--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Vice, virtue - it's best not to be too…" description: "\"Vice, virtue - it's best not to be too moral. You'll cheat yourself out of too much life.\" — Ruth Gordon" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd8/ruth-gordon-14305_character_vice-virtue-it-s-best-not-to-be-too-mora_2005592.jpg" --- # Vice, virtue - it's best not to be too moral. You'll cheat… ![“Vice, virtue - it's best not to be too moral. You'll cheat yourself out of too much life.” quote by Ruth Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd8/ruth-gordon-14305_character_vice-virtue-it-s-best-not-to-be-too-mora_2005592.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd8/ruth-gordon-14305_character_vice-virtue-it-s-best-not-to-be-too-mora_2005592.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd8/ruth-gordon-14305_character_vice-virtue-it-s-best-not-to-be-too-mora_2005592.jpg) > “Vice, virtue - it's best not to be too moral. You'll cheat yourself out of too much life.” [Ruth Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-gordon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Excessive moral rigidity can limit life experiences; a balanced approach allows enjoyment without over‑indulgence. **In simple terms:** Don’t be too moral; enjoy life moderately. Key Takeaway Find balance between ethics and pleasure. Themes ethics moderation life balance personal freedom self‑care Mood thoughtful light‑hearted reflective Type philosophical advice humorous When to use this quote - social gatherings - career decisions - personal relationships Key Concepts moral philosophy hedonism well‑being Questions to Reflect On - How do you define a “too moral” stance? - What pleasures enrich your life without harming others? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on morality may cause guilt or missed joys; balance is subjective. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Best Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/best-moral-2022591/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Cheat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cheat/) [Cheating yourself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cheating-yourself/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life means](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-means/) [Meaning of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaning-of-life/) [Meaningful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaningful/) [Meaningful life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaningful-life/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Too much](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/too-much/) [Vice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vice/) [Vice and virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vice-and-virtue/) [Vice Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vice-virtue-264513/) [Vices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vices/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ## Related quotes > [“Vice, Virtue. It's best not to be too moral. You cheat yourself out of too much \*life\*. Aim above morality. If you apply that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maude-harold-maude/vice-virtue-it-s-best-not-to-be-too-moral-you-cheat-yourself-out-of/) [Maude (Harold & Maude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maude-harold-maude/) > [The extremes of vice and virtue are alike detestable, and absolute virtue is as sure to kill a man as absolute vice is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/the-extremes-of-vice-and-virtue-are-alike-detestable-and-absolute/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Vice and virtue chiefly imply the relation of our actions to men in this world; sin and holiness rather imply their relation to God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-watts/vice-and-virtue-chiefly-imply-the-relation-of-our-actions-to-men-in/) [Isaac Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-watts/) > [There are some who write, talk, and think, so much about vice and virtue, that they have no time to practice either the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/there-are-some-who-write-talk-and-think-so-much-about-vice-and-virtue/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [It takes a vice to check a vice, and virtue is the by-product of a stalemate between opposite vices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/it-takes-a-vice-to-check-a-vice-and-virtue-is-the-by-product-of-a/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [It is convention and arbitrary rewards which make all the merit and demerit of what we call vice and virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julien-offray-de-la-mettrie/it-is-convention-and-arbitrary-rewards-which-make-all-the-merit-and/) [Julien Offray de La Mettrie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-offray-de-la-mettrie/) > [Home is the first and most important school of character. It is there that every human being receives his best moral training, or his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/home-is-the-first-and-most-important-school-of-character-it-is-there/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [“Our best moral stories don’t tell us what is right or wrong in every situation, but they show us what one character did in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-d-fitzgerald/our-best-moral-stories-don-t-tell-us-what-is-right-or-wrong-in-every/) [Jonathan D. Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-d-fitzgerald/) > [“Only through the empowerment of society to be the very best it can be in a moral way, might we acheive peace through achievement.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-t-johnson/only-through-the-empowerment-of-society-to-be-the-very-best-it-can-be/) [Carl T. