Omnium rerum domina, virtus. Virtue is the mistress of all things. Virtue is the master of all things. Therefore a nation that should never do wrong must necessarily govern the world. The might of virtue, the power of virtue, is not a very common topic, not so common as it should be.
- John Adams, Journal entry (6 August 1796).
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Virtue