The Greatest Books of All Time on Virtue

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
30 The Divine Comedy Dante Alighieri 1308 Italian Italian
134 Tom Jones Henry Fielding 1749 British English
152 The Prince Niccolo Machiavelli 1532 Italian Italian
220 The Republic Plato -379 Greek Ancient greek
313 Meditations Marcus Aurelius 161 Roman Greek
332 Clarissa Samuel Richardson 1748 British English
334 Parallel Lives Plutarch 100 Greek Greek
352 The Vicar of Wakefield Oliver Goldsmith 1766 British English
374 Ethics Baruch de Spinoza 1677 Dutch Latin
388 The Complete Works of Plato Plato -387 Greek Ancient greek
402 The Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle -334 Greek Ancient greek
464 Petrarch's Songbook Francesco Petrarca 1341 Italian Italian
476 The Monk Matthew Lewis 1796 British English
503 Pamela Samuel Richardson 1740 British English
518 The Odes Horace 23 Roman Latin
621 Analects Confucius -479 Chinese Classical chinese
653 Summa Theologica Thomas Aquinas 1274 Italian Latin
690 The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin 1791 American English
694 La Fontaine's Fables Jean de La Fontaine 1668 French French
774 A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Mary Wollstonecraft 1792 British English
807 The Book of the City of Ladies Christine De Pizan 1405 French French
992 Joseph Andrews Henry Fielding 1742 British English
997 Julie, or the New Heloise Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1761 French French
1011 Mere Christianity C. S. Lewis 1952 British English
1046 Justine Marquis de Sade 1791 French French
1054 Letters from a Stoic Seneca 64 Roman Latin
1123 The Symposium Plato -385 Greek Ancient greek
1156 Apology Plato -389 Greek Ancient greek
1192 The Politics Aristotle -350 Greek Ancient greek
1284 The Faerie Queene Edmund Spenser 1590 British English
1459 The City of God Augustine 413 Roman Latin
1528 The Consolation of Philosophy Boethius 524 Roman Latin
1647 Phaedo Plato -379 Greek Ancient greek
1913 Mencius Mencius -300 Chinese Classical chinese
1938 The Spectator Joseph Addison 1711 British English
2026 Stanzas about the Death of his Father Jorge Manrique 1476 Spanish Spanish
2448 Bostan Saadi 1257 Persian Persian
2473 On Obligations Marcus Tullius Cicero -44 Roman Latin
2509 Curial e Güelfa Unknown 1450 Spanish Catalan
2589 Sir Charles Grandison Samuel Richardson 1753 British English
2746 The Romance of the Rose Guillaume (de Lorris) 1230 French Old french
2888 The Traveller Oliver Goldsmith 1764 Irish English
2919 Discourses Of Epictetus Epictetus -108 Greek Greek
3323 The Trials of Persiles and Sigismunda Miguel de Cervantes 1617 Spanish Spanish
3323 Love in Excess; or, The Fatal Enquiry Eliza Haywood 1719 British English
3378 Zadig Voltaire 1747 French French
3537 Amelia Henry Fielding 1751 British English
3581 Selected Poems Andrew Marvell 1681 British English
3612 The Life Of Marianne Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux 1731 French French
4216 Epistles Horace 20 Latin Latin
4779 Odes Pindar -518 Greek Ancient greek
4898 The Theory Of Moral Sentiments Adam Smith 1759 Scottish English
5390 Lycidas, Comus, And The Minor Poems John Milton 1637 British English
5390 Holy Dying Jeremy Taylor 1651 British English
5390 Poems Of Alexander Pope Alexander Pope 1711 British English
5820 Hymns And Epigrams Callimachus -239 Greek Ancient greek
5832 Satires Persius 62 Latin Latin
5836 Paradise Regained John Milton 1671 British English
5855 The New Life Dante Alighieri 1295 Italian Italian
5856 Selections Francesco Petrarca 1340 Italian Italian
5860 The Book Of The Courtier Baldassare Castiglione 1528 Italian Italian
5860 The Poems Of William Dunbar William Dunbar 1501 Scottish Middle scots
