Nature seems at each man's birth to have marked out the bounds of his virtues and vices, and to have determined how good or how wicked that man shall be capable of being.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
vices birth virtues man nature
There are a great many men valued in society who have nothing to recommend them but serviceable vices.
vices men society
The name and pretense of virtue is as serviceable to self-interest as are real vices.
vices virtues self
The word virtue is as useful to self-interest as the vices.
Our virtues are often, in reality, no better than vices disguised.
vices virtues
The virtues and vices are all put in motion by interest.
Hypocrisy is the homage vice pays to virtue.
We do not despise all those who have vices, but we do despise those that have no virtue.
When our vices leave us, we like to imagine it is we who are leaving them.
vices
What keeps us from abandoning ourselves entirely to one vice, often, is the fact that we have several.
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