--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A man has virtues enough if he deserves…" description: "\"A man has virtues enough if he deserves pardon for his faults on account of them.\" — Georg C. Lichtenberg" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd9/georg-c-lichtenberg-1087_accounts_a-man-has-virtues-enough-if-he-deserves_2454600.png" --- # A man has virtues enough if he deserves pardon for his… ![“A man has virtues enough if he deserves pardon for his faults on account of them.” quote by Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd9/georg-c-lichtenberg-1087_accounts_a-man-has-virtues-enough-if-he-deserves_2454600.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd9/georg-c-lichtenberg-1087_accounts_a-man-has-virtues-enough-if-he-deserves_2454600.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd9/georg-c-lichtenberg-1087_accounts_a-man-has-virtues-enough-if-he-deserves_2454600.png) > “A man has virtues enough if he deserves pardon for his faults on account of them.” [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A person can be forgiven for faults if those faults stem from virtuous intentions, linking moral worth to underlying motives. **In simple terms:** Virtue can excuse faults. Key Takeaway Judge actions by intent, not just outcome. Themes morality virtue forgiveness Mood thoughtful philosophical Type ethical reflective When to use this quote - legal judgments - personal relationships - leadership decisions Key Concepts ethical philosophy intentionality Questions to Reflect On - When should intent outweigh consequences? - How to assess true virtue? A Different Perspective Intent may not excuse harm. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Forgiveness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgiveness/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Pardon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pardon/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) [Virtues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtues/) ## Related quotes > [No distinction is 'tween man and man, But as his virtues add to him a glory Or vices cloud him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-habington/no-distinction-is-tween-man-and-man-but-as-his-virtues-add-to-him-a/) [William Habington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-habington/) > [“All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization. The Almighty beareth Me witness: To act like the beasts of the field…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baha-u-llah/all-men-have-been-created-to-carry-forward-an-ever-advancing/) [Baha'u'llah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baha-u-llah/) > [Virtues are, in the popular estimate, rather the exception than the rule. There is the man and his virtues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/virtues-are-in-the-popular-estimate-rather-the-exception-than-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“If a man be without the virtues proper to humanity, what has he to do with the rites of propriety? If a man be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/if-a-man-be-without-the-virtues-proper-to-humanity-what-has-he-to-do/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [There must be only three supreme values which govern a person's life: Reason, Purpose, and Self-esteem. Reason, as his only tool of knowledge--Purpose, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-must-be-only-three-supreme-values-which-govern-a-person-s-life/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“To live, man must hold three things as the supreme and ruling values of his life: Reason - Purpose - Self-esteem. Reason, as his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/to-live-man-must-hold-three-things-as-the-supreme-and-ruling-values/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [A good book is the very essence of a good man. His virtues survive in it, while the foibles and faults of his actual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-l-cuyler/a-good-book-is-the-very-essence-of-a-good-man-his-virtues-survive-in/) [Theodore L. Cuyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-l-cuyler/) > [Party spirit enlists a man's virtues in the cause of his vices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-whately/party-spirit-enlists-a-man-s-virtues-in-the-cause-of-his-vices/) [Richard Whately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-whately/) > [“As a basic step of self-esteem, learn to treat as the mark of a cannibal any man’s demand for your help. To demand it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/as-a-basic-step-of-self-esteem-learn-to-treat-as-the-mark-of-a/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [I have always considered it as treason against the great republic of human nature, to make any man's virtues the means of deceiving him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/i-have-always-considered-it-as-treason-against-the-great-republic-of/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [A friend exaggerates a man's virtues; an enemy inflames his crimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/a-friend-exaggerates-a-man-s-virtues-an-enemy-inflames-his-crimes/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Love, friendship, respect, admiration are the emotional response of one man to the virtues of another, the spiritual payment given in exchange for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/love-friendship-respect-admiration-are-the-emotional-response-of-one/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [The good life for man is the life spent in seeking for the good life for man, and the virtues necessary for the seeking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/the-good-life-for-man-is-the-life-spent-in-seeking-for-the-good-life/) [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) > [My vigour relents. I pardon something to the spirit of liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/my-vigour-relents-i-pardon-something-to-the-spirit-of-liberty/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [What better can we do than prostrate fall before Him reverent, and there confess humbly our faults, and pardon beg with tears watering the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/what-better-can-we-do-than-prostrate-fall-before-him-reverent-and/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) ## More by Georg C. Lichtenberg > [If people should ever start to do only what is necessary millions would die of hunger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/if-people-should-ever-start-to-do-only-what-is-necessary-millions/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [We can see nothing whatever of the soul unless it is visible in the expression of the countenance; one might call the faces at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/we-can-see-nothing-whatever-of-the-soul-unless-it-is-visible-in-the/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [The wisdom of providence is as much revealed in the rarity of genius, as in the circumstance that not everyone is deaf or blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/the-wisdom-of-providence-is-as-much-revealed-in-the-rarity-of-genius/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [I ceased in the year 1764 to believe that one can convince one’s opponents with arguments printed in books. It is not to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/i-ceased-in-the-year-1764-to-believe-that-one-can-convince-one-s/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [Probably no invention came more easily to man than heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/probably-no-invention-came-more-easily-to-man-than-heaven/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [It is a great shame; most of our words are misused tools / which often still smell of the mud in which previous owners…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/it-is-a-great-shame-most-of-our-words-are-misused-tools-which-often/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [To live when you do not want to is dreadful, but it would be even more terrible to be immortal when you did not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/to-live-when-you-do-not-want-to-is-dreadful-but-it-would-be-even-more/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [He who understands the wise is wise already.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/he-who-understands-the-wise-is-wise-already/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [The fruits of philosophy are the important thing, not the philosophy itself. When we ask the time, we don't want to know how watches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/the-fruits-of-philosophy-are-the-important-thing-not-the-philosophy/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [He who says he hates all kinds of flattery, and says so in earnest, has undoubtedly not as yet become acquainted with all kinds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/he-who-says-he-hates-all-kinds-of-flattery-and-says-so-in-earnest-has/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [One can live in this world on soothsaying but not on truth saying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/one-can-live-in-this-world-on-soothsaying-but-not-on-truth-saying/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [Actual aristocracy cannot be abolished by any law: all the law can do is decree how it is to be imparted and who is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/actual-aristocracy-cannot-be-abolished-by-any-law-all-the-law-can-do/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [One of the greatest and also the commonest of faults is for men to believe that, because they never hear their shortcomings spoken of,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/one-of-the-greatest-and-also-the-commonest-of-faults-is-for-men-to/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [People who never have any time on their hands are those who do the least.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/people-who-never-have-any-time-on-their-hands-are-those-who-do-the/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [An hour-glass is a reminder not only of time's quick flight, but also of the dust to which we must at last return](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/an-hour-glass-is-a-reminder-not-only-of-time-s-quick-flight-but-also/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) [Explore all 295 Georg C. 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