--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Chastity, like honesty, is a civic as…" description: "\"Chastity, like honesty, is a civic as well as a personal virtue. When a society loses chastity, it begins to destroy itself.\" — J. William Schickel" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c32/j-william-schickel-244446_abstinence_chastity-like-honesty-is-a-civic-as-well_3143621.jpg" --- # Chastity, like honesty, is a civic as well as a personal… ![“Chastity, like honesty, is a civic as well as a personal virtue. When a society loses chastity, it begins to destroy itself.” quote by J. William Schickel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c32/j-william-schickel-244446_abstinence_chastity-like-honesty-is-a-civic-as-well_3143621.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c32/j-william-schickel-244446_abstinence_chastity-like-honesty-is-a-civic-as-well_3143621.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c32/j-william-schickel-244446_abstinence_chastity-like-honesty-is-a-civic-as-well_3143621.jpg) > “Chastity, like honesty, is a civic as well as a personal virtue. When a society loses chastity, it begins to destroy itself.” [J. William Schickel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-william-schickel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Chastity and honesty are civic virtues; their loss erodes societal foundations. **In simple terms:** Moral integrity sustains society. Key Takeaway Uphold personal and civic virtue. Themes morality civic duty virtue honesty societal health Mood serious concerned Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - societal decay - moral decline - pure Key Concepts ethical integrity social cohesion personal responsibility civic virtue Questions to Reflect On - How does personal virtue affect community health? - Can societies thrive without strict moral codes? A Different Perspective Corrupt societies may resist moral reforms. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstinence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstinence/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Chastity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chastity/) [Chastity Begins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chastity-begins-5613105/) [Chastity Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chastity-like-2266246/) [Civics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civics/) [Honesty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honesty/) [Honesty Civic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honesty-civic-5613104/) [Loses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loses/) [Loses Chastity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loses-chastity-5613103/) [Personal Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-virtue-767599/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) ## Related quotes > [Chastity, like piety, is a uniform grace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-richardson/chastity-like-piety-is-a-uniform-grace/) [Samuel Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-richardson/) > [“But this is my contentment, that I've lost what I never needed and what I need I can never lose: these two things, universal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-wangerin-jr/but-this-is-my-contentment-that-i-ve-lost-what-i-never-needed-and/) [Walter Wangerin Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-wangerin-jr/) > [Nonviolence is not merely a personal virtue. It is also a social virtue to be cultivated like other virtues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/nonviolence-is-not-merely-a-personal-virtue-it-is-also-a-social/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-cheney/conservation-may-be-a-sign-of-personal-virtue-but-it-is-not-a/) [Dick Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-cheney/) > [Personal virtue is no substitute for political hard-headedness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/personal-virtue-is-no-substitute-for-political-hard-headedness/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [There is no substitute for virtue. Keep your thoughts virtuous. Rise above the filth that's all around you in this world and stand tall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-b-hinckley/there-is-no-substitute-for-virtue-keep-your-thoughts-virtuous-rise/) [Gordon B. Hinckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-b-hinckley/) > [There is a great deal of political pressure to only talk about abstinence, and to deny support for condoms and education on using them.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/there-is-a-great-deal-of-political-pressure-to-only-talk-about/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [“It is better to lock up your heart with a merciless padlock, than to fall in love with someone who doesn't know what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/it-is-better-to-lock-up-your-heart-with-a-merciless-padlock-than-to/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [Taking the pledge will not make bad liquor good, but it will improve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/taking-the-pledge-will-not-make-bad-liquor-good-but-it-will-improve-it/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“Look, choosing to wait until marriage makes me feel empowered. But if the same choice cripples you, then it wasn't the right one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-allen/look-choosing-to-wait-until-marriage-makes-me-feel-empowered-but-if/) [Rachael Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-allen/) > [When a married person uses pornography, or is unfaithful, it compromises not just his (or her) purity, but also compromises the spouse's purity. As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-o-donnell/when-a-married-person-uses-pornography-or-is-unfaithful-it/) [Christine O'Donnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-o-donnell/) > [Atheism is a religion like abstinence is a sex position.