Strictly speaking, one should not even rightly compare virginity to marriage because you cannot make a comparison between two things if one is good and the other evil.
St. JeromeRead
Someone may ask, 'How is justice greater than all the other virtues?' The other virtues gratify the one who possesses them; justice does not give pleasure to the one possessing it, but instead pleases others.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Justice prioritizes the well-being of others over self-pleasure.
This quote by St. Jerome emphasizes the intrinsic value of justice as a virtue that serves the greater good, rather than simply fulfilling the desires of an individual. Unlike other virtues that can provide personal gratification, justice is about making sacrifices for the benefit of others, highlighting its superior ethical standing in a moral framework.
Themes
JusticeVirtueSelflessnessMoralityEthics
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about community service, one might quote this to highlight the importance of contributing to society.
More from St. Jerome
All quotes →Thank God I am deemed worthy to be hated by the world.
St. JeromeRead
The Church was founded upon Peter: although elsewhere the same is attributed to all the Apostles, and they all receive the keys of the kingdom of heaven, the strength of the Church depends upon them all alike, yet one among the twelve is chosen so that when a head has been appointed, there may be no occasion for schism.
St. JeromeRead
Either we must speak as we dress, or dress as we speak. Why do we profess one thing and display another? The tongue talks of chastity, but the whole body reveals impurity.
St. JeromeRead
Beauty when unadorned is adorned the most.
St. JeromeRead
To ignore Scripture is to ignore Christ.
St. JeromeRead
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We are still conditioning people in this country and, indeed, all over the globe to the myth of white superiority. We are constantly being told that we don't have racism in this country anymore, but most of the people who are saying that are white. White people think it isn't happening because it isn't happening to them.
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Is it astonishing that, like children trying to catch smoke by closing their hands, philosophers so often see the object they would grasp fly before them?
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