--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is amusing that a virtue is made of…" description: "\"It is amusing that a virtue is made of the vice of chastity; and it's a pretty odd sort of chastity at that, which leads men straight into the sin of O..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20e/voltaire-173_amusing_it-is-amusing-that-a-virtue-is-made-of-t_3095377.png" --- # It is amusing that a virtue is made of the vice of… ![“It is amusing that a virtue is made of the vice of chastity; and it's a pretty odd sort of chastity at that, which leads men straight into the sin of Onan, and girls to the waning of their color.” quote by Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20e/voltaire-173_amusing_it-is-amusing-that-a-virtue-is-made-of-t_3095377.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20e/voltaire-173_amusing_it-is-amusing-that-a-virtue-is-made-of-t_3095377.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20e/voltaire-173_amusing_it-is-amusing-that-a-virtue-is-made-of-t_3095377.png) > “It is amusing that a virtue is made of the vice of chastity; and it's a pretty odd sort of chastity at that, which leads men straight into the sin of Onan, and girls to the waning of their color.” [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. It mocks how society praises chastity as a virtue while it can lead to hidden sins and unhealthy outcomes. **In simple terms:** Chastity praised can cause hidden problems. Key Takeaway Beware of virtues that hide vices. Themes hypocrisy morality sex gender social norms Mood critical ironic Type philosophical satirical When to use this quote - marriage counseling - sexual education - personal relationships - religious teachings Key Concepts Virtue ethics repression double standards Questions to Reflect On - How does society define virtue in sexuality? - Can chastity be both good and harmful? A Different Perspective It may oversimplify complex sexual ethics. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Amusing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amusing/) [Chastity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chastity/) [Color](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/color/) [Girl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/girl/) [Humorous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humorous/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Sex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sex/) [Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sin/) [Vice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vice/) [Vices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vices/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ## Related quotes > [Chastity is a virtue with some, but with many it is almost a vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/chastity-is-a-virtue-with-some-but-with-many-it-is-almost-a-vice/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/the-art-of-medicine-consists-in-amusing-the-patient-while-nature/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [We pass for what we are. Character teaches above our wills. Men imagine that they communicate thier virtue or vice by overt actions, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/we-pass-for-what-we-are-character-teaches-above-our-wills-men-imagine/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Cunning is none of the best nor worst qualities; it floats between virtue and vice; there is scarce any exigence where it may not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/cunning-is-none-of-the-best-nor-worst-qualities-it-floats-between/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [We simply must get it through our heads that holding a low opinion of ourselves is not a virtue, but a vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxwell-maltz/we-simply-must-get-it-through-our-heads-that-holding-a-low-opinion-of/) [Maxwell Maltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxwell-maltz/) > [We are spinning our own fates, good or evil, and never to be undone. Every smallest stroke of virtue or of vice leaves its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-are-spinning-our-own-fates-good-or-evil-and-never-to-be-undone-2/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [There is a heroism in crime as well as in virtue. Vice and infamy have their altars and their religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/there-is-a-heroism-in-crime-as-well-as-in-virtue-vice-and-infamy-have/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Virtue and vice are both prophets; the first, of certain good; the second, of pain or else of penitence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-venning/virtue-and-vice-are-both-prophets-the-first-of-certain-good-the/) [Ralph Venning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-venning/) > [Every life is march from innocence, through temptation, to virtue or vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-abbott/every-life-is-march-from-innocence-through-temptation-to-virtue-or/) [Lyman Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyman-abbott/) > [There are two sorts of content; one is connected with exertion, the other with habits of indolence. The first is a virtue; the other,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-edgeworth/there-are-two-sorts-of-content-one-is-connected-with-exertion-the/) [Maria Edgeworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-edgeworth/) > [If one would discern the centers of dominance in any society, one need only look to its definitions of "virtue" and "vice" or "legal"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freda-adler/if-one-would-discern-the-centers-of-dominance-in-any-society-one-need/) [Freda Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freda-adler/) > [“We are spinning our own fates, good or evil, and never to be undone. Every smallest stroke of virtue or of vice leaves its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-williams/we-are-spinning-our-own-fates-good-or-evil-and-never-to-be-undone/) [James Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-williams/) > [It depends on education--that holder of the keys which the Almighty hath put into our hands--to open the gates which lead to virtue or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/it-depends-on-education-that-holder-of-the-keys-which-the-almighty/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [Knowldeg is the mother of all virtue all vice proceeds from ignorence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dudley-warner/knowldeg-is-the-mother-of-all-virtue-all-vice-proceeds-from-ignorence/) [Charles Dudley Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dudley-warner/) > [“There is no virtue or vice in a transitive verb, everything depends on the direct object. 'I LOVE' could be virtuous or not -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-wilson/there-is-no-virtue-or-vice-in-a-transitive-verb-everything-depends-on/) [Douglas Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-wilson/) ## More by Voltaire > [In every province, the chief occupations, in order of importance, are lovemaking, malicious gossip, and talking nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/in-every-province-the-chief-occupations-in-order-of-importance-are/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Fanaticism, to which men are so much inclined, has always served not only to render them more brutalized but more wicked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/fanaticism-to-which-men-are-so-much-inclined-has-always-served-not/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [History is the study of the world's crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/history-is-the-study-of-the-world-s-crime/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [We’re neither pure, nor wise, nor good; we do the best we know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/we-re-neither-pure-nor-wise-nor-good-we-do-the-best-we-know/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is with books as with men: a very small number play a great part, the rest are lost in the multitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-with-books-as-with-men-a-very-small-number-play-a-great-part/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Meslier was the most singular phenomenon ever seen among all the meteors fatal to the Christian religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/meslier-was-the-most-singular-phenomenon-ever-seen-among-all-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Being unable to make people more reasonable, I preferred to be happy away from them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/being-unable-to-make-people-more-reasonable-i-preferred-to-be-happy/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [When his highness sends a ship to Egypt, does he trouble his head whether the mice on board are at their ease or not?