natural virtue

American  

noun

1. (especially among the scholastics) any moral virtue of which humankind is capable, especially the cardinal virtues: justice, temperance, prudence, and fortitude.

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Example Sentences

Instead of following the rigid training and rituals required by Confucius, they sought to liberate the natural virtue within.

From New York Times • Dec. 15, 2014

Man is naturally in tune with the divine in nature until he lets himself be corrupted away from his original innocence and natural virtue by organized society.

From Time Magazine Archive

"Is that because of your natural virtue or because you have never wanted to?"

From We Three by Hutt, Henry

On the natural virtue of man and power of his will, 197.

From History of European Morals From Augustus to Charlemagne (Vol. 2 of 2) by Lecky, William Edward Hartpole

Now as natural virtue is in natural things, so is human virtue in rational beings.

From Summa Theologica, Part I-II (Pars Prima Secundae) From the Complete American Edition by Thomas, Aquinas, Saint