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Ethics Quotes

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Ethics Quotes

“In an interview, former vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan said he does not have a racist bone in his body. However, he admitted he has three sexist bones and his spine is homophobic.”

“Reading about ethics is about as likely to improve one's behavior as reading about sports is to make one into an athlete.”

Reading Sports Behavior Ethics Athlete

Author:Mason Cooley

“Prostitution thrives in the United States. We focus in this country on punishing the girls. For every brothel owner or pimp or male customer, there are 50 girls who are arrested for being prostitutes. Other countries have tried the other way around, and it works beautifully...they bring the charges against the brothel owners and the pimps and the male customers, and they do not prosecute the girls, who quite often are brought into that trade involuntarily. It works quite well, by the way.”

“A nation's domestic and foreign policies and actions should be derived from the same standards of ethics, honesty and morality which are characteristic of the individual citizens of the nation.”

Should Government Action Individual Nations Honesty Policy Citizens Morality Standards Ethics Characteristics Foreign Policy

Author:Jimmy Carter

“If you want to get something done, give it to a busy man.”

Ifs Men Want Giving Done Ethics Busy Productivity Work Ethic Busy Man

Book:The Stephen R. Covey Interactive Reader - 4 Books in 1: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, First Things First, and the Best of the Most Renowned Leadership Teacher of our Time

Source: The Stephen R. Covey Interactive Reader - 4 Books in 1: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, First Things First, and the Best of the Most Renowned Leadership Teacher of our Time

“The mayor of Sochi is now saying that there are no gay people in Sochi. So the only thing that is flaming over there now is the Olympic torch.”

People Politics Community Leadership Class Comedy Human Nature Gay Equal Ethics Human Rights Individuality Ideology Equal Rights Mayors Torches Gay People Partisanship Sochi

Author:David Letterman

“Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg apparently called President Obama directly to complain about NSA and how it spies on ordinary Americans. That's right, the guy who runs Facebook got mad at the NSA for spying on people. Talk about the pot unfriending the kettle!”

“L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling was recorded on tape making racist comments. He now has been banned from the league for life. Great, just where Sterling wanted to end up - the blacklist.”

Has Beens Ends Wanted Comedy Policy Ethics League Owners Racist Comment Tape Civility Banned Wordplay Funny Basketball Sterling

Author:Jimmy Fallon

“There clearly are cases where evil people exist, but you don't have to violate the privacy of every single citizen of America to find them.”

People America Evil Politics Leadership Cases Democracy Policy Citizens Ethics Social Media Terrorism Ideology Privacy Free Speech Evil People

Author:Eric Schmidt

“The Hacker Ethic: Access to computers--and anything which might teach you something about the way the world works--should be unlimited and total. Always yield to the Hands-On Imperative! All information should be free. Mistrust authority--promote decentralization. Hackers should be judged by their hacking, not bogus criteria such as degrees, age, race, or position. You can create art and beauty on a computer. Computers can change your life for the better.”

“Activity is not output.”

Motivational Results Activity Ethics Efficiency Work Ethic Output

Author:Andy Grove

“Cardinal Dolan, of course, has a very, very hard job: trying to hold up Catholic family values in sexually liberal New York City. I'm not saying New York is the Gay Mecca. But it's at least Gay-rusalem.”

“In sum, all actions and habits are to be esteemed good or evil by their causes and usefulness in reference to the commonwealth, and not by their mediocrity, nor by their being commended. For several men praise several customs, and, contrarily, what one calls vice, another calls virtue, as their present affections lead them.”

Men Action Evil Causes Virtue Habit Ethics Praise Affection Vices Good And Evil Customs Mediocrity Usefulness Commonwealth

Book:Behemoth or The Long Parliament

Source: Behemoth or The Long Parliament

“Racial discrimination in elections in Texas is no mere historical artifact. To the contrary, Texas has been found in violation of the Voting Rights Act in every redistricting cycle from and after 1970.”

“Now let's make two things clear: ISIL is not 'Islamic.' No religion condones the killing of innocents, and the vast majority of ISIL's victims have been Muslim. And ISIL is certainly not a state. It was formerly al Qaeda's affiliate in Iraq, and has taken advantage of sectarian strife and Syria's civil war to gain territory on both sides of the Iraq-Syrian border. It is recognized by no government, nor the people it subjugates. ISIL is a terrorist organization, pure and simple. And it has no vision other than the slaughter of all who stand in its way.”

“I do not accept that we cannot find a common sense way to preserve our traditions, including our basic second amendment freedoms and the rights of law abiding gun owners, while at the same time reducing the gun violence that unleashes so much mayhem on a regular basis.”

