--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Those who make virtue their profession…" description: "\"Those who make virtue their profession are the ruin of virtue.\" — Confucius" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/abd/confucius-164_character_those-who-make-virtue-their-profession-a_2949844.jpg" --- # Those who make virtue their profession are the ruin of… ![“Those who make virtue their profession are the ruin of virtue.” quote by Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/abd/confucius-164_character_those-who-make-virtue-their-profession-a_2949844.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/abd/confucius-164_character_those-who-make-virtue-their-profession-a_2949844.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/abd/confucius-164_character_those-who-make-virtue-their-profession-a_2949844.jpg) > “Those who make virtue their profession are the ruin of virtue.” [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Prioritizing virtue as a career undermines its true moral value. **In simple terms:** Making virtue a job corrupts it. Key Takeaway Cultivate virtue for its own sake. Themes ethics virtue integrity Mood reflective critical Type philosophical advisory When to use this quote - professional life - political leadership - education - personal development Key Concepts moral philosophy social criticism Questions to Reflect On - Is virtue more genuine when unprofitable? - Can society reward true virtue? A Different Perspective Virtue can become performative when commodified. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Profession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profession/) [Ruin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ruin/) [Ruins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ruins/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ## Related quotes > [Politics and prostitution have to be the only jobs where inexperience is considered a virtue. In what other profession would you brag about not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tina-fey/politics-and-prostitution-have-to-be-the-only-jobs-where-inexperience-3/) [Tina Fey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tina-fey/) > [“Politics and prostitution have to be the only jobs where inexperience is considered a virtue. In what other profession would you brag about not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tina-fey/politics-and-prostitution-have-to-be-the-only-jobs-where-inexperience-2/) [Tina Fey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tina-fey/) > [It is necessary to make virtue fashionable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-marti/it-is-necessary-to-make-virtue-fashionable/) [Jose Marti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-marti/) > [We endeavor to make a virtue of the faults we are unwilling to correct.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/we-endeavor-to-make-a-virtue-of-the-faults-we-are-unwilling-to-correct/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [When we envy another, we make their virtue our vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-boileau-despreaux/when-we-envy-another-we-make-their-virtue-our-vice/) [Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-boileau-despreaux/) > [Fear could never make virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/fear-could-never-make-virtue/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [No people are true Christians who do not think constantly of how they can lift their brother and sister, how they can assist their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/no-people-are-true-christians-who-do-not-think-constantly-of-how-they/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [“You imagine that to live in a state of extremity is necessarily to discover the truth about yourself. What you discover then is violence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/you-imagine-that-to-live-in-a-state-of-extremity-is-necessarily-to/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [We should make virtue our master, not our servant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/we-should-make-virtue-our-master-not-our-servant/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) > [Make a virtue of necessity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/make-a-virtue-of-necessity/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [“It is necessary to make virtue fashionable." Jose Martì”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-conde/it-is-necessary-to-make-virtue-fashionable-jose-mart/) S. 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Wishing to order well their nations,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/in-ancient-times-those-who-wished-to-illuminate-the-world-with-virtue/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Better than the one who knows what is right is the one who loves what is right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/better-than-the-one-who-knows-what-is-right-is-the-one-who-loves-what/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Knowledge is merely brilliance in organization of ideas and not wisdom. 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