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A virtue () is a trait of excellence, including traits that may be morality, social, or intellectual. The cultivation and refinement of virtue is held to be the "good of humanity" and thus is valued as an Telos of life or a foundational principle of being. In human practical ethics, a virtue is a disposition to choose actions that succeed in showing high moral standards: doing what is said to be right and avoiding what is wrong in a given field of endeavour, even when doing so may be unnecessary from a utilitarianism perspective. When someone takes pleasure in doing what is right, even when it is difficult or initially unpleasant, they can establish virtue as a habit. Such a person is said to be virtuous through having cultivated such a disposition. The opposite of virtue is vice.
Other examples of this notion include the concept of merit in Asian traditions as well as (Chinese language 德).
This enumeration is traced to Greek philosophy and was listed by Plato who also added piety (ὁσιότης, ) and replaced prudence with wisdom. Some scholars consider either of the above four virtue combinations as mutually reducible and therefore not cardinal.
It is unclear whether Plato subscribed to a unified view of virtues. In Protagoras and Meno he states that the separate virtues cannot exist independently and offers as evidence the contradictions of acting with wisdom, yet in an unjust way; or acting with bravery (fortitude), yet without wisdom. The narrative in the Meno commences with the eponymous character asking about virtue, but when Socrates asks him "What is virtue?", he replies with a list of virtues displayed in different ways.Plato, Meno, 71e-72b
However, the virtuous action is not simply the "mean" (mathematically speaking) between two opposite extremes. As Aristotle says in the Nicomachean Ethics: "at the right times, and on the right occasions, and towards the right persons, and with the right object, and in the right fashion, is the mean course and the best course, and these are characteristics of virtue." For example, generosity is a virtue between the two extremes of miserliness and being profligate. Further examples include courage between cowardice and foolhardiness and confidence between self-deprecation and conceit. In Aristotle's sense, a virtue is an excellence at being human.
Most Roman concepts of virtue were also personified as a numina. The primary Roman virtues, both public and private, were:
| Abundantia | Abundance or Prosperity | The ideal of there being enough food and prosperity for all segments of society, personified by Abundantia. A public virtue. |
| Auctoritas | Spiritual Authority | The sense of one's social standing, built up through experience, Pietas, and Industria. This was considered to be essential for a magistrate's ability to enforce law and order. |
| Comitas | Humour | Ease of manner, courtesy, openness, and friendliness. |
| Courage]] | Perseverance or Courage | Military stamina, as well as general mental and physical endurance in the face of hardship. |
| Clementia | Mercy | Mildness and gentleness, and the ability to set aside previous transgressions, personified by Clementia. |
| Dignitas | Dignity | A sense of self-worth, personal self-respect, and self-esteem. |
| Disciplina | Discipline | Considered essential to military excellence; also connotes adherence to the legal system, and upholding the duties of citizenship, personified by Disciplina. |
| Fides | Good Faith | Mutual trust and reciprocal dealings in both government and commerce (public affairs), a breach meant legal and religious consequences, personified by Fides. |
| Firmitas | Tenacity | Strength of mind, and the ability to stick to one's purpose at hand without wavering. |
| Frugality]] | Frugality | Economy and simplicity in lifestyle. |
| Gravitas | Gravity | A sense of the importance of the matter at hand; responsibility, and being earnest. |
| Honestas | Respectibility | The image and honor that one presents as a respectable member of society. |
| Humanitas | Humanity | Refinement, civilization, learning, and generally being cultured. |
| Diligence]] | Industriousness or Diligence | Hard work. |
| Innocencia | Selflessness | Giving without anticipating recognition or personal gain. Central to this concept was an unwavering commitment to incorruptibility, avoiding the misuse of public office for personal benefit, as that was considered a grave affront to Roman values, detrimental to both individual and communal well-being. |
| Joy]] | Joy or Gladness | The celebration of thanksgiving, often of the resolution of crisis, a public virtue. |
| Nobilitas | Nobility | Man of fine appearance, deserving of honor, highly esteemed social rank, and, or, nobility of birth, a public virtue. |
| Justitia | Justice | Sense of moral worth to an action; personified by the goddess Iustitia, the Roman counterpart to the Greek Themis. |
| Pietas | Dutifulness | More than religious piety; a respect for the natural order: socially, politically, and religiously. Includes ideas of patriotism, fulfillment of pious obligation to the gods, and honoring other human beings, especially in terms of the patron and client relationship considered essential to an orderly society. |
| Prudentia | Prudence | Foresight, wisdom, and personal discretion. |
| Salus]] | Wholesomeness | General health and cleanliness, personified in the deity Salus. |
| Severitas | Sternness | Self-control, considered to be tied directly to the virtue of gravitas. |
| Veritas | Truthfulness | Honesty in dealing with others, personified by the goddess Veritas. Veritas, being the mother of Virtus, was considered the root of all virtue; a person living an honest life was bound to be virtuous. |
| Virtus | Manliness | Valor, excellence, courage, character, and worth. Vir is Latin for "man". |
Christian scholars frequently add the four classic cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, temperance, and courage) to the theological virtues to give the seven heavenly virtues; for example, these seven are the ones described in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sections 1803–1829. In Christian tradition courage or fortitude is a gift of the Holy Spirit.