“Ultimately, only diplomacy can bring about a durable solution to the challenge posed by Iran's nuclear program. As President and Commander in Chief, I will do what is necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. However, I have a profound responsibility to try to resolve our differences peacefully, rather than rush towards conflict.”

“But having made my decision as Commander-in-Chief based on what I am convinced is our national security interests, I will seek authorization for the use of force from the American people's representatives in Congress.”

“No other advanced nation endures this kind of violence. None. Here in America, the murder rate is three times what it is in other developed nations. The murder rate with guns is ten times what it is in other developed nations. And there's nothing inevitable about it. It comes about because of decisions we make or fail to make. And it falls upon us to make it different.”

“But the question is, do we care enough? Do we care enough to keep standing up for the country that we know is possible, even if it's hard, and even if it's politically uncomfortable? Do we care enough to sustain the passion and the pressure to make our communities safer and our country safer? Do we care enough to do everything we can to spare other families the pain that is felt here today?”

“I have been in Washington for a while now, and most things don't surprise me. The fact that twenty 6-year-olds were gunned down in the most violent fashion possible and this town couldn't do anything about it was stunning to me.”

Years Has Beens Facts Political Politics Community Leadership Party Violence Fashion Policy Ethics Twenties Towns Surprise Violent Political Parties Stunning Surprise Me Partisanship

Author:Barack Obama

“We cannot stop every act of senseless violence. We cannot know every evil that lurks in troubled minds. But if we can prevent even one tragedy like this, save even one life, spare other families what these families are going through, surely we've got an obligation to try.”

Ifs Knows Trying Mind Evil Politics Community Justice Violence Ethics Tragedy Human Rights Obligation Spares Senseless Violence

Author:Barack Obama

“Nobody's madder than me about the website not working as well as it should, which means it's going to get fixed.”

Should Wells Mean Politics Health Ethics Social Media Fixed Website

Author:Barack Obama

“We Americans are not an inherently more violent people than folks in other countries. We're not inherently more prone to mental health problems. The main difference that sets our nation apart is what makes us so susceptible to so many mass shootings is that we don't do enough, we don't take the basic commonsense actions to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and dangerous people. What's different in America is it's easy to get your hands on a gun.”

“I have faith, as I did when I announced my stem-cell decision in 2001, that science and ethics can coexist.”

Religion Decision Ethics Cells Have Faith Stem Coexist Stem Cell

Author:George W. Bush

“In a world where profit is consistently put before both people and the planet, climate economics has everything to do with ethics and morality.”

People World Planets Morality Ethics Economics Climate Profit Consistently

Author:Naomi Klein

“[Washington, DC] feels like you're watching performance art. A lot of the time. I don't believe them, I don't believe what they say, I don't think they're being absolutely sincere. I think it's performance art. And most of them are bad actors.”

Thinking Feels Believe Art Reality Political Actors Politics Party Like You Ethics Performances Don't Believe Ideology Sincere Free Speech Political Parties Washington Dc Performance Art

Author:Kevin Spacey

“You know, we did a good job in containing the Soviet Union, but we made a lot of mistakes, we supported really nasty guys, we did some things that we are not particularly proud of, from Latin America to Southeast Asia, but we did have a kind of overarching framework about what we were trying to do that did lead to the defeat of the Soviet Union and the collapse of Communism. That was our objective. We achieved it.”

“Recently in Washington, unfortunately, we have seen examples of the wrong kind of leadership -- when politicians choose scorched earth over common ground, when they operate in what I call the 'evidence-free zone,' with ideology trumping everything else.”

“There is one lesson from the past, in particular, that we cannot afford to ignore: You cannot make progress on gender equality or broader human development, without safeguarding women's reproductive health and rights.”

“Do not do an immoral thing for moral reasons.”

Reason Moral Morality Integrity Ethics Immoral

Book:Jude the Obscure

Source: Jude the Obscure

“During the years 1945-1965 (I am referring to Europe), there was a certain way of thinking correctly, a certain style of politicaldiscourse, a certain ethics of the intellectual. One had to be on familiar terms with Marx, not let one's dreams stray too far from Freud.... These were therequirements that made the strange occupation of writing and speaking a measure of truth about oneself and one's time acceptable.”

“If you come to me and say, 'Hey look I'm a racist,' or 'I discriminate against blacks,' or 'I don't like you because you're African American,' I respect that. I can respect you more by doing that. But don't smile in my face, shake my hand, and then you don't really respect me, or want me to be around, or come to your games as the owner of the Clippers.”

