--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All forced virtue is degrading in it…" description: "\"All forced virtue is degrading in it effect.\" — Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce2/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie-2169_character_all-forced-virtue-is-degrading-in-it-eff_2851030.png" --- # All forced virtue is degrading in it effect. ![“All forced virtue is degrading in it effect.” quote by Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce2/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie-2169_character_all-forced-virtue-is-degrading-in-it-eff_2851030.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce2/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie-2169_character_all-forced-virtue-is-degrading-in-it-eff_2851030.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce2/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie-2169_character_all-forced-virtue-is-degrading-in-it-eff_2851030.png) > “All forced virtue is degrading in it effect.” [Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Compelled moral behavior loses its authenticity and becomes harmful. **In simple terms:** Forced virtue feels harmful. Key Takeaway Cultivate genuine values, not imposed ones. Themes morality authenticity psychology Mood skeptical critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - parenting - corporate culture - political rhetoric Key Concepts ethics self‑determination social pressure Questions to Reflect On - Why do people accept imposed virtues? - How can authenticity be encouraged? A Different Perspective May ignore systemic factors that limit choice. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ## Related quotes > [For it is with the mysteries of our religion, as with wholesome pills for the sick, which swallowed whole, have the virtue to cure;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/for-it-is-with-the-mysteries-of-our-religion-as-with-wholesome-pills/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [By disgracing and degrading the presidency of the United States, by fleeing the White House like a diseased cur, Richard Nixon broke the heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/by-disgracing-and-degrading-the-presidency-of-the-united-states-by/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [I go to a lot of movies where people are all around me laughing, and I feel like I'm from outer space because I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meryl-streep/i-go-to-a-lot-of-movies-where-people-are-all-around-me-laughing-and-i/) [Meryl Streep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meryl-streep/) > [When I think about what we now know about Donald Trump and what he's been doing for 30 years, he sure has spent a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/when-i-think-about-what-we-now-know-about-donald-trump-and-what-he-s/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [Not for a million - years. I mean, I like the INXS boys, but I found the process very degrading, really. Reality television has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-may/not-for-a-million-years-i-mean-i-like-the-inxs-boys-but-i-found-the/) [Brian May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-may/) > [ Every answer he \[President John Adams\] gives to his addressers unmasks more and more his principles and views. His language to the young men… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/every-answer-he-president-john-adams-gives-to-his-addressers-unmasks/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [What destroys us most effectively is not a malign fate but our own capacity for self-deception and for degrading our own best self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/what-destroys-us-most-effectively-is-not-a-malign-fate-but-our-own/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [A mutual and satisfied sexual act is of great benefit to the average woman, the magnetism of it is health giving. When it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-sanger/a-mutual-and-satisfied-sexual-act-is-of-great-benefit-to-the-average/) [Margaret Sanger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-sanger/) > [I don't find the idea of sewing degrading. A thing is degrading when you are forced to do it, through economic reasons or through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-don-t-find-the-idea-of-sewing-degrading-a-thing-is-degrading-when/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [My greatest hope is that we transcend the most fearful thing, which is that we are rapidly degrading the ecological systems on this planet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-norton/my-greatest-hope-is-that-we-transcend-the-most-fearful-thing-which-is/) [Edward Norton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-norton/) > [No theory is too false, no fable too absurd, no superstition too degrading for acceptance when it has become embedded in common belief. Men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-george/no-theory-is-too-false-no-fable-too-absurd-no-superstition-too/) [Henry George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-george/) > [...If our houses, or clothes, our household furniture and utensils are not works of art, they are either wretched makeshifts, or, what is worse,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-morris/if-our-houses-or-clothes-our-household-furniture-and-utensils-are-not/) [William Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-morris/) > [It has always been thought perfectly womanly to be a scrub- woman in the Legislature and to take care of the spittoons; that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-b-anthony/it-has-always-been-thought-perfectly-womanly-to-be-a-scrub-woman-in/) [Susan B. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-b-anthony/) > [War with all its glorification of brute force is essentially a degrading thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/war-with-all-its-glorification-of-brute-force-is-essentially-a/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [To sleep around is absolutely wrong for a woman; it's degrading and it completely ruins her personality. Sooner or later it will destroy all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-cartland/to-sleep-around-is-absolutely-wrong-for-a-woman-it-s-degrading-and-it/) [Barbara Cartland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-cartland/) ## More by Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie > [Those who have made unhappy marriages walk on stilts, while the happy ones are on a level with the crowd. No one sees 'em!