There are nine hundred and ninety-nine patrons of virtue to one virtuous man.
 Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience (1849). copy citation

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Author Henry David Thoreau
Source Civil Disobedience
Topic virtue fallacious
Date 1849
Language English
Reference
Note
Weblink http://www.gutenberg.org/files/71/71-h/71-h.htm

Context

“They will wait, well disposed, for others to remedy the evil, that they may no longer have it to regret. At most, they give only a cheap vote, and a feeble countenance and Godspeed, to the right, as it goes by them. There are nine hundred and ninety-nine patrons of virtue to one virtuous man; but it is easier to deal with the real possessor of a thing than with the temporary guardian of it.
All voting is a sort of gaming, like chequers or backgammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and wrong, with moral questions; and betting naturally accompanies it. The character of the voters is not staked.” source

Meaning and analysis

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