--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The man of virtuous soul commands not…" description: "\"The man of virtuous soul commands not, nor obeys.\" — Percy Bysshe Shelley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32b/percy-bysshe-shelley-476_balance_the-man-of-virtuous-soul-commands-not-no_1358519.jpg" --- # The man of virtuous soul commands not, nor obeys. ![“The man of virtuous soul commands not, nor obeys.” quote by Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32b/percy-bysshe-shelley-476_balance_the-man-of-virtuous-soul-commands-not-no_1358519.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32b/percy-bysshe-shelley-476_balance_the-man-of-virtuous-soul-commands-not-no_1358519.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32b/percy-bysshe-shelley-476_balance_the-man-of-virtuous-soul-commands-not-no_1358519.jpg) > “The man of virtuous soul commands not, nor obeys.” [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A virtuous soul acts independently, neither dominating others nor submitting to them, embodying self‑governance. **In simple terms:** A virtuous soul is self‑governing, not controlling or controlled. Key Takeaway Cultivate inner authority without oppression. Themes ethics autonomy virtue leadership Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - personal development - leadership training - ethical decision‑making Key Concepts self‑mastery philosophy of freedom Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance self‑governance with cooperation? - When is yielding a virtue? A Different Perspective Absolute autonomy can ignore interdependence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Balance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/balance/) [Command](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/command/) [Commands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commands/) [Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man/) [Man Virtuous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-virtuous-234238/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Moderation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moderation/) [Nor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nor/) [Obeys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obeys/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Soul Commands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul-commands-4641476/) [Virtuous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtuous/) [Virtuous Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtuous-soul-2215955/) ## Related quotes > [“The man Of virtuous soul commands not, nor obeys: Power, like a desolating pestilence, Pollutes whate'er it touches, and obedience, Bane of all genius,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-man-of-virtuous-soul-commands-not-nor-obeys-power-like-a/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Nature rejects the monarch, not the man; the subject, not the citizen... The man of virtuous soul commands not, nor obeys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/nature-rejects-the-monarch-not-the-man-the-subject-not-the-citizen/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Only a sweet and virtuous soul, like seasoned timber, never gives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/only-a-sweet-and-virtuous-soul-like-seasoned-timber-never-gives/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [Beauty has so many charms, one knows not how to speak against it; and when it happens that a graceful figure is the habitation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/beauty-has-so-many-charms-one-knows-not-how-to-speak-against-it-and/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Only a sweet and virtuous soul, Like season'd timbered, never gives; But though the whole world turn to coal, Then chiefly lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/only-a-sweet-and-virtuous-soul-like-season-d-timbered-never-gives-but/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [I shall say, that I feel myself virtuous, because my soul is at rest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-wright/i-shall-say-that-i-feel-myself-virtuous-because-my-soul-is-at-rest/) [Frances Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-wright/) > [I feel virtuous because my soul is at ease.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-wright/i-feel-virtuous-because-my-soul-is-at-ease/) [Frances Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-wright/) > [The virtuous soul that is alone and without a master is like a long lone burning coal; it will grow colder rather than hotter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-of-the-cross/the-virtuous-soul-that-is-alone-and-without-a-master-is-like-a-long/) [John of the Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-of-the-cross/) > [For, in the language of Heraclitus, the virtuous soul is pure and unmixed light, springing from the body as a flash of lightning darts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/for-in-the-language-of-heraclitus-the-virtuous-soul-is-pure-and/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) > [Nothing makes a man so virtuous as belief of the truth. 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Without the aid of trained emotions the intellect is powerless against the animal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-justification-of-virtue-will-enable-a-man-to-be-virtuous-without/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Corrupt and often cruel in his lust, like some noxious insect, Fyodor Pavlovitch was sometimes, in moments of drunkenness,overcome by superstitious terror and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dostoevsky/corrupt-and-often-cruel-in-his-lust-like-some-noxious-insect-fyodor/) [Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dostoevsky/) > [“One doesn’t have the opportunity very often. Not that there are not many men who are good, but there are few men who, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/one-doesn-t-have-the-opportunity-very-often-not-that-there-are-not/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## More by Percy Bysshe Shelley > [The everlasting universe of things Flows through the mind, and rolls its rapid waves, Now dark--now glittering--now reflecting gloom-- Now lending splendour, where from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-everlasting-universe-of-things-flows-through-the-mind-and-rolls/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [The quick Dreams, The passion-winged Ministers of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-quick-dreams-the-passion-winged-ministers-of-thought/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Hail to thee, blithe Spirit!