--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Virtue begins when we dedicate ourselves…" description: "\"Virtue begins when we dedicate ourselves actively to the job of gratitude.\" — Ruth Benedict" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/678/ruth-benedict-10946_character_virtue-begins-when-we-dedicate-ourselves_2287473.jpg" --- # Virtue begins when we dedicate ourselves actively to the… ![“Virtue begins when we dedicate ourselves actively to the job of gratitude.” quote by Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/678/ruth-benedict-10946_character_virtue-begins-when-we-dedicate-ourselves_2287473.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/678/ruth-benedict-10946_character_virtue-begins-when-we-dedicate-ourselves_2287473.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/678/ruth-benedict-10946_character_virtue-begins-when-we-dedicate-ourselves_2287473.jpg) > “Virtue begins when we dedicate ourselves actively to the job of gratitude.” [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Virtue arises when we actively practice gratitude, making moral character a habit rather than a static trait. **In simple terms:** Gratitude creates virtue. Key Takeaway Practice gratitude daily. Themes ethics habit gratitude Mood inspirational thoughtful Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - personal journaling - team appreciation - rituals Key Concepts Moral psychology cultural norms Questions to Reflect On - How does gratitude shape character? - Can gratitude replace other virtues? A Different Perspective Gratitude alone may not fix deeper flaws. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Begins Dedicate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/begins-dedicate-5361955/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Dedicate Actively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dedicate-actively-5361956/) [Gratitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gratitude/) [Job Gratitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/job-gratitude-5361954/) [Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jobs/) [Thank you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thank-you/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) [Virtue Begins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue-begins-5222176/) ## Related quotes > [The difference is too nice - Where ends the virtue or begins the vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/the-difference-is-too-nice-where-ends-the-virtue-or-begins-the-vice/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Discipline is the virtue that begins in obedience and flowers in self-control.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-malloch/discipline-is-the-virtue-that-begins-in-obedience-and-flowers-in-self/) [Ted Malloch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-malloch/) > [I want to say in a public way thank you to the U21 coach Alan Fettis. Without him I may have given up football.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-valdes/i-want-to-say-in-a-public-way-thank-you-to-the-u21-coach-alan-fettis/) [Victor Valdes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-valdes/) > [I think it's the easiest thing in the world to be friendly and say 'please' and 'thank you.' I try and remember it and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amber-le-bon/i-think-it-s-the-easiest-thing-in-the-world-to-be-friendly-and-say/) [Amber Le Bon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amber-le-bon/) > [I see film roles as lovely presents that come along now and again. I feel really lucky and say thank you very much. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-gambon/i-see-film-roles-as-lovely-presents-that-come-along-now-and-again-i/) [Michael Gambon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-gambon/) > [I dono how to thank god for giving his most beautiful angel as my life time companion ...!! I too... dono how to thank…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua/i-dono-how-to-thank-god-for-giving-his-most-beautiful-angel-as-my/) [Joshua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua/) > [Thank you to all the people who greeted me on my birthday yesterday and today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/thank-you-to-all-the-people-who-greeted-me-on-my-birthday-yesterday/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Thank you for coming into my life and giving me joy, thank you for loving me and receiving my love in return. Thank you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/thank-you-for-coming-into-my-life-and-giving-me-joy-thank-you-for/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > [I wanna thank you for supporting me and my music and defending me from haters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-bieber/i-wanna-thank-you-for-supporting-me-and-my-music-and-defending-me/) [Justin Bieber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-bieber/) > [It'll be up to ESPN when I leave. And when ESPN says they're going to move in another direction, I'll say, 'Thank you very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-corso/it-ll-be-up-to-espn-when-i-leave-and-when-espn-says-they-re-going-to/) [Lee Corso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-corso/) > [Growing up, all my friends used to say 'Naturi, you are so dramatic!' and I would think to myself, 'Thank you!'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naturi-naughton/growing-up-all-my-friends-used-to-say-naturi-you-are-so-dramatic-and/) [Naturi Naughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naturi-naughton/) > [I love the UFC, and I want to say thank you for many things. And, for sure, I've had problems, too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fabricio-werdum/i-love-the-ufc-and-i-want-to-say-thank-you-for-many-things-and-for/) [Fabricio Werdum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fabricio-werdum/) > [Even on my most angry song, I'm also still saying, 'Thank you for helping me to learn.' I've always wanted to give voice to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelela/even-on-my-most-angry-song-i-m-also-still-saying-thank-you-for/) [Kelela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelela/) > [I was a terrible student. I didn't graduate magna cum laude: I graduated 'Thank you, Lawdy!'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-sharpe/i-was-a-terrible-student-i-didn-t-graduate-magna-cum-laude-i/) [Shannon Sharpe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-sharpe/) > [Thank You for bringing me to a place and situation where even Angels in heaven have to move aside and give way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-jefferson/thank-you-for-bringing-me-to-a-place-and-situation-where-even-angels/) [Mark Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-jefferson/) ## More by Ruth Benedict > [We grow in time to trust the future for our answers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/we-grow-in-time-to-trust-the-future-for-our-answers/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [An observer will see the bizarre developments of behavior only in alien cultures, not his own. Nevertheless this is obviously a local and temporary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/an-observer-will-see-the-bizarre-developments-of-behavior-only-in/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [In world history, those who have helped to build the same culture are not necessarily of one race, and those of the same race…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/in-world-history-those-who-have-helped-to-build-the-same-culture-are/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [It is strange how long we rebel against a platitude until suddenly in a different lingo it looms up again as the only verity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/it-is-strange-how-long-we-rebel-against-a-platitude-until-suddenly-in/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [“Experience, contrary to common belief, is mostly imagination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/experience-contrary-to-common-belief-is-mostly-imagination/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [I gambled on having the strength to live two lives, one for myself and one for the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/i-gambled-on-having-the-strength-to-live-two-lives-one-for-myself-and/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [Western civilization, because of fortuitous historical circumstances, has spread itself more widely than any other local group that has so far been known.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/western-civilization-because-of-fortuitous-historical-circumstances/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [The trouble is not that we are never happy - it is that happiness is so episodical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/the-trouble-is-not-that-we-are-never-happy-it-is-that-happiness-is-so/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [It is my necessary breath of life to understand and expression is the only justification of life that I can feel without prodding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/it-is-my-necessary-breath-of-life-to-understand-and-expression-is-the/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [The purpose of anthropology is to make the world safe for human differences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/the-purpose-of-anthropology-is-to-make-the-world-safe-for-human/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [Success and failure in our own national economy will hang upon the degree to which we are able to work with races and nations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/success-and-failure-in-our-own-national-economy-will-hang-upon-the/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [I haven't strength of mind not to need a career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/i-haven-t-strength-of-mind-not-to-need-a-career/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [As a matter of history great developments in art have often been remarkably separate from religious motivation and use.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/as-a-matter-of-history-great-developments-in-art-have-often-been/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [The Japanese are, to the highest degree, both aggressive and unaggressive, both militaristic and aesthetic, both insolent and polite, rigid and adaptable, submissive and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/the-japanese-are-to-the-highest-degree-both-aggressive-and/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [Society in its full sense ... is never an entity separable from the individuals who compose it. No individual can arrive even at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/society-in-its-full-sense-is-never-an-entity-separable-from-the/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) [Explore all 62 Ruth Benedict quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) ## 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. 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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. 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