Virtue System

Famous quotes containing the words virtue and/or system:

    That man is good who does good to others; if he suffers on account of the good he does, he is very good; if he suffers at the hands of those to whom he has done good, then his goodness is so great that it could be enhanced only by greater sufferings; and if he should die at their hands, his virtue can go no further: it is heroic, it is perfect.
    —Jean De La Bruyère (1645–1696)

    Our system is the height of absurdity, since we treat the culprit both as a child, so as to have the right to punish him, and as an adult, in order to deny him consolation.
    Claude Lévi-Strauss (b. 1908)