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Ethics Quotes

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Ethics Quotes

“What is the relationship between spirituality and ethical practice? Since love and compassion and similar qualities all, by definition, presume some level of concern for others' well-being, they presume ethical restraint. We cannot be loving and compassionate unless at the same time we curb our own harmful impulses and desires.”

WellsDesireSpiritualityLevelsQualityCompassionPracticeEthicsConcernDefinitionsWell BeingImpulseEthicalCompassionateSpiritual WisdomRestraintCaring For OthersLove And CompassionCurbConcern For Others
Book:The Essence Of Wisdom
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“By 'nationalism' I mean first of all the habit of assuming that human beings can be classified like insects and that whole blocks of millions and tens of millions of people can be confidently labeled 'good' or 'bad'...By 'patriotism' I mean devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be best in the world but has no wish to force on other people. Patriotism is of its nature defensive, both militarily and culturally. Nationalism, on the other hand, is inseparable from the desire for power.”

PeopleWorldWayFirstsBelieveHumansMeanWholeHandsDesireForceWishHuman BeingsMillionsParticularHabitEthicsAssumingDevotionBlockNationalismInsectsInseparableDesire For Power
Author:George Orwell
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“A dreaded society is not a civilized society. The most progressive and powerful society in the civilized sense, is a society which has recognized its ethos, and come to terms with the past and the present, with religion and science. With modernism and mysticism, with materialism and spirituality; a society free of tension, a society rich in culture. Such a society cannot come with hocus-pocus formulas and with fraud. It has to flow from the depth of a divine search.”

PastCultureSpiritualityTermPowerfulRichDivineEthicsFlowDepthTensionMaterialismMysticismCivilizedProgressiveFormulasFraudScience And ReligionModernismEthosCivilized SocietyHocus Pocus
Author:Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
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“The prevailing tendency to regard all the marked distinctions of human character as innate, and in the main indelible, and to ignore the irresistible proofs that by far the greater part of those differences, whether between individuals, races, or sexes are such as not only might but naturally would be produced by differences in circumstances, is one of the chief hinderances to the rational treatment of great social questions, and one of the greatest stumbling blocks to human improvement.”

HumansCharacterMightWould BeIndividualSocialSexDifferencesRaceGreaterCircumstancesEthicsRegardProofImprovementRationalTendenciesBlockChiefsDistinctionTreatmentInnateIrresistiblePrevailingStumblingIndelibleStumbling Blocks
Book:Autobiography of John Stuart Mill
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“Many are really virtuous who cannot explain what virtue is . . . But the powers themselves in reality perform their several operations with sufficient constancy and uniformity in persons of good health whatever their opinions be about them . . .”

PersonsRealityOpinionVirtueEthicsOperationsSufficientVirtuousGood HealthConstancyUniformity
Book:An Essay on the Nature and Conduct of the Passions and Affections
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“Mr. J.S. Mill speaks, in his celebrated work, "Utilitarianism," of the social feelings as a "powerful natural sentiment," and as "the natural basis of sentiment for utilitarian morality," but on the previous page he says, "if, as is my own belief, the moral feelings are not innate, but acquired, they are not for that reason less natural." It is with hesitation that I venture to differ from so profound a thinker, but it can hardly be disputed that the social feelings are instinctive or innate in the lower animals; and why should they not be so in man?”

IfsMenShouldReasonFeelingsBeliefSpeakSocialNaturalMy OwnAnimalPowerfulMoralMoralityPagesEthicsBasesProfoundSentimentsThinkerVentureInnateHesitationMillsUtilitarianUtilitarianism
Book:The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex
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“In the past, the respect people had for religion meant that ethical practice was maintained through a majority following one religion or another. But this is no longer the case. We must therefore find some other way of establishing basic ethical principles.”

PeopleWayPastPrinciplesPracticeCasesEthicsMajorityFollowingEthicalRespect PeopleEthical Principles
Book:Ancient Wisdom, Modern World: Ethics for the New Millennium
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“The denial of any distinction between foreseen and intended consequences, as far as responsibility is concerned, was not made by Sidgwick in developing any one 'method of ethics'; he made this important move on behalf of everybody and just on its own account; and I think it plausible to suggest that this move on the part of Sidgwick explains the difference between old-fashioned Utilitarianism and the consequentialism, as I name it, which marks him and every English academic moral philosopher since him.”

