--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You're worse than decent. You're virtuous." description: "\"“You're worse than decent. You're virtuous.”\" — Eugene O neill" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be0/eugene-o-neill-2-82515_decent_you-re-worse-than-decent-you-re-virtuous_2103723.jpg" --- # You're worse than decent. You're virtuous. ![“You're worse than decent. You're virtuous.” quote by Eugene O neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be0/eugene-o-neill-2-82515_decent_you-re-worse-than-decent-you-re-virtuous_2103723.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be0/eugene-o-neill-2-82515_decent_you-re-worse-than-decent-you-re-virtuous_2103723.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be0/eugene-o-neill-2-82515_decent_you-re-worse-than-decent-you-re-virtuous_2103723.jpg) > ““You're worse than decent. You're virtuous.”” [Eugene O neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill-2/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Contrasts modest self‑assessment with higher moral praise, suggesting hidden virtue. **In simple terms:** You’re more than decent; you’re virtuous. Key Takeaway Recognize deeper moral worth. Themes self‑esteem morality recognition Mood humble encouraging Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - performance reviews - personal counseling - team feedback Key Concepts Ethics humanism Questions to Reflect On - What virtues do you truly embody? - How can you accept praise without arrogance? A Different Perspective Over‑praise can create pressure to maintain standards. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Decent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decent/) [Decent Virtuous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decent-virtuous-4214340/) [Irony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irony/) [Virtuous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtuous/) [Worse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worse/) [Worse Decent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worse-decent-4214341/) ## Related quotes > [There is no school equal to a decent home and no teacher equal to a virtuous parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-is-no-school-equal-to-a-decent-home-and-no-teacher-equal-to-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Sometimes the craziest things happen at the worst times for the best reasons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aj-leal/sometimes-the-craziest-things-happen-at-the-worst-times-for-the-best/) [Aj Leal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aj-leal/) > [That's the irony in the work: the best stories are the worst things that happen. My best times were somebody else's worst.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-connelly/that-s-the-irony-in-the-work-the-best-stories-are-the-worst-things/) [Michael Connelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-connelly/) > [One can imagine the look the two lovers exchanged; it was like a flame, for virtuous lovers have not a shred of hypocrisy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/one-can-imagine-the-look-the-two-lovers-exchanged-it-was-like-a-flame/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Men who have slandered the opposite sex have usually known women who were cleverer and more virtuous than they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-de-pizan/men-who-have-slandered-the-opposite-sex-have-usually-known-women-who/) [Christine de Pizan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-de-pizan/) > [“It’s so easy to lose faith and become lost in all of the politics of the world. That’s why we need the arts. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/it-s-so-easy-to-lose-faith-and-become-lost-in-all-of-the-politics-of/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [It is a great mistake to think that the extremist is a better man than the moderate. Usually the difference is not that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/it-is-a-great-mistake-to-think-that-the-extremist-is-a-better-man/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [The world is ashamed of being virtuous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-world-is-ashamed-of-being-virtuous/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Every virtuous man is free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philo/every-virtuous-man-is-free/) [Philo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philo/) > [No matter how well-born, how intelligent, how highly educated, how virtuous, how rich, how refined, the women of to-day constitutea political class below that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-corinna-putnam-jacobi/no-matter-how-well-born-how-intelligent-how-highly-educated-how/) [Mary Corinna Putnam Jacobi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-corinna-putnam-jacobi/) > [Happiness does not consist in pastimes and amusements but in virtuous activities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/happiness-does-not-consist-in-pastimes-and-amusements-but-in-virtuous/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Show me a person without prejudice of any kind on any subject and I'll show you someone who may be admirably virtuous but is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-lacy/show-me-a-person-without-prejudice-of-any-kind-on-any-subject-and-i/) [Allen Lacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-lacy/) > [All morality depends upon our sentiments; and when any action or quality of the mind pleases us after a certain manner we say it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/all-morality-depends-upon-our-sentiments-and-when-any-action-or/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [Virtue