“Virtues, n. pl. Certain abstentions.”

The Devil's Dictionary (1911)

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Ambrose Bierce 204
American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabu… 1842–1914

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“He who studies a text or microbes or stars must have nothing to do with his subjectivity… that is an ideal that one must try to find by a certain practice. Let us say that objectivity is a virtue, and a very difficult one to practice.”

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“The virtue of prosperity, is temperance; the virtue of adversity, is fortitude; which in morals is the more heroical virtue.”

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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.

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Misattributed

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