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/hail-to-thee-blithe-spirit/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [The jealous keys of truth's eternal doors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-jealous-keys-of-truth-s-eternal-doors/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [“Though we eat little flesh and drink no wine, Yet let's be merry; we'll have tea and toast; Custards for supper, and an endless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/though-we-eat-little-flesh-and-drink-no-wine-yet-let-s-be-merry-we-ll/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [A dream has power to poison sleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/a-dream-has-power-to-poison-sleep/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Titles are tinsel, power a corrupter, glorya bubble, and excessive wealth a libel on its possessor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/titles-are-tinsel-power-a-corrupter-glorya-bubble-and-excessive/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [“I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed !”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/i-fall-upon-the-thorns-of-life-i-bleed/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [“Poets and philosophers are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/poets-and-philosophers-are-the-unacknowledged-legislators-of-the-world/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Dar'st thou amid the varied multitude To live alone, an isolated thing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/dar-st-thou-amid-the-varied-multitude-to-live-alone-an-isolated-thing/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Spirit of BEAUTY, that dost consecrate With thine own hues all thou dost shine upon Of human thought or form, where art thou gone?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/spirit-of-beauty-that-dost-consecrate-with-thine-own-hues-all-thou/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [I love tranquil solitude, And such society As is quiet, wise, and good; Between thee and me What difference? but thou dost possess The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/i-love-tranquil-solitude-and-such-society-as-is-quiet-wise-and-good/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [The practice of utter sincerity towards other men would avail to no good end, if they were incapable of practising it towards their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-practice-of-utter-sincerity-towards-other-men-would-avail-to-no/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Thou shoreless flood, which in thy ebb and flow claspest the limits of mortality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/thou-shoreless-flood-which-in-thy-ebb-and-flow-claspest-the-limits-of/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Senseless is the breast and cold Which relenting love would fold; Bloodless are the veins and chill Which the pulse of pain did fill;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/senseless-is-the-breast-and-cold-which-relenting-love-would-fold/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) [Explore all 533 Percy Bysshe Shelley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) ## More Balance quotes > [Balance suggests a perfect equilibrium. 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I had a tendency to be precious about acting, thinking of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-regan/i-can-still-function-when-i-don-t-have-that-balance-i-crave-i-had-a/) [Laura Regan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-regan/) > [she got a reputation for an easy smile and a sharp tongue, and using one to balance the other, she seemed friendly but distant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-allison/she-got-a-reputation-for-an-easy-smile-and-a-sharp-tongue-and-using/) [Dorothy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-allison/) > [Life's unfairness is not irrevocable; we can help balance the scales for others, if not always for ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-h-humphrey/life-s-unfairness-is-not-irrevocable-we-can-help-balance-the-scales/) [Hubert H. 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We love to write, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukimi-nagano/i-think-that-kind-of-balance-comes-with-the-process-of-growing/) [Yukimi Nagano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukimi-nagano/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [At times of recession, running a budget deficit is highly desirable. Once the economy begins to recover, you have to balance the budget. 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Five hundred miles an hour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yanni/when-it-comes-down-to-music-i-have-no-balance-i-am-100-percent-it-is/) [Yanni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yanni/) [Browse all 5,166 Balance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/balance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The man of virtuous soul commands not, nor obeys.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Percy Bysshe Shelley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-man-of-virtuous-soul-commands-not-nor-obeys/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Balance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-man-of-virtuous-soul-commands-not-nor-obeys/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32b/percy-bysshe-shelley-476_balance_the-man-of-virtuous-soul-commands-not-no_1358519.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32b/percy-bysshe-shelley-476_balance_the-man-of-virtuous-soul-commands-not-no_1358519.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32b/percy-bysshe-shelley-476_balance_the-man-of-virtuous-soul-commands-not-no_1358519.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The man of virtuous soul commands not, nor obeys.” — Percy Bysshe Shelley", "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": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The man of virtuous soul commands...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-man-of-virtuous-soul-commands-not-nor-obeys/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-man-of-virtuous-soul-commands-not-nor-obeys/#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 } } ] } ```