--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And what is faith, love, virtue unassayed…" description: "\"And what is faith, love, virtue unassayed Alone, without exterior help sustained?\" — John Milton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ce/john-milton-191_exterior_and-what-is-faith-love-virtue-unassayed_33366.png" --- # And what is faith, love, virtue unassayed Alone, without… ![“And what is faith, love, virtue unassayed Alone, without exterior help sustained?” quote by John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ce/john-milton-191_exterior_and-what-is-faith-love-virtue-unassayed_33366.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ce/john-milton-191_exterior_and-what-is-faith-love-virtue-unassayed_33366.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ce/john-milton-191_exterior_and-what-is-faith-love-virtue-unassayed_33366.png) > “And what is faith, love, virtue unassayed Alone, without exterior help sustained?” [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Faith, love, and virtue are incomplete without external support; they require community or circumstance to be fully realized. **In simple terms:** Virtues need external aid. Key Takeaway No virtue thrives in isolation. Themes interdependence spirituality ethics community human nature Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - personal crisis - team collaboration - educational mentorship - spiritual practice - social activism Key Concepts faith love virtue external support Practical Applications - designing support networks - creating mentorship programs Questions to Reflect On - How do external influences shape personal virtues? - Can one cultivate true virtue without community? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Faith in love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith-in-love/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-virtue/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ## Related quotes > [“And what is faith, love, virtue unassay'd alone, without exterior help sustained?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/and-what-is-faith-love-virtue-unassay-d-alone-without-exterior-help/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [Love Virtue, she alone is free, She can teach ye how to climb Higher than the sphery chime; Or, if Virtue feeble were, Heav'n…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/love-virtue-she-alone-is-free-she-can-teach-ye-how-to-climb-higher/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [“Neither exhortations to virtue nor the argument of approaching death should divert us from literature; for in a good mind it excites the love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/petrarch/neither-exhortations-to-virtue-nor-the-argument-of-approaching-death/) [Petrarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/petrarch/) > [Above all things endeavor to breed them up the love of virtue, and that holy plain way of it which we have lived in,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-penn/above-all-things-endeavor-to-breed-them-up-the-love-of-virtue-and/) [William Penn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-penn/) > [We are apt to love praise, but not deserve it. But if we would deserve it, we must love virtue more than that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-penn/we-are-apt-to-love-praise-but-not-deserve-it-but-if-we-would-deserve/) [William Penn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-penn/) > [ The good hate sin because they love virtue. \[Lat., Oderunt peccare boni virtutis amore.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/the-good-hate-sin-because-they-love-virtue-lat-oderunt-peccare-boni/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [The only rules not meant to be broken are those of love and virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deacon-jones/the-only-rules-not-meant-to-be-broken-are-those-of-love-and-virtue/) [Deacon Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deacon-jones/) > [The good refrain from sin from the pure love of virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/the-good-refrain-from-sin-from-the-pure-love-of-virtue/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [If love is the soul of Christian existence, it must be at the heart of every other Christian virtue. Thus, for example, justice without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/if-love-is-the-soul-of-christian-existence-it-must-be-at-the-heart-of/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [“The earth would be covered with men amongst whom there world would be almost no communication; we would make contact at some points without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-earth-would-be-covered-with-men-amongst-whom-there-world-would-be/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [“The principals are quite simple. We can love people who treat us well. We cannot love people who treat us badly because, treating someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-molyneux/the-principals-are-quite-simple-we-can-love-people-who-treat-us-well/) [Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/) > [ “\[I\]n love, man declares himself unsatisfied in his individuality taken by itself, he postulates the existence of another as a need of the heart;… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-feuerbach/i-n-love-man-declares-himself-unsatisfied-in-his-individuality-taken/) [Ludwig Feuerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-feuerbach/) > [What fervent love of herself would Virtue excite if she could be seen!