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Decency Quotes

Browse 448 quotes about Decency.

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Decency Quotes

“The fact that some governments, churches and numerous corrupted individuals have tried to reduce such behavior from criminal offence to personal privilege dose not change the nature nor the seriousness of the practice. This woe is pronounced upon those who would pervert standards of mortality and decency. They seek man’s approval of that which God had condemned. They have been successful in getting legislation passed to make such perversion legal and acceptable by society.”

MenHas BeensFactsGovernmentIndividualChurchPracticeSuccessfulBehaviorStandardsPrivilegeCriminalsMortalityAcceptableApprovalLegislationWoeDecencySeriousnessDoseOffencePerversion
Author:Spencer W. Kimball
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“People were standing up everywhere shouting, "This is me! This is me!" Every time you looked at them they stood up and told you who they were, and the truth of it was that they had no more idea who or what they were than he had. They believed their flashing signs, too. They ought to be standing up and shouting, "This isn't me! This isn't me!" They would if they had any decency. "This isn't me!" Then you might know how to proceed through the flashing bullshit of this world.”

PeopleIfsKnowsWorldIdeasMightKnow HowThis WorldOughtStandingBullshitDecencyShoutingStood UpThis Is Me
Author:Philip Roth
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“I am still a little afraid of missing something if I forget that, as my father snobbishly suggested, and I snobbishly repeat, a sense of the fundamental decencies is parcelled out unequally at birth.”

IfsLittlesStillsFatherForgetMissingBirthFundamentalsRepeatsDecencyMissing SomethingGreat Gatsby ImportantGreat Gatsby Nick
Book:The Echoes of the Jazz Age Collection: The Beautiful and Damned, Winter Dreams, The Great Gatsby, Babylon Revisited, The Diamond as Big as the Ritz and many more
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“To pursue truth with such astonishing lack of consideration for other people's feelings, to rend the thin veils of civilisation so wantonly, so brutally, was to her so horrible an outrage of human decency that, without replying, dazed and blinded, she bend her head as if to let her pelt f jagged hail, the drench of dirty water, bespatter her unrebuked.”

PeopleIfsThinkingHumansFeelingsWaterHorriblePursueDirtyConsiderationVeilsDecencyAstonishingOutrageCivilisationBlindedHailDazedConsideration For OthersReplyingDirty Water
Author:Virginia Woolf
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“I believe that this hairless embryo with the aching, oversize brain case and the opposable thumb, this animal barely up from the apes, will endure --will endure longer than his home planet, will spread out to the other planets, to the stars, and beyond, carrying with him his honesty, his insatiable curiosity, his unlimited courage --and his noble essential decency. This I believe with all my heart.”

BelieveHeartHomeI BelieveStarsAnimalBrainCasesHonestyPlanetsMy HeartEssentialsEndureCuriositySpreadNobleUnlimitedDecencyThumbsApesInsatiableEmbryosThis I Believe
Author:Robert A. Heinlein
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“Social Note: I have sought escape in the Prytania on more than one occasion, pulled by the attractions of some technicolored horrors, filmed abortions that were offenses against any criteria of taste and decency, reels and reels of perversion and blasphemy that stunned my disbelieving eyes, the shocked my virginal mind, and sealed my valve.”

MindEyeSocialTasteHorrorNotesAttractionOccasionsAbortionOffenseShockedDecencyCriteriaBlasphemyPerversionStunnedValve
Book:A Confederacy of Dunces
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“Buffett was a billionaire who drove his own car, did his own taxes, and still lived in a home he had bought in 1958 for $31,500. He seemed to answer to a deeply rooted, distinctly American mythology, in which decency and common sense triumphed over cosmopolitan guile, and in which an idealized past held firm against a rootless and too hurriedly changing present.”

StillsHomePastAnswersCommonCarTaxesMythologyCommon SenseFirmRootedDecencyBillionaireBuffettGuile
Book:Buffett
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“I must say a word about fear. It is life's only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life. It is a clever, treacherous adversary, how well I know. It has no decency, respects no law or convention, shows no mercy. It goes for your weakest spot, which it finds with unerring ease. It begins in your mind, always. One moment you are feeling calm, self-possessed, happy. Then fear, disguised in the garb of mild-mannered doubt, slips into your mind like a spy.”

