Temperance
The virtue of moderation in pleasures, especially of food, drink and the body.
Works to read
- The Shorter Poems and Samson Agonistes by John Milton, 1629-1671 · Great Books
- Experience and Education by John Dewey, 1938 · Great Books
- The Satires of Horace and Persius by Horace and Persius, c. 35–30 BCE / c. 60 CE
- The Age of Alexander: Nine Greek Lives by Plutarch, c. 100 CE
- The Rule of St Benedict by Benedict of Nursia, c. 530 CE
- On Free Will (De Libero Arbitrio) by Desiderius Erasmus, 1524
Passages
From the texts
But to the man destitute of Self-Control the particular instances are on the contrary quite voluntary, being done with desire and direct exertion of the will, but the general result is less voluntary: since no man desires to form the habit.
— Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics
Verified quotations
And the cure, my dear youth, has to be effected by the use of certain charms, and these charms are fair words; and by them temperance is implanted in the soul
— Plato, Charmides, Lysis and Laches
That no free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue and by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.
— George Mason, The Virginia Declaration of Rights
Passages are verified quotations from the library that use one of these words: temperance, moderation, self-control. Sentences under “From the texts” are copied word for word from the full texts in this library. Read each in its context on the work's page.