Ifs Want Looks I Can Hands Reality Faces Games Justice Like You Ethics Ideology Hey African American Shakes Owners Racist Want Me Free Speech Civility Respect Me I Don't Like You

Author:Magic Johnson

“The Prime Minister, a specialist in calling in the locksmith after the horses had fled - the whole herd in fact - and the barn in ruins, ended the week with a great raft of ethics proposals for cabinet, leadership candidates, backbenchers and lobbyists. I think it is more than fair to ask: Why wait for the middle of his third term to institute what the public would have welcomed at the beginning of his first?”

“No man can be a sound lawyer in this land who is not well read in the ethics of Moses and the virtues of Jesus.”

Men Wells Christian Jesus Sound Religious Virtue Land Ethics Jesus Christ Lawyer Moses

Author:Fisher Ames

“We all accuse Vladimir Putin of Cold War nostalgia, but Washington's elites - politicians and intellectuals - miss the old days as well. They wish for the world in which the United States was utterly dominant over its friends, its foes were to be shunned entirely, and the challenges were stark, moral, and vital. Today's world is messy and complicated. China is one of our biggest trading partners and our looming geopolitical rival. Russia is a surly spoiler, but it has a globalized middle class and has created ties in Europe.”

“I care not for the theoretical symmetry and impregnable logic of your moral code, I care not for the hoary respectability and traditional mysticisms of your theological institutions, I care not for the beauty and solemnity of your rituals and religious ceremonies, I care not even for the reasonableness and unimpeachable fairness of your social ethics,--if it does not turn out better, nobler, truer, men and women,--if it does not add to the world's stock of valuable souls,--if it does not give us a sounder, healthier, more reliable product from this great factory of men--I will have none of it.”

Source: The Voice of Anna Julia Cooper: Including A Voice from the South and Other Important Essays, Papers, and Letters

“Under the Obama regime, the president and his allies are intentional in pursuing these conflicts from the perspective that you must sacrifice your most sacred beliefs to government the instant you start a business. You have the protection of the First Amendment as an individual, you see – but the instant you start a business, you lose those protections.”

“My mother saved our home with a minimum wage job. But in the 1960s, a minimum wage job would support a family of three above the poverty line. Not today. Not even close. I understood right then that people can work hard, they can play by the rules, and they can still take a hard smack.”

“[Pope Francis] is a humble man. He lives the faith out in his own personal life. ... He's here to be a shepherd; he isn't here to be a scold. I think that's a good thing for the church and for the world, frankly.”

Thinking Men World Wisdom Religion Community Leadership Church Ethics Good Things Individuality Humble Ideology Pope Personal Life Shepherds Humble Man

Author:Rick Santorum

“Net Neutrality' is Obamacare for the Internet; the Internet should not operate at the speed of government.”

Should Government Politics Technology Policy Internet Ethics Constitution Speed Ideology Obamacare Nasa Neutrality Cruz Net Neutrality

Author:Ted Cruz

“The Court is making the preposterous assumption that the People of the United States somehow silently redefined marriage in 1868 when they ratified the 14th Amendment.”

“The well of public opinion has been well and truly poisoned by the Iraq episode.”

Wells Has Beens Politics Opinion History Policy Spring Ethics Iraq Terrorism Foreign Policy Episodes Diplomacy Public Opinion Arab Spring

Author:David Cameron

“I'm so sick and tired of all this violence, this gun violence. And how could I speak on it - you know - being one who has advocated violence and gun violence? The only way I could do it was through a song that spoke from the heart.”

“Today, unfortunately, the right to vote seems to have become a partisan issue. Democrats seek to guarantee and expand voting rights. Republicans try to undermine and suppress voting rights.”

“The blind willingness to sacrifice people to truth, however, has always been the danger of an ethics abstracted from life.”

People Sacrifice Danger Ethics Blind Willingness Willingness To Sacrifice

Author:Carol Gilligan

“But for us, in Syria, we have principles. We'll do anything to prevent the region from another crazy war. It's not only Syria. Because it will start in Syria.”

War Politics Community Principles Violence Crazy Policy Spring Ethics Regions Foreign Policy Syria Diplomacy Arab Spring

Author:Bashar al-Assad

“If you ask a Saudi Imam why women in Saudi Arabia can't drive, he'll say, 'Because Islam demands it.' But that's absurd, because - first of all - Islam demands no such thing; and secondly, the only country in the world in which women can't drive is Saudi Arabia. The inability to understand the difference between a cultural practice and religious belief is shocking among self-described intellectuals.”

“From an athlete's perspective, to cancel the Olympics in regards to the threats would be absolutely devastating - especially since the Olympics - it's really about people meeting together through sports and putting aside their countries' differences for that time.”

“A lot of people criticized me for speaking out, not long ago, about gay marriage. I could not remain silent any longer. It's the civil rights of our day. It's the issue of our day.”