KnowsMindWellsSelfMomentsShowsFeelingsLawDoubtMercyCalmDefeatCleverSpotsEaseOpponentsSlipsConventionsPossessedSpyDecencyAdversariesFear NotTreacherousLife Of Pi Book
Book:Life of Pi (Illustrated): Deluxe Illustrated Edition
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“The angry men know that this golden age (of fossil fuels) has gone; but they cannot find the words for the constraints they hate. Clutching their copies of Atlas Shrugged, they flail around, accusing those who would impede them of communism, fascism, religiosity, misanthropy, but knowing at heart that these restrictions are driven by something far more repulsive to the unrestrained man: the decencies we owe to other human beings.”

KnowsMenHumansHeartAgeHateHuman BeingsGoneKnowingAngryDrivenGoldenCommunismFuelCopiesFascismFossilsDecencyRestrictionConstraintsFossil FuelGolden AgeMisanthropyAtlasAccusingAngry Man
Author:George Monbiot
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“The writer's only responsibility is to his art. He will be completely ruthless if he is a good one. He has a dream. It anguishes him so much he must get rid of it. He has no peace until then. Everything goes by the board: honor, pride, decency, security, happiness, all, to get the book written. If a writer has to rob his mother, he will not hesitate; the 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' is worth any number of old ladies.”

IfsArtBookDreamMotherNumbersResponsibilityWrittenSecurityPrideHonorMotherhoodBoardsAnguishDecencyRuthlessOld LadyOdes
Author:William Faulkner
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“My Lord, I find thy face apelike and thy form misshapen. Thy beard, moreover, is an offense against decency, resembling more closely the scabrous fir which doth decorate the hinder portion of a mongrel dog than a proper adornement for a human face. Is it possible that thy mother, seized by some wild lechery, did dally at some time past with a randy goat? -Mandorallen”

HumansPastFacesFormMotherLordDogPortionsOffenseDecencyBeardGoatsHinderHuman FacesRandyTimes PastLechery
Author:David Eddings
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“Decency cannot be discussed without indecency!”

MoralityDecency
Book:The Collected Plays of George Bernard Shaw (Illustrated): Including Renowned Titles like Pygmalion, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Candida, Arms and The Man, Man and Superman, The Inca Of Perusalem, Macbeth Skit, Caesar and Cleopatra, Androcles And The Lion
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“I am a Stormdancer! Mere metal is nothing compared with the power of a storm." Kade made his voice boom and spread his arms wide. His eyes sparked with humor. "I. Am. Invincible." "Until a happy wind blows," I said. "Curse those sunny days." "The bane of your existence." "The scourge of society." "The downfall of decency." "And boring, too. Nothing like a good gale to put a spring in your step." Kade grinned.”

MadeSaidEyeVoiceExistenceStepsWindArmsSpringMereBlowBoringSpreadStormWideCurseHis EyesMetalsDecencySunnyInvincibleDownfallGaleBaneScourgeSunny DaySpring In Your Step
Book:Storm Glass
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“A real gentleman is as polite to a little girl as to a woman.”

LittlesRealGirlGentlemanPoliteDecencyReal Gentleman
Book:Louisa May Alcott Premium Edition - 16 Novels in One Volume: Little Women Trilogy & Other Novels (Illustrated): Moods, The Mysterious Key and What It Opened, An Old Fashioned Girl, Work, Eight Cousins, Rose in Bloom, Under the Lilacs, Jack and Jill, Behind a Mask, The Abbot's Ghost, A Modern Mephistopheles…
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“If you can think of times in your life that you’ve treated people with extraordinary decency and love, and pure uninterested concern, just because they were valuable as human beings. The ability to do that with ourselves. To treat ourselves the way we would treat a really good, precious friend. Or a tiny child of ours that we absolutely loved more than life itself. And I think it’s probably possible to achieve that. I think part of the job we’re here for is to learn how to do it”

PeopleIfsThinkingWayHumansChildrenJobsHuman BeingsAbilityAchievePureConcernAnd LoveTreatsExtraordinaryValuableTinyTreatedDecencyUninterestedPrecious Friends
Author:David Foster Wallace
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“The major western democracies are moving towards corporatism. Democracy has become a business plan, with a bottom line for every human activity, every dream, every decency, every hope. The main parliamentary parties are now devoted to the same economic policies - socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor - and the same foreign policy of servility to endless war. This is not democracy. It is to politics what McDonalds is to food.”

