#virtues

We are far more liable to catch the vices than the virtues of our associates. ↗

— Denis Diderot

#catch #far #liable #more #our

The three chief virtues of a programmer are: Laziness, Impatience and Hubris. ↗

— Larry Wall

#hubris #impatience #laziness #programmer #three

Though I obviously have no proof of this, the one aspect of life that seems clear to me is that good people do whatever they believe is the right thing to do. Being virtuous is hard, not easy. The idea of doing good things simply because you're good seems like a zero-sum game; I'm not even sure those actions would still qualify as 'good,' since they'd merely be a function of normal behavior. Regardless of what kind of god you believe in--a loving god, a vengeful god, a capricious god, a snooty beret-wearing French god, or whatever--one has to assume that you can't be penalized for doing the things you believe to be truly righteous and just. Certainly, this creates some pretty glaring problems: Hitler may have thought he was serving God. Stalin may have thought he was serving God (or something vaguely similar). I'm certain Osama bin Laden was positive he was serving God. It's not hard to fathom that all of those maniacs were certain that what they were doing was right. Meanwhile, I constantly do things that I know are wrong; they're not on the same scale as incinerating Jews or blowing up skyscrapers, but my motivations might be worse. I have looked directly into the eyes of a woman I loved and told her lies for no reason, except that those lies would allow me to continue having sex with another woman I cared about less. This act did not kill 20 million Russian peasants, but it might be more 'diabolical' in a literal sense. If I died and found out I was going to hell and Stalin was in heaven, I would note the irony, but I couldn't complain. I don't make the fucking rules. ↗

— Chuck Klosterman

#good #hell #virtues #life

Virtues are acquired through endeavor, which rests wholly upon yourself. ↗

— Sidney Lanier

#acquired #endeavor #rests #through #upon

The faults of husbands are often caused by the excess virtues of their wives. ↗

— Sidonie Gabrielle Colette

#excess #faults #husbands #often #their

Not to be cheered by praise, not to be grieved by blame, but to know thoroughly one's own virtues or powers are the characteristics of an excellent man. ↗

— Satchel Paige

#characteristics #cheered #excellent #excellent man #grieved

There may be a hundred thousand men in an army, who are all equally free; but they only are naturally most fit to be commanders or leaders, who most excel in the virtues required for the right performance of those offices. ↗

— Algernon Sidney

#commanders #equally #excel #fit #free

Manners are like the shadows of virtues, they are the momentary display of those qualities which our fellow creatures love and respect. ↗

— Sydney Smith

#display #fellow #fellow creatures #like #love

General McChrystal had to go. Whatever his virtues as a strategist and commander, the 'Rolling Stone' interview fatally compromised his ability to represent the United States in dealing with allies and to act within the circle of people who must make decisions in Afghanistan. ↗

— Jim Talent

#act #afghanistan #allies #circle #commander

Our virtues and our failings are inseparable, like force and matter. When they separate, man is no more. ↗

— Nikola Tesla

#force #inseparable #like #man #matter