge the devil sometimes takes upon the virtuous, that he entraps them by the force of the very passion they have suppressed and think themselves superior to.
Virtue, the strength and beauty of the soul,
Is the best gift of Heaven: a happiness
That read more
Virtue, the strength and beauty of the soul,
Is the best gift of Heaven: a happiness
That even above the smiles and frowns of fate
Exalts great Nature's favourites: a wealth
That ne'er encumbers, nor can be transferr'd.
What were once vices are the fashion of the day.
What were once vices are the fashion of the day.
The path of a good woman is indeed strewn with flowers; but they rise behind her steps, not before them
The path of a good woman is indeed strewn with flowers; but they rise behind her steps, not before them
That which leads us to the performance of duty by offering
pleasure as its reward, is not virtue, but read more
That which leads us to the performance of duty by offering
pleasure as its reward, is not virtue, but a deceptive copy and
imitation of virtue.
[Lat., Nam quae voluptate, quasi mercede aliqua, ad officium
impellitur, ea non est virtus sed fallax imitatio simulatioque
virtutis.]
The virtues of society are vices of the saint. The terror of reform is the discovery that we must cast read more
The virtues of society are vices of the saint. The terror of reform is the discovery that we must cast away our virtues, or what we have always esteemed such, into the same pit that has consumed our grosser vices.