ThinkingMadeImportantMovingNamesDifferencesResponsibilityMoralEthicsConsequenceConcernedAccountsMarkMethodPhilosopherDevelopingDenialDistinctionAcademicOld FashionedBehalfPlausibleForeseenUtilitarianismConsequentialism
Book:Human Life, Action and Ethics: Essays by G.E.M. Anscombe
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“The garden [of Eden] is the realm of pure beauty from which man is expelled when he becomes interested in ethics, in the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The return into paradise, the homecoming, depends on him penetrating the veils of morality to glimpse again the lineaments of lost beauty.”

MenEvilLostTreeDependsReturnMoralityPureEthicsGardenFruitRealmsParadiseGood And EvilGlimpseVeilsEdenHomecomingGarden Of EdenTree Of Knowledge
Author:John Carroll
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“We want to ensure a multilateral development of society, the thriving of all sides of social life, economy, science and culture, the improvement of management, the moulding of the new man and the promotion of socialist ethics and equity.”

MenWantCultureSocialSidesEconomyDevelopmentEthicsManagementImprovementSocialistEquityPromotionSocial LifeDevelopment Of Society
Book:Nicolae Ceaușescu, builder of modern Romania and international statesman
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“If the subjectivist view hold true, thinking cannot be of any help in determining the desirability of any goal in itself. The acceptability of ideals, the criteria for our actions and beliefs, the leading principles of ethics and politics, all our ultimate decisions are made to depend upon factors other than reason. They are supposed to be matters of choice and predilection, and it has become meaningless to speak of truth in making practical, moral or esthetic decisions.”

IfsThinkingMadeMatterReasonHelpingActionChoicesBeliefSpeakGoalDecisionViewsMoralPrinciplesDependsEthicsIdealsUltimatePracticalsFactorsSupposed To BeMeaninglessOur ActionsCriteriaDesirability
Author:Max Horkheimer
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“I'm not an aspiring rapper, I'm not a gang member, I'm not a dope dealer, I don't have multiple babies momma's. I am an American by choice, I am a son, I am a brother, I am a military service member, I am a man who has lost complete faith in the system, when the system betrayed, slandered, and libeled me. I lived a good life and though not a religious man I always stuck to my own personal code of ethics, ethos and always stuck to my shoreline and true North. I didn't need the US Navy to instill Honor, Courage, and Commitment in me but I thank them for re-enforcing it. It's in my DNA.”

MenNeedsChoicesLostReligiousMy OwnMilitarySonBrotherBabyHonorMembersEthicsCommitmentStuckCodeGood LifeRapperMultipleDnaBetrayedNavyGangDealerDopeInstillEthosMommaMilitary ServiceGang MembersTrue NorthShorelineCode Of Ethics
Author:Christopher Dorner
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“It is quite easy to debase the sport, change its values, dilute its ethics and destroy its traditional associations with quietness, relaxation and the opportunity to think. Angling is not a competitive sport. The fisherman'- s only real competition is with his quarry and his only real challenge is the challenge to himself. Nothing can add to this, but the blight of interhuman competition can certainly detract from it.”

ThinkingRealValuesOpportunityEasySportsChallengesSeaEthicsRiversAddCompetitionFishesTraditionalBoatLakesFishingAssociationRelaxationFishermanQuietnessAnglingBlightQuarryCompetitive Sports
Author:Roderick Haig-Brown
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“Russell... I love you. I thank you so much man. You made me better. You know, Your work ethic. I always wanted to compete with you. I always wanted to pull up into the parking lot of the practice facility, And if you beat me there, I was always upset. I always wanted to outwork you. And you set the bar. You set the tone. And thank you so much man. Thank you. You had a big piece of this MVP trophy. You're an MVP caliber player It's a blessing to play with you man.”

IfsKnowsMenMadePlayBigsWantedPracticePiecesPlayerLove YouBlessingBeatsEthicsBarsUpsetToneNbaWork EthicFacilityTrophiesParkingParking LotMvpCaliberPull Ups
Author:Kevin Durant
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“My chief aim was to combat the view that there can be no true morality without supernatural sanctions. So I argued at length that the social, or altruistic, impulses are the real source of morality, and that an ethic based on these impulses has far more claim on our allegiance than an ethic based on obedience to the commands of a God who created tapeworms and cancer-cells.”

