
“Sincerity is the most overrated virtue in the catalogue.”
Star of the Sea (p. 637)
Time Patrol
Interview with Lorie Conway (1997) from Interviews with John Kenneth Galbraith (2004) ed. James Ronald Stanfield and Jacqueline Bloom Stanfield. Conway saw these words on a framed needlepoint, entitled "Galbraith's First Law," at Galbraith's home
“Sincerity is the most overrated virtue in the catalogue.”
Star of the Sea (p. 637)
Time Patrol
Norah Vincent, Sex, Love and Politics, id., p. 40, col. 2
“Modesty is not only an ornament, but also a guard to virtue.”
No. 231 (24 November 1711).
The Spectator (1711–1714)
“Modesty is oftner mistaken than any other Virtue.”
Political, Moral, and Miscellaneous Reflections (1750), Miscellaneous Thoughts and Reflections
“Nonsense prevails, modesty fails
Grace and virtue turn into stupidity”
All This Useless Beauty
Song lyrics, All This Useless Beauty (1996)
Context: Nonsense prevails, modesty fails
Grace and virtue turn into stupidity
While the calendar fades almost all barricades to a pale compromise
And our leaders have feasts on the backsides of beasts
They still think they're the gods of antiquity
If something you missed didn't even exist
It was just an ideal — is it such a surprise?
“Modesty is an old-fashioned virtue, which, given your charms, you must certainly do without.”
First Dialogue, Delmonce
Philosophy in the Bedroom (1795)
Source: Epigrams, p. 358
"On the Knowledge of Character"
Table Talk: Essays On Men And Manners http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Essays/TableHazIV.htm (1821-1822)