If you want to make progress, put up with being perceived as ignorant or naive in worldly matters, don't aspire to a reputation for sagacity. If you do impress others as somebody, don't altogether believe it. You have to realize, it isn't easy to kee...
Virtue is what happens when someone has made a thousand small choices requiring effort and concentration to do something which is good and right, but which doesn't come naturally. And then, on the thousand and first time, when it really matters, they...
There is something wonderful about a book. We can pick it up. We can heft it. We can read it. We can set it down. We can think of what we have read. It does something for us. We can share great minds, great actions, and great undertakings in the page...
Yet, Step 2 and AA spirituality is about nothing if it isn’t about faith in God. Many good reasons exist why AA makes a distinction between religion and spirituality, but a denial of God is not one of them. – p. 127
When we look back from the vantage point of sobriety, many of us realize that when drinking we often felt like a fake, a fraud, and a phony. That’s because we were. – p. 74
AA is a spiritual program and Step 3 is a quintessentially spiritual Step. It is the ultimate anti-self Step. Thus, in a very real sense, we cannot practice the 12 Steps of AA merely as self-help. They are not intended to be. – p. 159
Mike Shiner: [to Riggan] Don't tell me how to do my job. This is my town, and to be honest, most people don't give a shit about you here. Lady in Bar: Hey, you're Riggan Thompson, right? Would you mind having a picture with us here? [hands phone to M...
Broadway Man on Street: "Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." [sees Riggan] Broadway Man on Str...
Lesley: I'm pathetic. You know, I've dreamt of being a Broadway actress since I was a little kid. And now I'm here. And I'm not a Broadway actress. I'm still just a little kid. And I keep waiting for someone to tell me I made it. Laura: [Sincerely] H...
Virtue is like a rich stone, best plain set.
Elegance is inferior to virtue.
True courage is not the brutal force of vulgar heroes, but the firm resolve of virtue and reason.
Patriotism must be founded on great principals and supported by great virtue.
Solitude cherishes great virtues and destroys little ones.
Good government is the outcome of private virtue.
True virtue is life under the direction of reason.
Silence is the virtue of fools.
The word virtue is as useful to self-interest as the vices.
Virtue is akin to holiness, an attribute of godliness.
Even a pacifist should admire the military virtues.
Perseverance - a lowly virtue whereby mediocrity achieves an inglorious success.