La vertu, mignonne, est un principe dont les manifestations different selon les milieux: la vertu de Provence, celle de Constantinople, celle de Londres et celle de Paris ont des effets parfaitement dissemblables sans cesser d'etre la vertu.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Virtue is a principle whose expressions differ by region, yet remains virtue everywhere.
- In plain terms
- Virtue shows different forms in different places but stays the same principle.
- What can you take from it?
- Recognize cultural variations of moral behavior.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How can universal virtues be defined?
- When do cultural differences challenge moral standards?
Another view
What is considered virtue in one culture may be contested in another.
More from Honore de Balzac
Oh! voila l'amour vrai, sans chicanes: il est ou n'est pas; mais quand il est, il doit se produire dans son immensite.
Permalink to quote #91 Il y a deux amours: celui qui commande et celui qui obeit; ils sont distincts et donnent naissance a deux passions, et l'une n'est pas l'autre.
Permalink to quote #93 Le propre d'un grand homme est de derouter les calculs ordinaires. Il est sublime et attendrissant, naif et gigantesque.
Permalink to quote #90
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