And in my breast
Spring wakens too; and my regret
Becomes an April violet,
And buds and blossoms like the rest.
A humble flower long time I pined
Upon the solitary plain,
And trembled at the angry wind,
And shrunk before the bitter rain.
And oh! 'twas in a blessed hour
A passing wanderer chanced to see,
And, pitying the lonely flower,
To stoop and gather me.
Banks that slope to the southern sky
Where languid violets love to lie.
The violets of five seasons reappear
And fade, unseen by any human eye.
A violet by a mossy stone
Half hidden from the eye!
Fair as a star when only one
Is shining in the sky.
You violets that first appear,
By your pure purple mantles known,
Like the proud virgins of the year,
As if the spring were all your own—
What are you when the rose is blown?
VIRTUE
Curse on his virtues! they've undone his country.
If there's a power above us, (and that there is
all nature cries aloud
Through all her works) he must delight in virtue.
| author = Addison
| work = Cato. Act V. Sc. 1.
Sweet are the slumbers of the virtuous man!
| author = Addison
| work = Cato. Act V. Sc. 4.
One's outlook is a part of his virtue.
AmosBronsonAlcott—ConcordDays. April
Outlook.
Virtue and sense are one; and, trust me, still
A faithless heart betrays the head unsound.
Armstrong—Art of Preserving Health. Bk.
IV. L. 265.
Virtue, the strength and beauty of the soul, '
Is the best gift of Heaven : a happiness
That even above the smiles and frowns of fate
Exalts great Nature's favourites: a wealth
That ne'er encumbers, nor can be transferr'd.
Armstrong—Art of Preserving Health. Bk
IV. L. 284.
Certainly virtue is like precious odours, most
fragrant when they are incensed or crushed.
Bacon—Essays. Of Adversity.
Virtue is like a rich stone, best plain set.
Bacon—Essays. Of Beauty.
La vertu d'un cceur noble est la marque
certaine.
Virtue alone is the unerring sign of a noble
soul.
Boileatt—Satires. V. 42.
Whilst shame keeps its watch, virtue is not
wholly extinguished in the heart.
Burke—Reflections on the Revolution in France.
Virtue is not malicious; wrong done her
Is righted even when men grant they err.
George Chapman—Monsieur D'Olive. Act I.
Sc. 1. L. 127.
Nam qua? voluptate, quasi mercede aliqua,
ad officium impellitur, ea non est virtus sed
fallax imitatio simulatioque virtutis.
That which leads us to the performance
of duty by offering pleasure as its reward, is
not virtue, but a deceptive copy and imitation
of virtue.
Cicero—Academici. IV. 46.
Honor est pisemium virtutis.
'Honor is the reward of virtue.
Cicero—Brutus. LXXXI.
| seealso = (See also Plautus)
| topic = Virtue
| page = 835
}}
{{Hoyt quote
| num =
| text = <poem>Virtute enim ipsa non tain multi prsediti
esse, quam videri volunt.
Fewer possess virtue, than those who wish
us to believe that they possess it.
Cicero—De Amicitia. XXVI.
Nam ut quisque est vir optimus, ita difficillime esse alios improbos suspicatur.
The more virtuous any man is, the less
easily does he suspect others to be vicious.
Cicero—Epistolce Ad Fralrem. I. 1.
In virtute sunt multi adscensus.
In the approach to virtue there are many
steps.
Cicero—Oratio Pro Cnceo Plancio. XXV.
Est haec saeculi Iabes quaedam et macula
virtuti invidere, velle ipsum florem dignitatis
infringere.
It is the stain and disgrace of the age to
envy virtue, and to be anxious to crush the
very flower of dignity.
Cicero—Gratio Pro Luck) CornelioBalbo. VI.
Virtue is a habit of the mind, consistent
with nature and moderation and reason.
Cicero—Rhetorical Invention. Bk. II. Sc
LIII.
Ipsa, quidem pretium virtus sibi.
Virtue is indeed its own reward.
