My first recollection of coming across lists of virtues and vices goes back to my grandmother's Bible. This gorgeous book was massive, wrapped in white leather hardcover and decorated with breathtaking details and pictures. It couldn't have been more different from the tiny, black paperback Bible my Baptist parents handed me—a plain, word-heavy book with nothing pretty to look at. To this day, I can clearly see those pictures of angels casting demons out of heaven, sitting next to those opposing lists of virtues and vices. That Bible is still the most stunning book my eyes have ever seen, and much like my grandmother, who died when I was young, it has left a permanent mark on my soul.
I've gathered virtue and vice lists from the world's great religions. This collection has two aims: bettering ourselves and figuring out the real character of the people surrounding us. What amazes me is how many of our so-called leaders don't live out these virtues day to day. The way they talk and behave resembles demons more than angels. Pay close attention to how these people speak and act, weigh them against these virtues and vices, and then draw your own conclusions about who they really are.
These religions are listed alphabetically, not in order of importance. Follow whichever faith resonates with you—personally, I lean toward Pantheism (seeing the universe as God, with all of us joined together as one). Just respect what others believe and don't push your own views onto them (a genuinely demonic habit). After a good deal of research, I've now added the Hindu teachings on virtues and vices, which rounds out this collection.
I'm not asking anyone to agree about religion. A Christian doesn't have to become a Buddhist. A Muslim doesn't have to accept Hindu theology. An atheist doesn't have to believe in God, and none of them has to adopt my Pantheism. We can disagree about all of that and still agree that compassion beats cruelty, honesty beats deception, generosity beats greed, peace beats violence, humility beats arrogance, and tolerance beats bigotry. I'm far less interested in what you call yourself than in how you treat other human beings.
A note on the lists: Religious traditions don't all organize morality into identical lists of "virtues" and "vices." Some entries below come directly from traditional enumerations; others are modern-language summaries of teachings found throughout those traditions, and a few are my own conclusions. The purpose isn't to claim that every tradition uses the same terminology, but to highlight the remarkable ethical overlap among them. Despite enormous differences in theology, cosmology, and salvation, these traditions keep converging on honesty, compassion, generosity, restraint, justice, humility, and non-harm—and keep warning against greed, cruelty, deception, arrogance, hatred, and uncontrolled desire. That says something about us as humans more than about any single faith.
Angels
Honestly, I think this list shouldn't be needed, but because empathy doesn't come naturally to everyone, here are the virtues drawn from the world's great religions. When you're unsure, two simple principles cover most of what matters. The first is the Harm Rule: live however you want, as long as you don't cause physical or emotional harm to others. The second is the Golden Rule, which many traditions share: treat others as you would want to be treated. The Harm Rule sets the floor—don't hurt people—while the Golden Rule raises the bar toward how we'd actually hope to be treated ourselves. Hold to both and you won't go far wrong.
Buddhism:
These correspond closely to the traditional Ten Courses of Wholesome Action: three of body, four of speech, three of mind.
Body: Safeguard Life, Share Freely, Honor Personal Discipline
Speech: Communicate Truthfully, Foster Peace, Use Kind Words, Express Purpose
Mind: Generous Spirit, Compassionate Heart, Right View / Accurate Understanding of Reality
Christianity — Virtues Consistent with Christian Ethical Teaching:
Acceptance
Assertiveness
Authenticity
Beauty
Caring
Cleanliness
Commitment
Compassion
Confidence
Consideration
Contentment
Cooperation
Courage
Creativity
Detachment
Determination
Dignity
Encouragement
Enthusiasm
Ethical
Excellence
Fairness
Faith
Flexibility
Forgiveness
Friendliness
Generosity
Gentleness
Graciousness
Gratitude
Harmonious
Helpfulness
Honesty
Honor
Hope
Humility
Idealism
Integrity
Imaginative
Joyfulness
Justice
Kindness
Love
Loyalty
Moderation
Modesty
Optimistic
Orderliness
Passionate
Patience
Peace
Perseverance
Preparedness
Purposefulness
Reliability
Respect
Responsibility
Reverence
Self-discipline
Service
Sincerity
Tact
Temperate
Tenacious
Thankfulness
Tolerance
Trust
Truthfulness
Understanding
Unity
Visionary
Wisdom
Wonder
Hinduism:
The theme of this whole piece has a striking parallel in the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 16, traditionally called Daivi and Asuri Sampad—the divine and demonic qualities. There the divine qualities include fearlessness, purity, charity, self-control, study, austerity, straightforwardness, nonviolence, truthfulness, freedom from anger, peacefulness, compassion, gentleness, modesty, forgiveness, fortitude, and cleanliness. In other words, an ancient Hindu text lays out its own "Angels vs Demons" long before I ever thought of it.
The list below draws on that spirit as well as the five yamas and five niyamas of Patanjali's Yoga tradition and other Hindu ethical teachings. Note that Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi are not moral virtues in the strict sense—they're the final three limbs of the eight-limbed yoga (concentration, meditation, and absorption)—but they're included as desirable practices in that tradition.
