--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Though the wisdom or virtue of one can…" description: "\"Though the wisdom or virtue of one can very rarely make many happy, the folly or vice of one man often make many miserable.\" — Samuel Johnson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/samuel-johnson-50_folly_though-the-wisdom-or-virtue-of-one-can-v_1130117.png" --- # Though the wisdom or virtue of one can very rarely make… ![“Though the wisdom or virtue of one can very rarely make many happy, the folly or vice of one man often make many miserable.” quote by Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/samuel-johnson-50_folly_though-the-wisdom-or-virtue-of-one-can-v_1130117.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/samuel-johnson-50_folly_though-the-wisdom-or-virtue-of-one-can-v_1130117.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/samuel-johnson-50_folly_though-the-wisdom-or-virtue-of-one-can-v_1130117.png) > “Though the wisdom or virtue of one can very rarely make many happy, the folly or vice of one man often make many miserable.” [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Individual virtue rarely benefits many, while a single vice can cause widespread misery. **In simple terms:** One bad act can harm many. Key Takeaway Promote collective well‑being over individual virtue. Themes ethics society impact Mood analytical concerned Type philosophical didactic When to use this quote - policy making - community leadership - education Key Concepts moral philosophy social responsibility Questions to Reflect On - How can societies amplify good deeds? - What safeguards prevent one’s vice from spreading? A Different Perspective Virtue may be insufficient without systemic support. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Folly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/folly/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Miserable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/miserable/) [Responsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responsibility/) [Vices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vices/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [“The other two are rich and noble; examples of virtue rarely make their home among people like that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/the-other-two-are-rich-and-noble-examples-of-virtue-rarely-make-their/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Enthusiasm is a virtue rarely to be met with in seasons of calm and unruffled prosperity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-chalmers/enthusiasm-is-a-virtue-rarely-to-be-met-with-in-seasons-of-calm-and/) [Thomas Chalmers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-chalmers/) > [Were we a rational society, a virtue of which we have rarely been accused, we would husband our oil and gas resources.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-king-hubbert/were-we-a-rational-society-a-virtue-of-which-we-have-rarely-been/) [M. King Hubbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-king-hubbert/) > [But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/but-what-is-liberty-without-wisdom-and-without-virtue-it-is-the/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [Wisdom and virtue are by no means sufficient, without the supplemental laws of good-breeding, to secure freedom from degenerating into rudeness, or self esteem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/wisdom-and-virtue-are-by-no-means-sufficient-without-the-supplemental/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [So what do people see when they read that well-behaved women rarely make history? Do they imagine good-time girls in stiletto heels or do-good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurel-thatcher-ulrich/so-what-do-people-see-when-they-read-that-well-behaved-women-rarely/) [Laurel Thatcher Ulrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurel-thatcher-ulrich/) > [If you love someone but rarely make yourself available to him or her, that is not true love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-love-someone-but-rarely-make-yourself-available-to-him-or-her/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“We make things happen all the time with our thoughts, it’s just that we rarely make the connection between the two.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-schoenwald/we-make-things-happen-all-the-time-with-our-thoughts-it-s-just-that/) Joanne Schoenwald > [I travel a lot and rarely make it home to Seattle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-solo/i-travel-a-lot-and-rarely-make-it-home-to-seattle/) [Hope Solo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-solo/) > [In reality, I don't see myself as a man hunter. In fact, when it comes to love, I am rarely the one to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carla-bruni/in-reality-i-don-t-see-myself-as-a-man-hunter-in-fact-when-it-comes/) [Carla Bruni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carla-bruni/) > [People who behave rarely make history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-linkner/people-who-behave-rarely-make-history/) [Josh Linkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-linkner/) > [People who have read a good deal rarely make great discoveries. I do not say this in excuse of laziness, but because invention presupposes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/people-who-have-read-a-good-deal-rarely-make-great-discoveries-i-do/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [Well-behaved women rarely make history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/well-behaved-women-rarely-make-history/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Those who can win a war well can rarely make a good peace and those who could make a good peace would never have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/those-who-can-win-a-war-well-can-rarely-make-a-good-peace-and-those/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [The folly of one man is the fortune of another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bacon/the-folly-of-one-man-is-the-fortune-of-another/) [Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bacon/) ## More by Samuel Johnson > [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Pound St. Paul's Church into atoms, and consider any single atom; it is to be sure, good for nothing; but put all these atoms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/pound-st-paul-s-church-into-atoms-and-consider-any-single-atom-it-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [You can never be wise unless you love reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/you-can-never-be-wise-unless-you-love-reading/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [If our aim is to praise, we should forget to criticize; if our aim is to criticize, we should remember to praise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/if-our-aim-is-to-praise-we-should-forget-to-criticize-if-our-aim-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [All theory is against free will; all experience is for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/all-theory-is-against-free-will-all-experience-is-for-it/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Had I learned to fiddle, I should have done nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/had-i-learned-to-fiddle-i-should-have-done-nothing-else/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [It is as foolish to make experiments upon the constancy of a friend, as upon the chastity of a wife.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/it-is-as-foolish-to-make-experiments-upon-the-constancy-of-a-friend/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Resolve not to be poor: whatever you have, spend less. Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness; it certainly destroys liberty, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/resolve-not-to-be-poor-whatever-you-have-spend-less-poverty-is-a/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The basis of all excellence is truth: he that professes love ought to feel its power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-basis-of-all-excellence-is-truth-he-that-professes-love-ought-to/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Words are daughters of earth but ideas are sons of heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/words-are-daughters-of-earth-but-ideas-are-sons-of-heaven/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“The composition of Shakespeare is a forest, in which oaks extend in the air, interspersed sometimes with weeds and brambles, and sometimes giving shelting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-composition-of-shakespeare-is-a-forest-in-which-oaks-extend-in/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“The cherubim were never intended as an object of worship, because they were only the appendices to another thing. But a thing is then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-cherubim-were-never-intended-as-an-object-of-worship-because-they/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Nobody has the right to put another under such a difficulty that he must either hurt the person by telling the truth or hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/nobody-has-the-right-to-put-another-under-such-a-difficulty-that-he/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [That kind of life is most happy which affords us most opportunities of gaining our own self-esteem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/that-kind-of-life-is-most-happy-which-affords-us-most-opportunities/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The time will come to every human being when it must be known how well he can bear to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-time-will-come-to-every-human-being-when-it-must-be-known-how/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Explore all 1,998 Samuel Johnson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) ## More Folly quotes > [My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/my-folks-tried-to-make-a-preacher-of-me-and-missed-by-a-narrow-margin/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [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/) > [How arrogant - how very far from humility - would be the self-satisfied, smug assurance that God, a tidy-up-after-us God will come and clean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-whitehouse/how-arrogant-how-very-far-from-humility-would-be-the-self-satisfied/) [Sheldon Whitehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-whitehouse/) > [“Understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that hath it: but the instruction of fools is folly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/proverbs-16-22-bible-kjv/understanding-is-a-wellspring-of-life-unto-him-that-hath-it-but-the/) Proverbs 16:22 Bible KJV > [Alcohol doesn't console, it doesn't fill up anyone's psychological gaps, all it replaces is the lack of God. It doesn't comfort man. On the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/alcohol-doesn-t-console-it-doesn-t-fill-up-anyone-s-psychological/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [Tis easy to break an idol, very easy: to regard the self as easy to subdue is folly, folly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/tis-easy-to-break-an-idol-very-easy-to-regard-the-self-as-easy-to/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across the sea, my million nameless joys, and my day's wage. You are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/you-are-my-inspiration-and-my-folly-you-are-my-light-across-the-sea/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [What curious little corners of folly are to be found in even the sanest brain!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-of-romania/what-curious-little-corners-of-folly-are-to-be-found-in-even-the/) [Marie of Romania](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-of-romania/) > [Unnecessary hustle is one of the American follies. We hustle at both work and play, and consequently enjoy neither to the utmost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-feather/unnecessary-hustle-is-one-of-the-american-follies-we-hustle-at-both/) [William Feather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-feather/) > [HERMIT, n. A person whose vices and follies are not sociable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/hermit-n-a-person-whose-vices-and-follies-are-not-sociable/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Democracy is the worst form of government. It is the most inefficient, the most clumsy, the most unpractical… It reduces wisdom to impotence and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-briffault/democracy-is-the-worst-form-of-government-it-is-the-most-inefficient/) [Robert Briffault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-briffault/) > [It is such a supreme folly to believe that nuclear weapons are deadly only if they're used.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/it-is-such-a-supreme-folly-to-believe-that-nuclear-weapons-are-deadly/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [One's conscience reproaches one much more stingingly for one's follies than one's crimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-jewsbury/one-s-conscience-reproaches-one-much-more-stingingly-for-one-s/) [Geraldine Jewsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-jewsbury/) > [What folly made young people, even those in middle age, think they were immortal? How much better, their lives, if they could remember the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rohinton-mistry/what-folly-made-young-people-even-those-in-middle-age-think-they-were/) [Rohinton Mistry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rohinton-mistry/) > [We are more heavily taxed by our idleness, pride and folly than we are taxed by government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/we-are-more-heavily-taxed-by-our-idleness-pride-and-folly-than-we-are/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) [Browse all 1,246 Folly quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/folly/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Though the wisdom or virtue of one can very rarely make many happy, the folly or vice of one man often make many miserable.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Johnson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/though-the-wisdom-or-virtue-of-one-can-very-rarely-make-many-happy/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Folly" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/though-the-wisdom-or-virtue-of-one-can-very-rarely-make-many-happy/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/samuel-johnson-50_folly_though-the-wisdom-or-virtue-of-one-can-v_1130117.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/samuel-johnson-50_folly_though-the-wisdom-or-virtue-of-one-can-v_1130117.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/samuel-johnson-50_folly_though-the-wisdom-or-virtue-of-one-can-v_1130117.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Though the wisdom or virtue of one can very rarely make many happy, the folly or vice of one man often make…” — Samuel Johnson", "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": "Samuel Johnson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Though the wisdom or virtue of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/though-the-wisdom-or-virtue-of-one-can-very-rarely-make-many-happy/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/though-the-wisdom-or-virtue-of-one-can-very-rarely-make-many-happy/#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 } } ] } ```