is as little to be acquired by learning as genius; nay, the idea is barren, and is only to be employed as an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/virtue-is-as-little-to-be-acquired-by-learning-as-genius-nay-the-idea/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [Discipline is not a virtue, but the solicitor of virtuous character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colby-tatem/discipline-is-not-a-virtue-but-the-solicitor-of-virtuous-character/) [Colby Tatem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colby-tatem/) ## More by Eugene O neill > [Success is a stale finale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-o-neill-2/success-is-a-stale-finale/) [Eugene O Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill-2/) > [God gave people a mouth that closes and ears that don't, which should tell us something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-o-neill-2/god-gave-people-a-mouth-that-closes-and-ears-that-don-t-which-should/) [Eugene O Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill-2/) [Explore all 3 Eugene O neill quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill-2/) ## More Decent quotes > [Be neither too early in the fashion, nor too long out of it, nor too precisely in it; what custom hath civilized is become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/be-neither-too-early-in-the-fashion-nor-too-long-out-of-it-nor-too/) [Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/) > [Peace is an ongoing process. It begins with the first step and it does not end. We, all of us alive today, are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krieger/peace-is-an-ongoing-process-it-begins-with-the-first-step-and-it-does/) [David Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krieger/) > [As long as I can sing halfway decent, I'd rather sing than act. There's nothing like being in good voice, feeling good, having good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-keel/as-long-as-i-can-sing-halfway-decent-i-d-rather-sing-than-act-there-s/) [Howard Keel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-keel/) > [You weren't a decent man and you didn't do your best. We none of us were and none of us did.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-weren-t-a-decent-man-and-you-didn-t-do-your-best-we-none-of-us/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Sometimes the challenge of beating the jet lag and getting a decent sleep can be as hard to solve as finding the right setup…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romain-grosjean/sometimes-the-challenge-of-beating-the-jet-lag-and-getting-a-decent/) [Romain Grosjean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/romain-grosjean/) > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [If you listen to the radio for a whole hour there's maybe one decent song. The rest is mass-produced garbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-you-listen-to-the-radio-for-a-whole-hour-there-s-maybe-one-decent/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Music and the arts feed our souls, but a decent wage puts food on the table. Musicians, fans of music, and grassroots political organizations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-morello/music-and-the-arts-feed-our-souls-but-a-decent-wage-puts-food-on-the/) [Tom Morello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-morello/) > [The 'key-log' which must be moved to release the evolutionary process for an ethic is simply this: quit thinking about decent land-use as solely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/land-ethic/the-key-log-which-must-be-moved-to-release-the-evolutionary-process/) [Land ethic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/land-ethic/) > [The recurrent laryngeal nerve - which runs from the head to the voice box - goes all the way down into the chest, loops…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-recurrent-laryngeal-nerve-which-runs-from-the-head-to-the-voice/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Every New Yorker spends a certain amount of nervous energy thinking, "How can I afford to stay here? What do I have to sell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-zukin/every-new-yorker-spends-a-certain-amount-of-nervous-energy-thinking/) [Sharon Zukin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-zukin/) > [It is something that most parents hope for in life: That their children will be moderately successful, polite, decent human beings. Anything on top…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-kramer/it-is-something-that-most-parents-hope-for-in-life-that-their/) [Jerry Kramer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-kramer/) > [ \[Religion\] attacks us in our deepest integrity - the core of our self-respect. Religion says that we would not know right from wrong, we… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/religion-attacks-us-in-our-deepest-integrity-the-core-of-our-self/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [takes a devil to make a decent angel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-spanbauer/takes-a-devil-to-make-a-decent-angel/) [Tom Spanbauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-spanbauer/) > [I guess the only thing to do now is meet his parents. I'm sure they're decent people. I mean they gotta be if they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-de-niro/i-guess-the-only-thing-to-do-now-is-meet-his-parents-i-m-sure-they-re/) [Robert De Niro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-de-niro/) [Browse all 1,392 Decent quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decent/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“You're worse than decent. 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