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21 " We are living on what we believe and the virtues upon which we stand. "
22 " . . . you must not build upon foundations of prayer and contemplation alone, for, unless you strive after the virtues and practice them, you will never grow to be more than dwarfs. "
― Teresa de Jesús , Interior Castle
23 " I'm working on my own life story. I don't mean I'm putting it together; no, I'm taking it apart. If you'd wanted the narrative line you should have asked earlier, when I still knew everything and was more than willing to tell. That was before I discovered the virtues of scissors, the virtues of matches. "
― Margaret Atwood , The Tent
24 " Throughout the history of mankind, the virtues embraced by humanity have remained true, unwavering, and consistent. "
― Susan C. Young , The Art of Being: 8 Ways to Optimize Your Presence & Essence for Positive Impact (The Art of First Impressions for Positive Impact, #1)
25 " She was not the sort of woman guys settle for. She was the one they lust after and strive for. She was the one who ruins other people's relationships simply by existing, but she will always be surmounted as guys come to realize the virtues of the approachable girl next door. She was, in brief, too pretty to be trusted or had. "
― Thomm Quackenbush , Artificial Gods (Night's Dream, #3)
26 " A pickpocket is obviously a champion of private enterprise. But it would perhaps be an exaggeration to say that a pickpocket is a champion of private property. The point about Capitalism and Commercialism, as conducted of late, is that they have really preached the extension of business rather than the preservation of belongings; and have at best tried to disguise the pickpocket with some of the virtues of the pirate. "
― G.K. Chesterton , The Outline of Sanity
27 " Ideas... [are] like babies - everything about their environment [says] they shouldn't exist. But they do. You can't dwell on problems too early, or they will swamp the virtues and you will decide not to do the project.(Attributed to Mike Jones) "
― Steven Levy , In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives
28 " When value systems are embraced by a nation, when the citizens of a country are truly rich in virtues, then material wealth is a matter of time. Moreover, these material wealth don’t just come and go, they come to stay as long as the virtues remain in the fabric of the nation "
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29 " Material wealth don’t just come and go, they come to stay as long as the virtues remain in the fabric of a nation "
30 " While a common reaction to seeing a thing of beauty is to want to buy it, our real desire may be not so much to own what we find beautiful as to lay permanent claim to the inner qualities it embodies.Owning such an object may help us realise our ambition of absorbing the virtues to which it alludes, but we ought not to presume that those virtues will automatically or effortlessly begin to rub off on us through tenure. Endeavouring to purchase something we think beautiful may in fact be the most unimaginative way of dealing with the longing it excites in us, just as trying to sleep with someone may be the bluntest response to a feeling of love.What we seek, at the deepest level, is inwardly to resemble, rather than physically possess, the objects and places that touch us through their beauty. "
― Alain de Botton , The Architecture of Happiness
31 " The Great Man... is colder, harder, less hesitating, and without fear of 'opinion'; he lacks the virtues that accompany respect and 'respectability,' and altogether everything that is the 'virtue of the herd.' If he cannot lead, he goes alone... He knows he is incommunicable: he finds it tasteless to be familiar... When not speaking to himself, he wears a mask. There is a solitude within him that is inaccessible to praise or blame. "
― Friedrich Nietzsche
32 " Believe me, Eugenie, the words " vice" and " virtue" supply us only with local meanings. There is no action, however bizarre you may picture it, that is truly criminal; or one that can really be called virtuous. Everything depends on our customs and on the climates we live in. What is considered a crime here is often a virtue a few hundred leagues away; and the virtues of another hemisphere might, quite conversely, be regarded as crimes among us. There is no atrocity that hasn't been deified, no virtue that hasn't been stigmatized. "
33 " They had lied, those who had extolled the virtues of love—its pleasures, its sublimity—those who had told her that it was beautiful and worthwhile.There was nothing beautiful abo "
34 " The Left has made the young gullible and materialist, while the Right has turned them into nihilistic cynics. This paradigm of power and struggle, expressed through endless ego-driven duality games will eventually lose steam. The new methodology must reconcile these two extremes by formulating a way of living that embodies the virtues of a natural, universal being - simplicity, patience, and compassion. "
35 " By practicing the virtues we cultivate the soil from which healthy emotions sprout "
36 " Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones. "
― Marcus Aurelius
37 " With ancient history writers most immediately in view, the author indicates " tendency to look to the virtues and vices of individuals when seeking causes. "
38 " The next time you feel a sense of dissatisfaction, of something being missing or not quite right, turn inward as an experiment. See if you can capture the energy of that very moment. Instead of picking up a magazine or going to the movies, calling a friend or looking for something to eat or acting up in one way or another, make a place for yourself. Sit down and enter into your breathing, if only for a few minutes. Don't look for anything - neither flowers not light nor a beautiful view. Don't extol the virtues of anything or condemn the inadequacy of anything. Don't even think to yourself, " I am going inward now." Just sit. Reside at the center of the world. Let things be as they are. "
39 " In many ways he was like America itself, big and strong, full of good intentions, a roll of fat jiggling at his belly, slow of foot but always plodding along, always there when you needed him, a believer in the virtues of simplicity and directness and hard labor. "
― Tim O'Brien , The Things They Carried
40 " The cruel man is of misanthropic temperament, and is a man of moods, oscillating from quiet brooding to sudden explosions. If a man like this does not fight this unhappy provision of his soul during his youth, under no circumstances could he a void becoming furious - and foolish. There are those who would leave it up to God, but to ensure justice on the earth, and not fob it off to the Divinity, it is mandatory that people know both virtue and its benefits, since the virtues lead to unity among them, not the war of all against all. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to conserve them, and show that crime can only return misfortunes and destruction, including of the criminal himself. Who is the last victim of his crimes. "
― Frederick the Great ,