Irving Babbitt (1865–1933) American academic and literary criticism
Representative Writings (1981), pp. xvi-xvii
“The greatest minds are capable of the greatest vices as well as of the greatest virtues.”
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René Descartes47
French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist 1596–1650Related quotes
David Hume (1711–1776) Scottish philosopher, economist, and historian
Essay on the Immortality of the Soul
Context: Heaven and Hell suppose two distinct species of men, the good and the bad; but the greatest part of mankind float betwixt vice and virtue. -- Were one to go round the world with an intention of giving a good supper to the righteous, and a sound drubbing to the wicked, he would frequently be embarrassed in his choice, and would find that the merits and the demerits of most men and women scarcely amount to the value of either.
W. H. Auden book Forewords and Afterwords
"C.P. Cavafy", p. 341
Forewords and Afterwords (1973)
Context: In most poetic expressions of patriotism, it is impossible to distinguish what is one of the greatest human virtues from the worst human vice, collective egotism.
The virtue of patriotism has been extolled most loudly and publicly by nations that are in the process of conquering others, by the Roman, for example, in the first century B. C., the French in the 1790s, the English in the nineteenth century, and the Germans in the first half of the twentieth. To such people, love of one's country involves denying the right of others, of the Gauls, the Italians, the Indians, the Poles, to love theirs.
“The man with the greatest soul will always face the greatest war with the low minded person.”
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity
“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.”
Marcus Tullius Cicero (-106–-43 BC) Roman philosopher and statesman
Denis Diderot (1713–1784) French Enlightenment philosopher and encyclopædist
Observations on the Drawing Up of Laws (1774)
Context: In any country where talent and virtue produce no advancement, money will be the national god. Its inhabitants will either have to possess money or make others believe that they do. Wealth will be the highest virtue, poverty the greatest vice. Those who have money will display it in every imaginable way. If their ostentation does not exceed their fortune, all will be well. But if their ostentation does exceed their fortune they will ruin themselves. In such a country, the greatest fortunes will vanish in the twinkling of an eye. Those who don't have money will ruin themselves with vain efforts to conceal their poverty. That is one kind of affluence: the outward sign of wealth for a small number, the mask of poverty for the majority, and a source of corruption for all.
“Money is the source of the greatest vice, & that Nation which is most rich, is most wicked.”
Frances Burney (1752–1840) English writer
The Early Journals and Letters of Fanny Burney, vol. 1, p. 48, journal entry, November 17, 1768.
Letters
“The greatest reward of righteousness is peace of mind.”
Epicurus (-341–-269 BC) ancient Greek philosopher
Attributed to Epicurus by Clement of Alexandria in Stromata