His face is livid, gaunt his whole body, his breath is green with gall; his tongue drips poison.
John Quincy AdamsRead
According to the Stoics, all vice was resolvable into folly: according to the Christian principle, it is all the effect of weakness.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that both Stoics and Christians perceive vice as a negative quality, but attribute its source differently—Stoics view it as ignorance, while Christians see it as a result of human frailty.
John Quincy Adams presents a compelling comparison between Stoic and Christian perspectives on human vice. The Stoics argue that all immoral actions stem from a lack of wisdom or understanding, viewing vice primarily as a form of folly, whereas the Christian tradition attributes vice to weakness, suggesting a moral failure or inability to harness one’s inner strength. This highlights the distinct philosophical foundations of each worldview regarding human behavior and morality.
Themes
ViceFollyWeaknessStoicismChristianityMorality
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about ethical behavior, one might use this quote to illustrate differing philosophical views on human shortcomings.
More from John Quincy Adams
All quotes →Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.
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It is among the evils of slavery that it taints the very sources of moral principle. It establishes false estimates of virtue and vice: for what can be more false and heartless than this doctrine which makes the first and holiest rights of humanity to depend upon the color of the skin?
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The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.
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I have no predilection for unpopularity as such, but I hold it much preferable to the popularity of a day, which perishes with the transient topic upon which it is grounded.
John Quincy AdamsRead
I speak as a man of the world to men of the world; and I say to you, Search the Scriptures! The Bible is the book of all others, to be read at all ages, and in all conditions of human life; not to be read once or twice or thrice through, and then laid aside, but to be read in small portions of one or two chapters every day, and never to be intermitted, unless by some overruling necessity.
John Quincy AdamsRead
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