The Four Virtues

Ranked in order of severity as per Dante’s Divine Comedy (in the Purgatorio), the seven deadly vices are:

• Pride (vanity) - an excessive love of self or holding self out of proper position toward God or fellows. Dante’s definition was “love of self perverted to hatred and contempt for one’s neighbor”. In the Latin lists of the Seven Deadly Sins, pride is referred to as superbia.
• Avarice (Covetousness or Greed) - a desire to possess more than one has need or use for or, according to Dante, “excessive love of money and power.” In the Latin lists of the Seven Deadly Sins, avarice is referred to as avaritia.
• Lust - excessive sexual desire. Dante’s criterion was “lust detracts from true love.”. In the Latin lists of the Seven Deadly Sins, lust is referred to as luxuria.
• Wrath (anger) - feelings of hatred, revenge or even denial, as well as punitive desires outside of justice. Dante’s description was “love of justice perverted to revenge and spite.” In the Latin lists of the Seven Deadly Sins, wrath is referred to as ira.
• Gluttony - overindulgence in food, drink or intoxicants, or misplaced desire of food as a pleasure for its sensuality “excessive love of pleasure” was Dante’s rendering. In the Latin lists of the Seven Deadly Sins, gluttony is referred to as gula.
• Envy  - resentment of others for their possessions. Dante explained “Love of one’s own good perverted to a desire to deprive other men of their.” In the Latin lists of the Seven Deadly Sins, envy is referred to as invidia.
• Sloth (also accidie, acedia) - laziness; idleness and wastefulness of time allotted. Laziness is condemned because others have to work harder and useful work can not get done.

Several of these vices interlink, and various attempts at causal hierarchy have been made. For example, pride (love of self out of proportion) is implied in gluttony (the over-consumption or waste of food), as well as sloth, envy, and most of the others. Each sin is a particular way of failing to love God with all one’s resources and to love fellows as much as self. The Scholastic theologians developed schema of attribute and substance of will to explain these sins.