Ahimsa (Non-violence)
Satya (Truthfulness)
Asteya (Non-stealing)
Brahmacharya (Sexual restraint / responsible conduct)
Aparigraha (Non-possessiveness)
Saucha (Cleanliness)
Santosha (Contentment)
Tapas (Discipline/Austerity)
Svadhyaya (Self-study)
Ishvara Pranidhana (Surrender to the Divine)
Dama (Self-control)
Kshama (Forgiveness)
Dhriti (Fortitude)
Daya (Compassion)
Arjava (Honesty/Straightforwardness)
Mitahara (Moderation in eating)
Shaucha (Purity)
Dharana (Concentration)
Dhyana (Meditation)
Samadhi (Meditative absorption)
Islam — Virtues Emphasized in Islamic Ethical Teaching:
Justice
Charity
Contentment
Courtesy
Courage
Dignity
Forgiveness
Tolerance
Kindness and leniency
Kind treatment to animals
Chastity and modesty
Humility
Patience and anger management
Respect for elders
Decent speech
Honesty
Trustworthiness
Sincerity
Unity
Wisdom
Demons
When I talk about demons, I'm not picturing mythical creatures with dark, scaly skin and jutting horns. I'm using "angel" and "demon" here to describe patterns of conduct, not permanent categories of human beings. A demon reveals itself through its conduct (and remember, spoken and written words are actions too!). Look for these vices in yourself and in others. These warnings have existed in religious traditions for centuries, yet modern culture often gives far more attention to religious identity and belief than to the everyday conduct those traditions actually demand.
And let me be clear about something: no one lives a 100% virtuous life. None of us is that perfect. I can tell you with the utmost confidence that I strive to live by every one of these virtues and to do no harm—but I'm not perfect, and I make mistakes like anyone else. It's the striving toward that perfection, the honest effort to be virtuous, that makes us angelic. Falling short doesn't make you a demon; giving up the effort and choosing harm is another matter entirely.
Personal change is possible at any point in life; take up the virtues and grow into someone better. People can change—that's the whole point. Still, in my own experience, don't count on those holding political and economic power to change on their own. Honestly, if you can't spot most or all of these vices in your political and economic leaders, it's worth asking hard questions about who you're following and why.
Here's the standard I'd use: don't ask whether someone calls themselves Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, conservative, liberal, capitalist, socialist, religious, or secular. Look at what they repeatedly do.
I'll be honest about why war sits on the demon side of my own list. I'm a veteran of Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and what I saw in that war changed me forever. War is something I've come to see as a human choice—a thing we talk ourselves into, never something we should accept as inevitable. We should not be killing our fellow Brothers and Sisters, because we are all one species: Human, Homo sapiens. Whether you trust the science, which shows our common ancestry and how extraordinarily closely related all human beings are, or the religious texts, which say God created all of us and made us kin, doesn't matter here. Either way, the conclusion is the same. We are one family, and war is family killing family.
Buddhism:
Body: Taking Life, Theft, Sexual Misconduct
Speech: Deception, Divisive Speech, Harsh Words, Meaningless Chatter
Mind: Covetousness, Ill Will, Wrong View / Distorted Understanding (including denial of moral cause and effect)
Christianity — Vices and Harmful Behaviors Condemned in Christian Ethical Teaching:
Arrogance
Avarice
Bigotry
Callousness
Contempt
Cruelty
Cynicism
Deceit
Despair
Dishonesty
Disloyalty
Distrust
Drug abuse / destructive intoxication
Drunkenness / destructive alcohol abuse
Egotism
Envy
Fanaticism
Gambling
Gluttony
Gossip
Greed
Hypocrisy
Ignorance
Impatience
Indulgence
Ingratitude
Insensitivity
Irresponsibility
Jealousy
Lust
Malice
Manipulation
Murder
Narcissism
Negligence
Obsession
Overconfidence
Pessimism
Prejudice
Pride
Procrastination
Rape
Recklessness
Rudeness
Selfishness
Sexual exploitation
Sloth
Spite
Stubbornness
Superficiality
Unfaithfulness
Vanity
Vindictiveness
War / organized violence (author's addition; consistent with Christian pacifist traditions—including participating in, supporting, advocating for, or waging proxy conflicts)
Waste
Wrath
Xenophobia
Hinduism:
This list draws heavily on the Bhagavad Gita's account of demonic qualities—hypocrisy, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness, and ignorance—alongside the classical inner enemies recognized across Hindu thought.
Ahamkara (Ego/Self-identification)
Krodha (Anger/Wrath)
Lobha (Greed)
Moha (Delusion/Attachment)
Mada (Arrogance/Intoxication)
Matsarya (Jealousy/Envy)
Kama (Excessive desire)
Dambha (Hypocrisy/Pretense)
Darpa (Pride/Vanity)
Himsa (Violence/Harm)
Asatya (Falsehood/Lying)
Steya (Stealing/Theft)
Parigraha (Excessive attachment/Greed)
Islam — Vices Condemned in Islamic Ethical Teaching:
Arrogance (Kibr)
Envy (Hasad)
Greed (Tama'/Hirs)
Anger (Ghadab)
Backbiting (Gheebah)
Lying (Kadhib)
Hypocrisy (Nifaq)
Miserliness (Bukhl)
Injustice / Oppression (Zulm)
Ingratitude (Kufr al-Ni'mah)
Showing off (Riya')
Cruelty
Betrayal of trust (Khiyanah)
Slander (Buhtan)
"Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." Matthew 6:10 (KJV)
I read this statement as asking us to help build something resembling Heaven right here on Earth through the way we conduct ourselves—that, to me, is the road to the heavenly kingdom. I don't believe salvation should be treated as a loophole that excuses a lifetime of deliberately harming others. This life turns into our Heaven or our Hell based on what we do and say, shaping both ourselves and everyone around us.
Virtue isn't just about personal purity. It's about consequences. Compassion matters because someone else feels it. Rejecting bigotry matters because someone else doesn't suffer it. Refusing hatred matters because hatred doesn't get handed to another person. Rejecting war matters because another generation doesn't inherit the death, trauma, and resentment it leaves behind. We are one Human family—related by blood or by Creation, take your pick—and the world we create through our conduct is the world our children inherit. Forget the labels. Look at the behavior. Choose the behavior that causes less suffering and leaves a better world behind.
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