In , Prudentius listed seven "heavenly virtues" in his book Psychomachia ( Battle of Souls) which is an allegorical story of conflict between vices and virtues. Among the virtues were fides (faith), pudicitia (chastity), paciencia (endurance), mens humilis (humility), spes (hope), sobrietas (sobriety), ratio (reason), operatio (devotion), pax (peace), concordia (harmony), and sapientia (wisdom).
The medieval and renaissance periods saw a number of models of sin, listing the seven deadly sins and the seven capital virtues opposed to each.
| Pride | Superbia | Humility | Humilitas |
| Envy | Invidia | Kindness | Benevolentia |
| Gluttony | Gula | Temperance | Temperantia |
| Lust | Luxuria | Chastity | Castitas |
| Wrath | Ira | Patience | Patientia |
| Greed | Avaritia | Charity | Caritas |
| Sloth | Acedia | Diligence | Industria |
Believers are to "enjoin that which is virtuous and forbid that which is vicious" () in all spheres of life (). Muslims teach that mankind has been Fitra God's will and to abide by it.
Later Muslim scholars expanded the religious ethics of the scriptures in detail.
In the Hadith (Islamic traditions), it is reported by An-Nawwas bin Sam'an:
Wabisah bin Ma'bad reported:
Virtue, as seen in opposition to sin, is termed (spiritual merit or reward) but there are other Islamic terms to describe virtue such as ("bounty"), ("piety"), and ("righteousness"). According to Muslim beliefs, God will forgive individual sins but the bad treatment of people and injustice toward others can only be pardoned by the victims and not by God.
A classic articulation of the Golden Rule came from the first century Rabbi Hillel the Elder. Renowned in the Jewish tradition, he is associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud and, as such, is one of the most important figures in Jewish history. Asked for a summary of the Jewish religion in the most concise terms, Hillel replied (reputedly while standing on one leg): "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah. The rest is commentary; go and learn."Talmud, tractate Shabbat 31a. See also the ethic of reciprocity or "The Golden rule."
Buddhism's four ("Divine States") can be more properly regarded as virtues in the European sense. They are:
There are also the ("perfections"), which are the culmination of having acquired certain virtues. In Theravada Buddhism's Pali Canon BuddhavaṃsaBuddhavamsa, chapter 2. For an on-line reference to the Buddhavamsa's seminality in the Theravada notion of parami, see
In terms of other examples in the Pali literature, cites Jataka i.73 and Dhammapada Atthakatha i.84. Bodhi (2005) also mentions Acariya Dhammapala's treatise in the Cariyapitaka-Atthakatha and the Brahmajala Sutta subcommentary ( tika). there are Ten Perfections (). In Mahayana Buddhism, the Lotus Sutra ( Saddharmapundarika), there are Six Perfections; while in the Ten Stages ( Dasabhumika) Sutra, four more are listed.
In early periods of Confucianism, moral manifestations of "virtue" include ("Human nature"), xiao ("filial piety"), and ("proper behavior, performance of rituals"). The notion of – according to Simon Leys – means "humanity" and "goodness". originally had the archaic meaning in the Confucian Book of Poems of "virility", but progressively took on shades of ethical meaning. Some scholars consider the virtues identified in early Confucianism as non-theistic philosophy.
The Daoist concept of , compared to Confucianism, is more subtle, pertaining to the "virtue" or ability that an individual realizes by following the ("the Way"). One important normative value in much of Chinese thinking is that one's social status should result from the amount of virtue that one demonstrates, rather than from one's birth. In the Analects, Confucius explains as follows: "He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it." In later periods, particularly from the Tang dynasty period, Confucianism absorbed and melded its own concepts of virtues with those from Daoism and Buddhism.
There are symbols that represent virtue in Chinese Culture. Chinese classic paintings have many symbols representing virtue. Plum blossom represents resilience and perseverance. Orchid represents elegance, gentleness, and quietness. Bamboo represents loyalty, trust-worthiness, and humility. Chrysanthemum represents genuineness and simplicity.