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/when-his-highness-sends-a-ship-to-egypt-does-he-trouble-his-head/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Madness is to think of too many things in succession too fast, or of one thing too exclusively.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/madness-is-to-think-of-too-many-things-in-succession-too-fast-or-of/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/god-gave-us-the-gift-of-life-it-is-up-to-us-to-give-ourselves-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is not inequality which is the real misfortune, it is dependence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-not-inequality-which-is-the-real-misfortune-it-is-dependence/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Providence has given us hope and sleep as a compensation for the many cares of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/providence-has-given-us-hope-and-sleep-as-a-compensation-for-the-many/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Men use thought only to justify their wrong doings, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/men-use-thought-only-to-justify-their-wrong-doings-and-employ-speech/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/work-spares-us-from-three-evils-boredom-vice-and-need/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) [Explore all 934 Voltaire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## More Amusing quotes > [“I have found it an amusing strategy, when asked whether I am an atheist, to point out that the questioner is also an atheist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-have-found-it-an-amusing-strategy-when-asked-whether-i-am-an/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [By amusing myself with all these games, all this nonsense, all these picture puzzles, I became famous... I am only a public entertainer who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/by-amusing-myself-with-all-these-games-all-this-nonsense-all-these/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [I was reading Neil Postman's 'Amusing Ourselves to Death'. It's one of my favourites.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brent-faiyaz/i-was-reading-neil-postman-s-amusing-ourselves-to-death-it-s-one-of/) [Brent Faiyaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brent-faiyaz/) > [People of our time are losing the power of celebration. Instead of celebrating we seek to be amused or entertained. Celebration is an active…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-joshua-heschel/people-of-our-time-are-losing-the-power-of-celebration-instead-of/) [Abraham Joshua Heschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-joshua-heschel/) > [No one survives in times of war unless they make war their home. How did I get so old and wise, but for welcoming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-maguire/no-one-survives-in-times-of-war-unless-they-make-war-their-home-how/) [Gregory Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-maguire/) > [Funny things tend not to happen to me. I am not a natural comic. I need to think about things a lot before I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-atkinson/funny-things-tend-not-to-happen-to-me-i-am-not-a-natural-comic-i-need/) [Rowan Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-atkinson/) > [ \[A\]n Obama presidency would be an amusing approximation of the Carter administration, complete with vaporous moralizing and foreign policy bungling. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmett-tyrrell/a-n-obama-presidency-would-be-an-amusing-approximation-of-the-carter/) [Emmett Tyrrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmett-tyrrell/) > [It's amusing how arrogant people can be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-amusing-how-arrogant-people-can-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Men are not amusing during the shooting season; but, after all, my dear, men were not especially designed to amuse women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-atherton/men-are-not-amusing-during-the-shooting-season-but-after-all-my-dear/) [Gertrude Atherton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-atherton/) > [All men are fools, if truth be told, but the ones in motley are more amusing than ones with crowns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-men-are-fools-if-truth-be-told-but-the-ones-in-motley-are-more/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Most poetry is the utterance of a man in some state of passion, love, joy, grief, rage, etc., and no doubt this is as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/most-poetry-is-the-utterance-of-a-man-in-some-state-of-passion-love/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [It's always amusing to see how much less the political class knows than the rest of us do. ... it's never occurred to \[the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-d-cox/it-s-always-amusing-to-see-how-much-less-the-political-class-knows/) Stephen D. Cox > [Are there bears in these mountains?" he asked. His companion nodded. "Of course. But it's a bit early in the year for them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flanagan/are-there-bears-in-these-mountains-he-asked-his-companion-nodded-of/) [John Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flanagan/) > [I always find it amusing to overhear women who have never had babies discussing what a pregnant chick should 'look' like at a certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catt-sadler/i-always-find-it-amusing-to-overhear-women-who-have-never-had-babies/) [Catt Sadler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catt-sadler/) > [The generation of random numbers is too important to be left to chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-coveyou/the-generation-of-random-numbers-is-too-important-to-be-left-to-chance/) Robert Coveyou [Browse all 436 Amusing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amusing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is amusing that a virtue is made of the vice of chastity; and it's a pretty odd sort of chastity at that, which leads men straight into the sin of Onan, and girls to the waning of their color.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Voltaire" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-amusing-that-a-virtue-is-made-of-the-vice-of-chastity-and-it-s/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Amusing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-amusing-that-a-virtue-is-made-of-the-vice-of-chastity-and-it-s/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20e/voltaire-173_amusing_it-is-amusing-that-a-virtue-is-made-of-t_3095377.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20e/voltaire-173_amusing_it-is-amusing-that-a-virtue-is-made-of-t_3095377.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20e/voltaire-173_amusing_it-is-amusing-that-a-virtue-is-made-of-t_3095377.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is amusing that a virtue is made of the vice of chastity; and it's a pretty odd sort of chastity at that…” — Voltaire", "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": "Voltaire", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is amusing that a virtue...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-amusing-that-a-virtue-is-made-of-the-vice-of-chastity-and-it-s/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-amusing-that-a-virtue-is-made-of-the-vice-of-chastity-and-it-s/#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 } } ] } ```