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/what-fervent-love-of-herself-would-virtue-excite-if-she-could-be-seen/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [It is difficult to persuade mankind that the love of virtue is the love of themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/it-is-difficult-to-persuade-mankind-that-the-love-of-virtue-is-the/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [Love is a virtue; it grows stronger and purer and less selfish by applying it to what it loathes; but theft is a vice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleister-crowley/love-is-a-virtue-it-grows-stronger-and-purer-and-less-selfish-by/) [Aleister Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleister-crowley/) ## More by John Milton > [Love-quarrels oft in pleasing concord end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/love-quarrels-oft-in-pleasing-concord-end/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [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/) > [And, when night Darkens the streets, then wander forth the sons Of Belial, flown with insolence and wine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/and-when-night-darkens-the-streets-then-wander-forth-the-sons-of/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [And, re-assembling our afflicted powers, consult how we may henceforth most offend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/and-re-assembling-our-afflicted-powers-consult-how-we-may-henceforth/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [Yet hold it more humane, more heav'nly, first, By winning words to conquer willing hearts, And make persuasion do the work of fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/yet-hold-it-more-humane-more-heav-nly-first-by-winning-words-to/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [O nightingale, that on yon bloomy spray Warblest at eve, when all the woods are still; Thou with fresh hope the lover's heart dost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/o-nightingale-that-on-yon-bloomy-spray-warblest-at-eve-when-all-the/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [The debt immense of endless gratitude, So burthensome, still paying, still to owe; Forgetful what from him I still receivd, And understood not that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/the-debt-immense-of-endless-gratitude-so-burthensome-still-paying/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [Knowledge forbidden? Suspicious, reasonless. Why should their Lord Envy them that? Can it be sin to know, Can it be death? And do they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/knowledge-forbidden-suspicious-reasonless-why-should-their-lord-envy/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [There is no truth sure enough to justify persecution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/there-is-no-truth-sure-enough-to-justify-persecution/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [These eyes, tho' clear To outward view of blemish or of spot, Bereft of light, their seeing have forgot, Nor to their idle orbs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/these-eyes-tho-clear-to-outward-view-of-blemish-or-of-spot-bereft-of/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [New Presbyter is but Old Priest writ Large.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/new-presbyter-is-but-old-priest-writ-large/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [This is servitude, To serve th'unwise, or him who hath rebelled Against his worthier, as thine now serve thee, Thyself not free, but to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/this-is-servitude-to-serve-th-unwise-or-him-who-hath-rebelled-against/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [Let us seek Death, or he not found, supply With our own hands his office on ourselves; Why stand we longer shivering under fears,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/let-us-seek-death-or-he-not-found-supply-with-our-own-hands-his/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [They are the troublers, they are the dividers of unity, who neglect and don't permit others to unite those dissevered pieces which are yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/they-are-the-troublers-they-are-the-dividers-of-unity-who-neglect-and/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [“How can I live without thee, how forgoe Thy sweet Converse and Love so dearly joyn'd, To live again in these wilde Woods forlorn?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/how-can-i-live-without-thee-how-forgoe-thy-sweet-converse-and-love-so/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) [Explore all 966 John Milton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) ## More Exterior quotes > [Sometimes I envy painters, it is wonderful to remain in front of a bouquet of flowers a whole morning, or even longer. 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Everyone has stuff that they've been through that makes up whatever fire it is that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmy-rossum/life-can-be-very-funny-and-very-tragic-everyone-has-stuff-that-they/) [Emmy Rossum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmy-rossum/) > [The senses are the organs by which man places himself in connexion with exterior objects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/the-senses-are-the-organs-by-which-man-places-himself-in-connexion/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) > [To desire to be what one can be is purpose in life. There are no exterior forces. There are only interior forces. Who squanders…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/to-desire-to-be-what-one-can-be-is-purpose-in-life-there-are-no/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [I try to keep away exterior events that are going to make me do something negative internally to myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lin-shaye/i-try-to-keep-away-exterior-events-that-are-going-to-make-me-do/) [Lin Shaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lin-shaye/) > [From the exterior face of the wall towers must be projected, from which an approaching enemy may be annoyed by weapons, from the embrasures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/from-the-exterior-face-of-the-wall-towers-must-be-projected-from/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Thus happiness depends, as nature shows, less on exterior things than most suppose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-cowper/thus-happiness-depends-as-nature-shows-less-on-exterior-things-than/) [William Cowper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-cowper/) > [An oyster, that marvel of delicacy, that concentration of sapid excellence, that mouthful bwefore all other mouthfuls, who first had faith to believe it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/an-oyster-that-marvel-of-delicacy-that-concentration-of-sapid/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [In other words, the real problem is not exterior. 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