quotations about example
If thou desire to see thy child virtuous, let him not see his father's vices: thou canst not rebuke that in them, that they behold practised in thee; till reason be ripe, examples direct more than precepts: such as thy behaviour is before thy children's faces, such commonly is theirs behind their parents' backs.
FRANCIS QUARLES
Enchiridon
The first great gift we can bestow on others is a good example.
CHARLES MORELL
The Tales of the Genii
Sheep follow sheep.
TALMUD
Ketuboth 62
Example, whether it be good or bad, has a powerful influence.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
letter to Lord Stirling, Mar. 5, 1780
Rules and discourses are dead pictures, but a good example is virtue itself, alive and in motion : we may say a good example is virtue personified.
MOX
The Railway Conductor, vol. 27
Be a pattern to others, and all will go well: for as a whole city is affected by the promiscuous passions of great men, so it is likewise reformed by their moderation.
CICERO
attributed, Treasury of Spiritual Wisdom
In the discharge of thy place set before thee the best examples; for imitation is a globe of precepts.
JOHN LOCKE
"Of Great Place", The Conduct of the Understanding: Essays
A good example is the best sermon.
ENGLISH PROVERB
Precepts guide, but examples drag along.
ROMAN PROVERB
Happy thou that learnest from another's griefs, not to subject thyself to the same.
TIBULLUS
Carmina
Those who know what is right, should set the example of practicing it; and those who persist in doing wrong must be made an example, to deter others from doing the same.
GEORGE CRABB
English Synonyms Explained
The crime of a bad example is the same whether men follow it or not, because he that gives bad example to others, does what in him lies to draw them into sin; and if they do not follow it, that is no mitigation of his fault.
JOHN TILLOTSON
The Works of the Most Reverend John Tillotson
For example is a language far more eloquent than words: it is instruction in action.
SAMUEL SMILES
Thrift
From the loving example of one family a whole State may become loving, and from its courtesies, courteous; while from the ambition and perverseness of the one man the whole State may be thrown into rebellious disorder. Such is the nature of influence.
CONFUCIUS
The Wisdom of Confucius
I may do some good before I am dead--be a sort of success as a frightful example of what not to do; and so illustrate a moral story.
THOMAS HARDY
Jude the Obscure
No man is so insignificant as to be sure his example can do no hurt.
LORD CLARENDON
attributed, Day's Collacon
People seldom improve when they have no other model but themselves to copy after.
OLIVER GOLDSMITH
The Deserted Village
You cannot expect your team to rise above your example.
ORRIN WOODWARD
L.I.F.E: Living Intentionally For Excellence
An ounce of example is better than a ton of precept.
ENGLISH PROVERB
People never improve unless they look to some standard or example higher and better than themselves.
TRYON EDWARDS
attributed, Treasury of Spiritual Wisdom