--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He used to say that virtue could make…" description: "\"“He used to say that virtue could make herself devoted friends, but she did not take pupils:”\" — Émile Souvestre" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84b/mile-souvestre-42954_virtue_he-used-to-say-that-virtue-could-make-he_2372255.jpg" --- # He used to say that virtue could make herself devoted… ![“He used to say that virtue could make herself devoted friends, but she did not take pupils:” quote by Émile Souvestre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84b/mile-souvestre-42954_virtue_he-used-to-say-that-virtue-could-make-he_2372255.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84b/mile-souvestre-42954_virtue_he-used-to-say-that-virtue-could-make-he_2372255.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84b/mile-souvestre-42954_virtue_he-used-to-say-that-virtue-could-make-he_2372255.jpg) > ““He used to say that virtue could make herself devoted friends, but she did not take pupils:”” [Émile Souvestre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-souvestre/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Virtue cannot be taught like a subject; it must be lived and embodied, not forced through instruction **In simple terms:** Virtue isn’t learned like a school subject Key Takeaway Cultivate virtue through lived example Themes philosophy education morality Mood thoughtful instructive Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - parenting - mentoring - personal growth - character education Key Concepts learning theory ethical development Questions to Reflect On - How can we model virtue in daily life? - What environments foster genuine moral development? A Different Perspective Teaching virtue without authentic practice may be ineffective ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Devoted Friends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devoted-friends-5845579/) [Friends Did](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friends-did-948247/) [Say Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/say-virtue-653866/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) [Virtue Make](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue-make-2388886/) ## Related quotes > [Virtue would not make such advances if there were not a little vanity to keep it company.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/virtue-would-not-make-such-advances-if-there-were-not-a-little-vanity/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [Recommend to your children virtue; that alone can make them happy, not gold.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-van-beethoven/recommend-to-your-children-virtue-that-alone-can-make-them-happy-not/) [Ludwig van Beethoven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-van-beethoven/) > [“Diplomacy and virtue do not make easy companions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-pears/diplomacy-and-virtue-do-not-make-easy-companions/) [Iain Pears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-pears/) > [I say that virtue is really all about enjoying yourself, living fully; but of course it is far from obvious what living fully actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/i-say-that-virtue-is-really-all-about-enjoying-yourself-living-fully/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [I have the virtue of being still amongst the living. Some would say that is my only virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-have-the-virtue-of-being-still-amongst-the-living-some-would-say/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“What can promote innocent mirth, and I may say virtue, more than a good riddle?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/what-can-promote-innocent-mirth-and-i-may-say-virtue-more-than-a-good/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“I wouldn’t say “art” as much as “virtue,” in the ancient Greek sense of “andreia” – manly action – or “arete,” excellence. In my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/i-wouldn-t-say-art-as-much-as-virtue-in-the-ancient-greek-sense-of/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [“Friends did not form isolated dyads but were normally part of highly integrated networks”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-traister/friends-did-not-form-isolated-dyads-but-were-normally-part-of-highly/) [Rebecca Traister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-traister/) > [I did a lot of theater as a kid because I had a bunch of friends who did it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-moynihan/i-did-a-lot-of-theater-as-a-kid-because-i-had-a-bunch-of-friends-who/) [Bobby Moynihan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-moynihan/) > [You can say you have a best friends but, did you know her/his mind if he/she treat you also like his/her best friends???](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-can-say-you-have-a-best-friends-but-did-you-know-her-his-mind-if/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Friends did matter. Friends like these anyway, ones who were fiercely intelligent and similarly ambitious, who suffered through the same sort of ridicule and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-benedict/friends-did-matter-friends-like-these-anyway-ones-who-were-fiercely/) [Marie Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-benedict/) > [“Sara, I didn’t realize you were so crazy,” Evan noticed. Sara just smiled in return and hopped away to find her new friends. “Did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-armentrout/sara-i-didn-t-realize-you-were-so-crazy-evan-noticed-sara-just-smiled/) [Jennifer Armentrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-armentrout/) > [“Once Charles arrived, Franny would start laughing the way she had when she was twenty-four, and the rest of them could start setting one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-straub/once-charles-arrived-franny-would-start-laughing-the-way-she-had-when/) [Emma Straub](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-straub/) > [I have friends who were friends of mine before I did music and they are my friends now, and we share life experiences. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-blunt/i-have-friends-who-were-friends-of-mine-before-i-did-music-and-they/) [James Blunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-blunt/) > [3ballMTY are friends of mine and we did a special remix to 'Intentalo.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sky-blu/3ballmty-are-friends-of-mine-and-we-did-a-special-remix-to-intentalo/) [Sky Blu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sky-blu/) ## More by Émile Souvestre > [“If happiness is the rarest of blessings, it is because the reception of it is the rarest of virtues.