Virtues lead to (पुण्य, holy living) in Hindu literature; while vices lead to (पाप, sin). Sometimes, the word is used interchangeably with virtue. (2025). 9781934145005, Himalayan Academy Publications. ISBN 9781934145005
The virtues that constitute a dharma life – that is a moral, ethical, virtuous life – evolved in and . Over time, new virtues were conceptualized and added by ancient Hindu scholars: some replaced, others merged. For example, Samhita initially listed ten virtues necessary for a human being to live a dharmic life: (courage), (patience and forgiveness), (temperance), (Non-covetousness/Non-stealing), (inner purity), (control of senses), (reflective prudence), (wisdom), (truthfulness), and (freedom from anger). In later verses, this list was reduced to five virtues by the same scholar, by merging and creating a broader concept. The shorter list of virtues became: (Ahimsa), (self restraint), (Non-covetousness/Non-stealing), (inner purity), and (truthfulness).
The Bhagavad Gita – considered one of the epitomes of historic Hindu discussion of virtues and an allegorical debate on what is right and what is wrong – argues some virtues are not necessarily always absolute, but sometimes relational. For example, it explains that a virtue such as must be re-examined when one is faced with war or violence from the aggressiveness, immaturity, or ignorance of others.
Truth is the highest virtue, but higher still is truthful living.The Five Virtues of Sikhism are (truth), (compassion), (contentment), (humility), and (love).(2025). 9780199699308, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199699308
Kant presents an example: suppose that you come across a needy person in the street; if your sympathy leads you to help that person, your response does not illustrate your virtue. Kant applies the approach of four temperaments to distinguish truly virtuous people. According to Kant, among all people with diverse temperaments, a person with a melancholic frame of mind is the most virtuous, whose thoughts, words, and deeds are principled.
In the last section of Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsche outlines his thoughts on the noble virtues and places solitude as one of the highest virtues:
And to keep control over your four virtues: courage, insight, sympathy, solitude. Because solitude is a virtue for us, since it is a sublime inclination and impulse to cleanliness which shows that contact between people ("society") inevitably makes things unclean. Somewhere, sometime, every community makes people – "base."
Nietzsche also sees truthfulness as a virtue:
Genuine honesty, assuming that this is our virtue and we cannot get rid of it, we free spirits – well then, we will want to work on it with all the love and malice at our disposal and not get tired of 'perfecting' ourselves in our virtue, the only one we have left: may its glory come to rest like a gilded, blue evening glow of mockery over this aging culture and its dull and dismal seriousness!
They became known through Benjamin Franklin's autobiography.
- Temperance: Eat not to Dullness. Drink not to Elevation.
- Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself. Avoid trifling Conversation.
- Order: Let all your Things have their Places. Let each Part of your Business have its Time.
- Determination: Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve.
- Frugality: Make no Expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e. Waste nothing.
- Diligence: Lose no Time. Be always employed in something useful. Cut off all unnecessary Actions.
- Sincerity: Use no hurtful Deceit. Think innocently and justly; and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
- Justice: Wrong none, by doing Injuries or omitting the Benefits that are your Duty.
- Moderation: Avoid Extremes. Forbear resenting Injuries so much as you think they deserve.
- Cleanliness: Tolerate no Uncleanness in Body, Clothes or Habitation.
- Tranquillity: Be not disturbed at Trifles, or at Accidents common or unavoidable.
- Chastity: Rarely use but for Health or Offspring; Never to Dullness, Weakness, or the Injury of your own or another's Peace or Reputation.
- Humility: Imitate Jesus and Socrates.
Immanuel Kant, in his Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime, predicts and replies to Marc Johnson's view of emotions as virtues. To be goodhearted, benevolent, and sympathetic is not true virtue, for one acts merely episodically, motivated by appeasing those naturally limited feelings, such as in the presence, for example, of a needy person in the street: in such a case, we do not act for a universal motive but simply as a response to end a particular, individual, personal distress arisen in us by our own sentiments.
As Aristotle noted, however, the virtues can have several opposites. Virtues can be considered the mean between two extremes, as the Latin maxim dictates in medio stat virtus—in the centre lies virtue. For instance, both cowardice and rashness are opposites of courage; contrary to prudence are both over-caution and insufficient caution; the opposites of pride (a virtue) are undue humility and excessive vanity. A more "modern" virtue, Toleration, can be considered the mean between the two extremes of narrow-mindedness on the one hand and over-acceptance on the other. Vices can therefore be identified as the opposites of virtues – but with the caveat that each virtue could have many different opposites, all distinct from each other.
Within the Chinese philosophy and Traditional Chinese Medicine vice and virtue are expressed as excess or deficiency.
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