RealSocialViewsAtheismSourceMoralityEthicsClaimsAimCancerPositive AtheismCommandChiefsCellsObedienceImpulseLengthCombatAllegianceSanctions
Author:Margaret E. Knight
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“In contemporary society secular humanism has been singled out by critics and proponents alike as a position sharply distinguishable from any religious formulation. Religious fundamentalists in the United States have waged a campaign against secular humanism, claiming that it is a rival "religion" and seeking to root it out from American public life. Secular humanism is avowedly non-religious. It is a eupraxsophy (good practical wisdom), which draws its basic principles and ethical values from science, ethics, and philosophy.”

Has BeensStatesPhilosophyValuesReligiousUnitedPrinciplesUnited StatesAtheismPositionDrawsEthicsRootsCriticsHumanismSeekingPositive AtheismCampaignsPracticalsContemporaryEthicalSecularRivalsPublic LifeBasic PrinciplesContemporary SocietyEthical ValuesNon ReligiousSecular Humanism
Author:Paul Kurtz
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“The overriding need is "to develop a new Planetary Humanism" that will seek to preserve human rights and enhance human freedom and dignity and will emphasize our commitment "to humanity as a whole." The underlying ethical principle "is the need to respect the dignity and worth of all persons in the world community." Thinkers as diverse as Peter Singer and Hans Küng also emphasize the need for a new global ethic beyond nationalistic, racial, religious, and ethnic chauvinism.”

WorldNeedsHumansPersonsWholeHumanityCommunityReligiousPrinciplesRightsAtheismEthicsCommitmentDignityHuman RightsHumanismPositive AtheismSingersPreservesEthicalThinkerPeterDiverseHuman FreedomChauvinismNationalisticEthical Principles
Author:Paul Kurtz
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“The Jews emerge into history, not a nation of keen spiritual aspirations and altruistic ethics, but that pagan people, worshipping rocks, sheep and cattle, and spirits of caves and wells, of whom the Old Testament, tending towards its higher ideal, gives fragmentary but convincing evidence.”

PeopleGivingWellsSpiritualSpiritNationsAtheismRocksHigherEthicsEvidenceIdealsJewPositive AtheismAspirationSheepTestamentCavesConvincingPaganOld TestamentCattleConvincing Evidence
Author:James T. Shotwell
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“Look at all of the great strengths of America: entrepreneurialship, work ethic, natural resources, a democracy, a transparency, a willingness to be critical. Around the world, they look at us, and they say, "Why are you criticizing yourself? Why are you people arguing during the political process to elect a president or somebody else?" That's the great strength of this country.”

PeopleWorldLooksCountryAmericaPoliticalProcessPresidentNaturalDemocracyEthicsResourcesCriticalArguingAround The WorldWillingnessCriticizeWork EthicTransparencyNatural Resources
Author:Michael Bloomberg
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“I will choose what enters me, what becomes flesh of my flesh. Without choice, no politics, no ethics lives. I am not your cornfield, not your uranium mine, not your calf for fattening, not your cow for milking. You may not use me as your factory. Priests and legislators do not hold shares in my womb or my mind. If I give it to you, I want it back. My life is a non-negotiable demand.”

IfsWantGivingMindMayUseLife IsChoicesShareMinesDemandEthicsFleshPriestsFactoriesCowsWombLegislatorsUsing MeCalvesUraniumFattening
Author:Marge Piercy
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“Morality is a biological adaptation no less than are hands and feet and teeth... Considered as a rationally justifiable set of claims about an objective something, ethics is illusory. I appreciate that when somebody says, 'Love thy neighbor as thyself,' they think they are referring above and beyond themselves... Nevertheless... such reference is truly without foundation. Morality is just an aid to survival and reproduction... and any deeper meaning is illusory...”

ThinkingHandsFeetMoralitySurvivalEthicsAppreciateClaimsFoundationDeeperAidsNeighborTeethObjectivesNeverthelessAdaptationThyselfReproductionReferringIllusoryLove Thy NeighborHands And FeetAbove And BeyondDeeper Meaning
Author:Michael Ruse
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