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-souvestre/if-happiness-is-the-rarest-of-blessings-it-is-because-the-reception/) [Émile Souvestre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-souvestre/) > [“Two thirds of human existence are wasted in hesitation, and the last third in repenting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-souvestre/two-thirds-of-human-existence-are-wasted-in-hesitation-and-the-last/) [Émile Souvestre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-souvestre/) > [Women speak in the superlative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-souvestre/women-speak-in-the-superlative/) [Emile Souvestre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-souvestre/) > [The impulse to perform a worthy action often springs from our best nature, but is afterwards tainted by the spur of selfishness or sinister…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-souvestre/the-impulse-to-perform-a-worthy-action-often-springs-from-our-best/) [Emile Souvestre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-souvestre/) > [“One of the infirmities of our nature is always to mistake feeling for evidence, and to judge of the season by a cloud or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-souvestre/one-of-the-infirmities-of-our-nature-is-always-to-mistake-feeling-for/) [Émile Souvestre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-souvestre/) > [Stomach: A slave that must accept everything that is given to it, but which avenges wrongs as slyly as does the slave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-souvestre/stomach-a-slave-that-must-accept-everything-that-is-given-to-it-but/) [Emile Souvestre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-souvestre/) > [Wisdom and love do not take up their abode in the same breast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-souvestre/wisdom-and-love-do-not-take-up-their-abode-in-the-same-breast/) [Emile Souvestre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-souvestre/) > [Celebrity sells dearly what we think she gives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-souvestre/celebrity-sells-dearly-what-we-think-she-gives/) [Emile Souvestre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-souvestre/) > [“Before we complain of being ill we should prove that we deserve to be well.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-souvestre/before-we-complain-of-being-ill-we-should-prove-that-we-deserve-to-be/) [Émile Souvestre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-souvestre/) [Explore all 10 Émile Souvestre quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-souvestre/) ## More Virtue quotes > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/courage-the-most-important-of-all-the-virtues-because-without-courage/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [A real Christian in an odd number anyway. He feels supreme love for One whom he has never seen, talks familiarly every day to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-real-christian-in-an-odd-number-anyway-he-feels-supreme-love-for/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Villainy that is vigilant will be an overmatch for virtue, if she slumber at her post.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/villainy-that-is-vigilant-will-be-an-overmatch-for-virtue-if-she/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [The writings of latter-day prophets clearly teach that the sorrows and sufferings endured by Adam and Eve upon their leaving the Garden of Eden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-k-judd/the-writings-of-latter-day-prophets-clearly-teach-that-the-sorrows/) [Daniel K Judd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-k-judd/) > [... Arthur Gride, whose bleared eyes gloated only over the outward beauties, and were blind to the spirit which reigned within, evinced - a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/arthur-gride-whose-bleared-eyes-gloated-only-over-the-outward/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [ “For her \[Françoise\], wealth was like a necessary condition without which virtue would lack both merit and charm. She made so little distinction between… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/for-her-fran-oise-wealth-was-like-a-necessary-condition-without-which/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [While the people retain their virtue and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme of wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the government in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/while-the-people-retain-their-virtue-and-vigilance-no-administration/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [The order of things consents to virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-order-of-things-consents-to-virtue/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“Perceiving the order of nature to be that individual happiness shall be inseparable from the practice of virtue, I am willing to hope it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/perceiving-the-order-of-nature-to-be-that-individual-happiness-shall/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Too much virtue can be criminal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-racine/too-much-virtue-can-be-criminal/) [Jean Racine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-racine/) > [In ancient times, those who wished to illuminate the world with virtue first brought order to their nations. 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/) > [Sorrow and happiness are the heresies of virtue; joy and anger lead astray from TAO; love and hate cause loss of virtue. The heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zhuangzi/sorrow-and-happiness-are-the-heresies-of-virtue-joy-and-anger-lead/) [Zhuangzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zhuangzi/) > [The queen of virtues is the recognition of one's own flaws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-mcdevitt/the-queen-of-virtues-is-the-recognition-of-one-s-own-flaws/) [Jack McDevitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-mcdevitt/) > [It is useless to talk virtue to a starving girl.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-howard-shaw/it-is-useless-to-talk-virtue-to-a-starving-girl/) [Anna Howard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-howard-shaw/) [Browse all 6,585 Virtue quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“He used to say that virtue could make herself devoted friends, but she did not take pupils:”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Émile Souvestre" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-souvestre/he-used-to-say-that-virtue-could-make-herself-devoted-friends-but-she/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Virtue" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-souvestre/he-used-to-say-that-virtue-could-make-herself-devoted-friends-but-she/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84b/mile-souvestre-42954_virtue_he-used-to-say-that-virtue-could-make-he_2372255.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84b/mile-souvestre-42954_virtue_he-used-to-say-that-virtue-could-make-he_2372255.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84b/mile-souvestre-42954_virtue_he-used-to-say-that-virtue-could-make-he_2372255.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“He used to say that virtue could make herself devoted friends, but she did not take pupils:” — Émile Souvestre", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Émile Souvestre", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-souvestre/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“He used to say that virtue...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-souvestre/he-used-to-say-that-virtue-could-make-herself-devoted-friends-but-she/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-souvestre/he-used-to-say-that-virtue-could-make-herself-devoted-friends-but-she/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```