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-t-johnson/) > [Buy the best & latest mobile, laptop, gadget or vehicle of your own choice! It remains the best & latest for you until you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mufti-ismail-menk/buy-the-best-latest-mobile-laptop-gadget-or-vehicle-of-your-own/) [Mufti Ismail Menk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mufti-ismail-menk/) > [“I do not, in my private capacity, believe that a baby gets his best physical food by sucking his thumb; nor that a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/i-do-not-in-my-private-capacity-believe-that-a-baby-gets-his-best/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [Relationships keep us alive and our lives meaningful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-siegel/relationships-keep-us-alive-and-our-lives-meaningful/) [Bernie Siegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-siegel/) > [Life does not wait: Whether we spend our lives meaningfully or not, the time will be used up moment by moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/life-does-not-wait-whether-we-spend-our-lives-meaningfully-or-not-the/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [Dreams burst like bubbles in the wind. But change takes time.When people fall in love and lose the overwhelming desire for it to last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-fredriksson/dreams-burst-like-bubbles-in-the-wind-but-change-takes-time-when/) [Marianne Fredriksson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-fredriksson/) > [The truth is, if what we choose to do with our lives won't make a story meaningful, it won't make a life meaningful either.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/the-truth-is-if-what-we-choose-to-do-with-our-lives-won-t-make-a/) [Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/) ## More by Ruth Gordon > [Anything that begins 'I don't know how to tell you this' is never good news.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-gordon/anything-that-begins-i-don-t-know-how-to-tell-you-this-is-never-good/) [Ruth Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-gordon/) > [Try something new each day. After all, we're given life to find it out. It doesn't last forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-gordon/try-something-new-each-day-after-all-we-re-given-life-to-find-it-out/) [Ruth Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-gordon/) > [The good that men do lives after them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-gordon/the-good-that-men-do-lives-after-them/) [Ruth Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-gordon/) > [If you're thinking of becoming a critic, why not make other plans?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-gordon/if-you-re-thinking-of-becoming-a-critic-why-not-make-other-plans/) [Ruth Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-gordon/) > [Your first big trouble can be a bonanza if you live through it. Get through the first trouble, and you'll probably make it through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-gordon/your-first-big-trouble-can-be-a-bonanza-if-you-live-through-it-get/) [Ruth Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-gordon/) > [Never give up. And never, under any circumstances, face the facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-gordon/never-give-up-and-never-under-any-circumstances-face-the-facts/) [Ruth Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-gordon/) > [Acting is the use of human experience with talent added.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-gordon/acting-is-the-use-of-human-experience-with-talent-added/) [Ruth Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-gordon/) > [At seventy-four I'm getting minor raves on my looks, but I'm caught in the middle. Who knows what seventy-four looks like? Who cares? But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-gordon/at-seventy-four-i-m-getting-minor-raves-on-my-looks-but-i-m-caught-in/) [Ruth Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-gordon/) > [I'm sure the way to be happy is to live well beyond your means!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-gordon/i-m-sure-the-way-to-be-happy-is-to-live-well-beyond-your-means/) [Ruth Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-gordon/) > [Nothing dates one so dreadfully as to think someplace is uptown. At our age one must be watchful of these conversational gray hairs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-gordon/nothing-dates-one-so-dreadfully-as-to-think-someplace-is-uptown-at/) [Ruth Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-gordon/) > [Despair is your friend in show business. I don't believe you can act if happiness is your lot. It's the ups that keep you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-gordon/despair-is-your-friend-in-show-business-i-don-t-believe-you-can-act/) [Ruth Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-gordon/) > [If I don't make it today, I'll come in tomorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-gordon/if-i-don-t-make-it-today-i-ll-come-in-tomorrow/) [Ruth Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-gordon/) > [The kiss. There are all sorts ofkisses, lad, from the sticky confection to the kiss of death. Of them all, the kiss of an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-gordon/the-kiss-there-are-all-sorts-ofkisses-lad-from-the-sticky-confection/) [Ruth Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-gordon/) > [Why? Because I believe I will. If you believe, then you hang on. If you believe, it means you've got imagination, you don't need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-gordon/why-because-i-believe-i-will-if-you-believe-then-you-hang-on-if-you/) [Ruth Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-gordon/) > [To get it right, be born with luck or else make it. Never give up. A little money helps, but what really gets it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-gordon/to-get-it-right-be-born-with-luck-or-else-make-it-never-give-up-a/) [Ruth Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-gordon/) [Explore all 47 Ruth Gordon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-gordon/) ## 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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