Quotes on Virtue

 
The following are just a few of Derek's favorite quotes on virtuous living.  If you have a favorite quote about virtuous living that you'd like to see added to the list, post a comment below, or send an email to Derek.

  • “It is well said, then, that it is by doing just acts that the just man is produced, and by doing temperate acts the temperate man; without doing these no one would have even a prospect of becoming good.”-Aristotle
  • “And if any one loves righteousness, her labors are virtues; for she teaches self-control [temperance] and prudence, justice and courage; nothing in life is more profitable for men than these.”–Wisdom 8:7
  • “The goal of a virtuous life is to become like God.”–St. Gregory of Nyssa
  • “True religion consists of these two elements: pious doctrines and virtuous actions.  God does not accept doctrines apart from good works, nor are works, when divorced from godly doctrines, accepted by God.”–St. Cyril of Jerusalem
  • “When we speak about wisdom, we are speaking of Christ.  When we speak about virtue, we are speaking of Christ.  When we speak about justice, we are speaking of Christ.”–St. Ambrose of Milan
  • “There is no love without hope, no hope without love, and neither love nor hope without faith.”–St. Augustine of Hippo
  • “Virtue is nothing without the trial of temptation, for there is no conflict without an enemy, no victory without strife.”–Pope St. Leo the Great
  • “Humility is to the various virtues what the chain is to a rosary.  Take away the chain and the beads are scattered; remove humility and all virtues vanish.”–St. John Vianney
  • “[W]e must go through pain, we must practise self-denial, we must curb our wills, and purify our hearts, before we are capable of any lasting solid peace.”–Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman
  • “Where there is no self-denial, there is no virtue.”–St. Josemaria Escriva
  • “Poverty is a certain letting go of material possessions, a self-denial that we are ready to practice for love of God.  The virtue of poverty consists of knowing exactly how to use the things of this world, which are gifts from God, as means to achieve higher things, and not as ends in themselves.”–St. Josemaria Escriva
  • “Virtue is the utmost of what a man can be; it is the realization of the human capacity for being.” –Josef Pieper (20th-Century Philosopher)
  • “All serious and upright human conduct is hope in action.”–Pope Benedict XVI (from Spe Salvi 35) 
  • “To be humble is simply to know and accept the truth about ourselves.”–Fr. Andrew Apostoli
  • “Virtue is a revolutionary thing in the the midst of our world, and it will win the world!"-Peter Kreeft (Catholic Philosopher)

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