Virtue, I grant you, is an empty boast;
But shall the dignity of vice be lost?

Virtue, I grant you, is an empty boast;
But shall the dignity of vice be lost?

There is no vice so simple but assumes
Some mark of virtue on his outward parts.

There is no vice so simple but assumes
Some mark of virtue on his outward parts.

Vice is its own reward

Vice is its own reward

We are double-edged blades, and every time we whet our virtue the return stroke straps our vice.

We are double-edged blades, and every time we whet our virtue the return stroke straps our vice.

Every vice makes its guilt the more conspicuous in proportion to
the rank of the offender.
[Lat., Omne read more

Every vice makes its guilt the more conspicuous in proportion to
the rank of the offender.
[Lat., Omne animi vitium tanto conspectius in se
Crimen habet, quanto major qui peccat habetur.]

The heart resolves this matter in a trice,
"Men only feel the smart, but not the vice."

The heart resolves this matter in a trice,
"Men only feel the smart, but not the vice."

The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they're going to have read more

The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they're going to have some pretty annoying virtues.

What maintains one vice would bring up two children.

What maintains one vice would bring up two children.

Men wish to be saved from the mischiefs of their vices, but not from their vices.

Men wish to be saved from the mischiefs of their vices, but not from their vices.