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/those-who-have-made-unhappy-marriages-walk-on-stilts-while-the-happy/) [Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/) > [I have always found that each step we take in life is to be regretted - if we once begin to wonder how many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/i-have-always-found-that-each-step-we-take-in-life-is-to-be-regretted/) [Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/) > [Men astonish themselves far more than they astonish their friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/men-astonish-themselves-far-more-than-they-astonish-their-friends/) [Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/) > [Disillusions all come from within ... from the failure of some dear and secret hope. The world makes no promises; we only dream it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/disillusions-all-come-from-within-from-the-failure-of-some-dear-and/) [Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/) > [To love is to know the sacrifices which eternity exacts from life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/to-love-is-to-know-the-sacrifices-which-eternity-exacts-from-life/) [Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/) > [A statesman's words, like butcher's meat, should be well weighed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/a-statesman-s-words-like-butcher-s-meat-should-be-well-weighed/) [Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/) > [A man with a career can have no time to waste upon his wife and friends; he has to devote it wholly to his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/a-man-with-a-career-can-have-no-time-to-waste-upon-his-wife-and/) [Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/) > [love comes to man through his senses - to woman through her imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/love-comes-to-man-through-his-senses-to-woman-through-her-imagination/) [Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/) > [An artist is a person who thinks more than there is to think, feels more than there is to feel, and sees more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/an-artist-is-a-person-who-thinks-more-than-there-is-to-think-feels/) [Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/) > [We must know the measure of a man's desires before we can sound the depth of his regrets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/we-must-know-the-measure-of-a-man-s-desires-before-we-can-sound-the/) [Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/) > [It is our imagination, not our conscience, which makes us better than the beasts of the field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/it-is-our-imagination-not-our-conscience-which-makes-us-better-than/) [Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/) > [Women may be whole oceans deeper than we are, but they are also a whole paradise better. She may have got us out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/women-may-be-whole-oceans-deeper-than-we-are-but-they-are-also-a/) [Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/) > [To die for one's great ideas is glorious - and easy. The horror is to outlive them. That is our worst capability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/to-die-for-one-s-great-ideas-is-glorious-and-easy-the-horror-is-to/) [Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/) > [There is no misery quite so wearing as the misery of a false position. It seems to slay the body and the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/there-is-no-misery-quite-so-wearing-as-the-misery-of-a-false-position/) [Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/) > [There never was a woman so ill-suited to public life as I am. I have had to whip myself, as it were, into society,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/there-never-was-a-woman-so-ill-suited-to-public-life-as-i-am-i-have/) [Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/) [Explore all 28 Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/) ## More Character quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [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/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I'm often moved by the circumstances around some of my characters, but I don't think I've actually cried watching myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-winslet/i-m-often-moved-by-the-circumstances-around-some-of-my-characters-but/) [Kate Winslet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-winslet/) > [When you're on a daytime drama you get one page, you better damn well know your character. You better know what she would do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hudgins/when-you-re-on-a-daytime-drama-you-get-one-page-you-better-damn-well/) David Hudgins > [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [If you are well-mannered towards those whose views are similar to yours, you may be said to exhibit a fairly good character. But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [In the fight between biology and morality, biology has commonly won in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/semir-zeki/in-the-fight-between-biology-and-morality-biology-has-commonly-won-in/) [Semir Zeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/semir-zeki/) > [Your looks don't make you pretty, it's the person inside who makes you pretty!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-chan/your-looks-don-t-make-you-pretty-it-s-the-person-inside-who-makes-you/) [Aaron Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-chan/) > [I'm not a huge social media kind of guy, so I don't really know, I don't really ever get... at least in real life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddie-stroma/i-m-not-a-huge-social-media-kind-of-guy-so-i-don-t-really-know-i-don/) [Freddie Stroma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddie-stroma/) > [If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warwick-davis/if-you-stood-me-in-a-costume-next-to-a-computer-graphic-of-the-same/) [Warwick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warwick-davis/) > [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/) > [I'm a character actor - always have been, always will be - and historically, character actors don't come into their own until later in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-potts/i-m-a-character-actor-always-have-been-always-will-be-and/) [Annie Potts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-potts/) [Browse all 32,707 Character quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "All forced virtue is degrading in it effect.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/all-forced-virtue-is-degrading-in-it-effect/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Character" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/all-forced-virtue-is-degrading-in-it-effect/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce2/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie-2169_character_all-forced-virtue-is-degrading-in-it-eff_2851030.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce2/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie-2169_character_all-forced-virtue-is-degrading-in-it-eff_2851030.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce2/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie-2169_character_all-forced-virtue-is-degrading-in-it-eff_2851030.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“All forced virtue is degrading in it effect.” — Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie", "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": "Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "All forced virtue is degrading in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/all-forced-virtue-is-degrading-in-it-effect/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/all-forced-virtue-is-degrading-in-it-effect/#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 } } ] } ```