HumansWarDreamMovingLinesPoorPartyDemocracyRichPlansEconomicPolicyActivityMajorsCapitalismWesternBottomEndlessSocialismForeign PolicyDevotedDecencyBottom LineMcdonaldsDemocracies HaveHuman ActivityEconomic PolicyBusiness PlanParliamentaryCorporatismServilityEndless War
Author:John Pilger
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“Let the watchwords of all our people be the old familiar watchwords of honesty, decency, fair-dealing, and commonsense."... "We must treat each man on his worth and merits as a man. We must see that each is given a square deal, because he is entitled to no more and should receive no less.""The welfare of each of us is dependent fundamentally upon the welfare of all of us.”

PeopleMenShouldGivenPresidentDealsHonestyFairsTreatsFamiliarWelfareMeritDependentSquaresFairnessEntitledDecency
Author:Theodore Roosevelt
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“For the first time Valentine glanced down at the body of Brother Jeremiah. "I did kill him, and the rest of the Silent Brothers as well. I had to. They had something I needed." "What? A sense of decency?”

FirstsWellsBodyBrotherNeededFirst TimeSilentValentineDecencyJeremiah
Book:Cassandra Clare: The Mortal Instruments Series (5 books): City of Bones; City of Ashes; City of Glass; City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls
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“Rome tolerated every abominable practice, embraced every foul idea in the name of freedom and the rights of the common man. Citizens no longer carried on deviant behavior in private, but pridefully displayed it in public. It was those with moral values who could no longer freely walk in a public park without having to witness a revolting display. What happened to the public censors who protected the majority of citizenry from moral decadence? Did freedom have to mean abolishing common decency? Did freedom mean anyone could do anything they wanted anytime they wanted, without consequences?”

MenMeanIdeasWantedValuesNamesWalksCommonMoralPracticeRightsHappenedCitizensBehaviorConsequenceMajorityWitnessParksRomeDisplayProtectedDecencyFoulDecadenceCommon ManMoral ValuesCitizenryDeviantsCommon Decency
Author:Francine Rivers
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“If we can't think for ourselves, if we're unwilling to question authority, then we're just putty in the hands of those in power. But if the citizens are educated and form their own opinions, then those in power work for us. In every country, we should be teaching our children the scientific method and the reasons for a Bill of Rights. With it comes a certain decency, humility and community spirit. In the demon-haunted world that we inhabit by virtue of being human, this may be all that stands between us and the enveloping darkness.”

IfsThinkingWorldShouldHumansMayChildrenCountryReasonHandsFormScienceSpiritCertainCommunityOpinionDarknessVirtueRightsTeachingHumilityCitizensAuthorityOur ChildrenMethodBillsPositive AtheismEducatedDemonSkepticismBeing HumanDecencyUnwillingBill Of RightsScientific MethodCommunity Spirit
Author:Carl Sagan
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“I'd write of people and places like I knew, and I'd make my characters talk everyday English; and I'd let the sun rise and set in the usual quiet way without much fuss over the fact. If I had to have villains at all, I'd give them a chance, Anne--I'd give them a chance. There are some terrible bad men the world, I suppose, but you'd have to go a long piece to find them...But most of us have got a little decency somewhere in us. Keep on writing, Anne.”

PeopleIfsMenWorldWayGivingWritingLittlesLongCharacterFactsChanceSunPiecesTerribleQuietEverydayUsualVillainDecencyBad ManSun Rise
Book:Anne of Green Gables Collection: Anne of Green Gables, Anne of the Island, and More Anne Shirley Books
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“The common bond of humanity and decency that we share is stronger than any conflict, any adversity. Fighting for your convictions is important. But finding peace is paramount. Knowing when to fight and when to seek peace is wisdom. Ubuntu was right.”

ImportantHumanityFightingCommonKnowingShareConflictFindingsStrongerAdversityConvictionDecencyFinding PeaceUbuntuParamount
Book:The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates
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