Virtue Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old virtue quotes, virtue sayings, and virtue proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.

Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values. Dalai Lama
Outside show is a poor substitute for inner worth. Aesop
People show their character by what they laugh at. German (on character and virtue)
Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. Dalai Lama
Seek virtue and of that posest, to Providence resign the rest. Benjamin Franklin
Sweet are the slumbers of a virtuous man. Joseph Addison
td>Caesar did not merit the triumphal car more than he that conquers himself. Benjamin Franklin
The best way to keep good acts in memory is to repeat them. Cato
The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves. William Hazlitt
The one who understands does not speak; the one who speaks does not understand. Chinese (on paradox)
The pleasure of doing good is the only one that will not wear out. Chinese (on good and evil)
The real art of conversation is not only saying the right thing at the right moment but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the most tempting moment. unknown
The wise and the brave dares own that he was wrong. Benjamin Franklin
Virtue alone is true nobility. William Gifford
Virtue is like a rich stone, it's best plain set. Francis Bacon
Wealth and content are not always bedfellows. Benjamin Franklin
What you cannot avoid, welcome. Chinese Proverb
When love and skill go together, expect a masterpiece. John Ruskin
When you go to a donkey's house, don't talk about ears. Jamaican (on courtesy and respect)
Where you were born is less important than how you live. Turkish (on character and virtue)
Who is strong? He that can conquer his bad habits. Benjamin Franklin
You are what you eat. German Proverb
You become what you think about. Buddha
You can't stop a pig from wallowing in the mud. Yoruba - West Africa (on character and virtue)
I prefer a comfortable vice to a virtue that bores. Moliere
It is queer how it is always one's virtues and not one's vices that precipitate one into disaster. Rebecca West
You may have noted the fact that it is a person's virtues as often as his vices that make him difficult to live with. Kate Douglas Wiggin
Nurse one vice in your bosom. Give it the attention it deserves and let your virtues spring up modestly around it. Then you'll have the miser who's no liar; and the drunkard who's the benefactor of the whole city. Thornton Wilder
We value virtue but do not discuss it. The honest bookkeeper, the faithful wife, the earnest scholar get little of our attention compared to the embezzler, the tramp, the cheat. John Steinbeck
Virtue consists, not in abstaining from vice, but in not desiring it. George Bernard Shaw