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A portion of mankind take pride in their vices and pursue their purpose; many more waver between doing what is right and complying with what is wrong.

Vices are usually pleasurable, at least for the time being, and often do not disclose themselves as vices, by their effects, until after they have been practised for many years; perhaps for a lifetime.

Crimes sometimes shock us too much; vices almost always too little.

For a government to declare a vice to be a crime, and to punish it as such, is an attempt to falsify the very nature of things. It is as absurd as it would be to declare truth to be falsehood, or falsehood truth.

The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they're going to have some pretty annoying virtues.

Vice, by comparison with terrible accidents, has its own peculiar explanation. For, in a way, it does occur in accordance with the rationale of nature, and its occurrence is not, so to speak, useless in relation to the whole world. For otherwise, the good would not exist, either.

We do not despise all those who have vices, but we do despise those that have no virtue.

Virtue is more to be feared than vice, because its excesses are not subject to the regulation of conscience.