“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.”
Marcus Tullius Cicero (-106–-43 BC) Roman philosopher and statesman
Pro Plancio (54 B.C.)
“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.”
Marcus Tullius Cicero (-106–-43 BC) Roman philosopher and statesman
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist
1920s, The Prospects of Industrial Civilization (1923)
Context: The governors of the world believe, and have always believed, that virtue can only be taught by teaching falsehood, and that any man who knew the truth would be wicked. I disbelieve this, absolutely and entirely. I believe that love of truth is the basis of all real virtue, and that virtues based upon lies can only do harm.
Isaac Watts (1674–1748) English hymnwriter, theologian and logician
Song 22: "Against Pride in Clothes".
1710s, Divine Songs Attempted in the Easy Language of Children (1715)
Francis Bacon book Essays
Of Adversity
Essays (1625)
Context: The virtue of prosperity, is temperance; the virtue of adversity, is fortitude; which in morals is the more heroical virtue. Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament; adversity is the blessing of the New; which carrieth the greater benediction, and the clearer revelation of God's favor. Yet even in the Old Testament, if you listen to David's harp, you shall hear as many hearse-like airs as carols; and the pencil of the Holy Ghost hath labored more in describing the afflictions of Job, than the felicities of Solomon. Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes; and adversity is not without comforts and hopes.
Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794) French revolutionary lawyer and politician
Speech to the National Convention, (5 February 1794), as quoted in The Bolshevik Revolution, 1917-1923, Vol. 1 (1951) by Edward Hallett Carr, p. 154 <br class="br">Variant translations: <br class="br">The attribute of popular government in a revolution is at one and the same time virtue and terror. Terror without virtue is fatal; virtue without terror is impotent. The terror is nothing but justice, prompt, severe, inflexible; it is thus an emanation of virtue. <br class="br">As quoted in Red Star Over Southern Africa (1988) by Morgan Norval, p. xvi <br class="br">If the mainspring of popular government in peace time is virtue, its resource during a revolution is at one and the same time virtue and terror; virtue, without which terror is merely terrible; terror, without which virtue is simply powerless. <br class="br">As quoted in Rousseau, Robespierre and English Romanticism (1999) by Gregory Dart <br class="br">Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible; it is therefore an emanation of virtue; it is not so much a special principle as it is a consequence of the general principle of democracy applied to our country's most urgent needs. <br class="br">Original French: La terreur n'est autre chose que la justice prompte, sévère, inflexible; elle est donc une émanation de la vertu ; elle est moins un principe particulier, qu’une conséquence du principe général de la démocratie, appliqué aux plus pressants besoins de la patrie. <br class="br">From Sur les principes de morale politique http://www.royet.org/nea1789-1794/archives/discours/robespierre_principes_morale_politique_05_02_94.htm
Northrop Frye (1912–1991) Canadian literary critic and literary theorist
"Quotes", The Educated Imagination (1963), Talk 6: The Vocation of Eloquence
Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) Russian writer
i.e., self-control or moderation.
Source: The First Step (1892), Ch. VIII