Ralph Waldo Emerson：Essays, Excerpt 83

10. It is told of Brutus,[340] that when he fell on his sword, after the battle of Philippi,[341] he quoted a line of Euripides,[342]--"O virtue! I have followed thee through life, and I find thee at last but a shade." I doubt not the hero is slandered by this report. The heroic soul does not sell its justice and its nobleness. It does not ask to dine nicely, and to sleep warm. The essence of greatness is the perception that virtue is enough. Poverty is its ornament. It does not need plenty, and can very well abide its loss.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16643
Locator：Excerpt 83 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Short excerpt

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