a fearless honesty, The Mechanics of Virtue, Matt Berry aphorism 1

1
If he remained completely honest about his vices, an otherwise completely vicious creature would at least not be a hypocrite.  In fact, a completely vicious creature is impossible, for he either pays tribute to virtue through his hypocrisy, as La Rochefoucauld said – or he maintains a fearless honesty and is at least incapable of hypocrisy.  Therefore, he is to the sharp eye neither dangerous to morality nor without educational benefit.  On the contrary, it is through him that we see virtue’s invincibility.



A Human Strategy ** The Mechanics of Virtue ** Post-Atheism



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