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/atheism-is-a-religion-like-abstinence-is-a-sex-position/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [“Male masturbation is not a release, it is a squandering. Anyone who begins to no-fap will soon discover this. Like most things, we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-freestone/male-masturbation-is-not-a-release-it-is-a-squandering-anyone-who/) [Jack Freestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-freestone/) > [Used with due abstinence, hope acts as a healthful tonic; intemperately indulged, as an enervating opiate. The visions of future triumph, which at first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fitzjames-stephen/used-with-due-abstinence-hope-acts-as-a-healthful-tonic-intemperately/) [James Fitzjames Stephen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fitzjames-stephen/) > [Sexual activity, and the thoughts and fantasies of sex, use up a great portion of our vital force. When that force is conserved through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patanjali/sexual-activity-and-the-thoughts-and-fantasies-of-sex-use-up-a-great/) [Patanjali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patanjali/) ## More Abstinence quotes > [Sexual activity, and the thoughts and fantasies of sex, use up a great portion of our vital force. When that force is conserved through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patanjali/sexual-activity-and-the-thoughts-and-fantasies-of-sex-use-up-a-great/) [Patanjali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patanjali/) > [Used with due abstinence, hope acts as a healthful tonic; intemperately indulged, as an enervating opiate. The visions of future triumph, which at first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fitzjames-stephen/used-with-due-abstinence-hope-acts-as-a-healthful-tonic-intemperately/) [James Fitzjames Stephen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fitzjames-stephen/) > [“Male masturbation is not a release, it is a squandering. Anyone who begins to no-fap will soon discover this. Like most things, we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-freestone/male-masturbation-is-not-a-release-it-is-a-squandering-anyone-who/) [Jack Freestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-freestone/) > [Atheism is a religion like abstinence is a sex position.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/atheism-is-a-religion-like-abstinence-is-a-sex-position/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [When a married person uses pornography, or is unfaithful, it compromises not just his (or her) purity, but also compromises the spouse's purity. As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-o-donnell/when-a-married-person-uses-pornography-or-is-unfaithful-it/) [Christine O'Donnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-o-donnell/) > [“Look, choosing to wait until marriage makes me feel empowered. But if the same choice cripples you, then it wasn't the right one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-allen/look-choosing-to-wait-until-marriage-makes-me-feel-empowered-but-if/) [Rachael Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-allen/) > [Taking the pledge will not make bad liquor good, but it will improve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/taking-the-pledge-will-not-make-bad-liquor-good-but-it-will-improve-it/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It is better to lock up your heart with a merciless padlock, than to fall in love with someone who doesn't know what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/it-is-better-to-lock-up-your-heart-with-a-merciless-padlock-than-to/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [There is a great deal of political pressure to only talk about abstinence, and to deny support for condoms and education on using them.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/there-is-a-great-deal-of-political-pressure-to-only-talk-about/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [Abstinence-only education - the best STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease) and pregnancy delivery system that politicians have ever devised.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-maddow/abstinence-only-education-the-best-std-sexually-transmitted-disease/) [Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-maddow/) > [While one may lose much because of avarice, nothing was ever accomplished by abstinence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isuna-hasekura/while-one-may-lose-much-because-of-avarice-nothing-was-ever/) [Isuna Hasekura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isuna-hasekura/) > [“The secular, for all its goodness, does not defend itself very well against mindless and perpetual consumption. It cries out to be offered by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-farrar-capon/the-secular-for-all-its-goodness-does-not-defend-itself-very-well/) [Robert Farrar Capon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-farrar-capon/) > [I went to an all-girls Catholic school. And all the nuns just breathed down our necks "abstinence." And that's not the right thing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-mccarthy/i-went-to-an-all-girls-catholic-school-and-all-the-nuns-just-breathed/) [Jenny McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-mccarthy/) > [How do we want our air? Pure. How do we want our water? Pure. How do we want sex on our wedding night? Pure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-kelly/how-do-we-want-our-air-pure-how-do-we-want-our-water-pure-how-do-we/) [Molly Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-kelly/) > [“There’s gratification in abstaining from the easy choice. Instant gratification can bring more suffering than pleasure. If I do the hard thing, the next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecily-wang/there-s-gratification-in-abstaining-from-the-easy-choice-instant/) [Cecily Wang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecily-wang/) [Browse all 233 Abstinence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstinence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Chastity, like honesty, is a civic as well as a personal virtue. When a society loses chastity, it begins to destroy itself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "J. 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