5996 After Virtue Alasdair MacIntyre 1981 British English
6097 The History of Rome Livy -27 Roman Latin
6766 Poor Richard Improved, The Way To Wealth Benjamin Franklin 1758 American English
6766 New England Primer Unknown 1687 American English
6766 Mc Guffey's Newly Revised Eclectic Primer William Holmes McGuffey 1836 American English
7215 Poetry Antònio Ferreira 1558 Portuguese Portuguese
7215 Poems Of Fray Luis De León Fray Luis de León 1582 Spanish Spanish
7215 The Mighty Magician Pedro Calderón de la Barca 1637 Spanish Spanish
7215 Poems Of Henry Howard Henry Howard 1557 British English
7215 The Countess Of Pembroke's Arcadia Philip Sidney 1590 British English
7215 Astrophel And Stella Philip Sidney 1591 British English
7215 An Apology For Poetry Philip Sidney 1595 British English
7215 Poems Of Lord Brooke Fulke Greville Lord Brooke Fulke Greville 1601 British English
7215 The Poetical Works Of Edmund Spenser Edmund Spenser 1590 British English
7215 The Poems Of William Collins William Collins 1746 British English
7215 The Plain Dealer William Wycherley 1676 British English
7215 Poems Of William Cowper William Cowper 1782 British English
7215 Oraisons funèbres Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet 1689 French French
7215 Odes And The Graces Ugo Foscolo 1822 Italian Italian
7215 Odes Coventry Patmore 1868 British English
7215 Representative Men Ralph Waldo Emerson 1850 American English
7215 Essays And Poems Jones Very 1839 American English
7215 A Princesa De Clèves Madame de La Fayette 1678 French French
8507 Euthyphro Plato -399 Greek Ancient greek
8644 Treatises On Friendship And Old Age Marcus Tullius Cicero -44 Latin Latin
8983 Good Little Girls Countess of Ségur. 1857 French French
9856 An Essay on Man Alexander Pope 1734 British English
10496 The Fragility Of Goodness Martha C. Nussbaum 1986 American English
10777 The Wide, Wide World Elizabeth Wetherell 1850 American English
11170 Philosophy In The Boudoir Marquis de Sade 1795 French French
11517 Enchiridion Of Epictetus Epictetus 135 Greek Greek
11523 Memorabilia Xenophon -371 Greek Ancient greek
13359 Essays And Tales Joseph Addison 1711 British English
13359 Gulistan Saadi 1258 Gulistan Persian
13359 The Methods Of Ethics Henry Sidgwick 1874 British English
13752 The Poetical Works Of Johnson, Parnell, Gray And Smollett George Gilfillan 1855 Scottish English
14110 Enneads Plotinus -270 Greek Greek
14212 The Opinions Of Jerome Coignard Anatole France 1893 French French
14751 On The Ends Of Good And Evil Marcus Tullius Cicero 45 Roman Latin
14729 Musonius Rufus Musonius Rufus, Cynthia King -30 Mixed Greek
14769 The Symposium Xenophon 361 Greek Ancient greek
14874 Scivias Hildegard of Bingen 1151 German Latin
14879 Dulcitius Hrotsvitha 990 German Latin
14930 Piers The Ploughman William Langland 1370 English Middle english
14960 The Sovereignty Of Good Iris Murdoch 1970 British English
15777 Perrault's Fairy Tales Charles Perrault 1697 French French
15897 Dhammapada Unknown -299 Multiple Pali
15897 A Guide To The Bodhisattva Way Of Life Santideva 700 Indian Sanskrit
15897 Sacred Dramas Hannah More 1782 British English
16561 Meno Plato -385 Greek Ancient greek
17114 Fatal Purity Ruth Scurr 2006 British English
17114 Gorgias/Gorgias Coleen P. Zoller, Jurgen R. Gatt, S. Montgomery Ewegen 2023 Unknown Unknown
17114 The Gentleman In Trollope Shirley Robin Letwin 1982 British English
17038 Purgatorio Dante Alighieri 1315 Italian Italian
16977 Discourses And Selected Writings Epictetus 108 Greek Greek
17114 The Book Of Virtues William Bennett 1993 American English
17114 The Adventures Of Mr. Nicholas Wisdom Ignacy Krasicki 1776 Polish Polish
16949 Von Der Kürze Des Lebens · Vom Glücklichen Leben Seneca -49 Roman Latin