Quotessence
Home / Topics / Ethics Quotes

Ethics Quotes

Browse 3072 quotes about Ethics.

Related topics

Work EthicMoralityIfsMoralMenPeopleThinkingIntegrityValuesWayWorldHumansActionEthicalResponsibilityShouldJusticeNeedsMayCharacterPrinciplesDoeKnowsLawVirtueMeanInspirationalGivingWantImportantBelievePersonsSelfWellsFairnessHonestyKindTrustAnimalIndividualReasonRespectFirstsPhilosophyCultureEvilSelf RespectCodeHardTryingChristianMindStrongEndsLittlesProblemGovernmentLyingMoral EthicsPsychologySocialChildrenLooksWholeBusinessDoneFeelsSaidTwoArtFactsLongReligiousIdeasPoliticalPoliticsCommunityHelpingLifeBusiness EthicsChristian EthicsEconomicsHas BeensMadePracticeConscienceUseYearsCareCountryDifferentFeelingsFormInterestMorality And EthicsRealSchoolShowsAttitudeBehaviormore

Ethics Quotes

“Ethics occupies a central place in philosophy because it is concerned with sin, with the origin of good and evil and with moral valuations. And since these problems have a universal significance, the sphere of ethics is wider than is generally supposed. It deals with meaning and value and its province is the world in which the distinction between good and evil is drawn, evaluations are made and meaning is sought.”

WorldMadePhilosophyProblemValuesEvilSinDealsMoralEthicsConcernedUniversalDistinctionGood And EvilSignificanceSpheresProvincesEvaluationValuation
Author:Nikolai Berdyaev
Create image

“All pantheism must ultimately be shipwrecked on the inescapable demands of ethics, and then on the evil and suffering of the world. If the world is a theophany , then everything done by man, and even by animal, is equally divine and excellent; nothing can be more censurable and nothing more praiseworthy than anything else; hence there is no ethics.”

IfsMenWorldDoneSufferingEvilAnimalDivineDemandEthicsExcellentPantheismPraiseworthyEvil And Suffering
Book:The World as Will and Representation
Create image

“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
Create image

“Peace is never long preserved by weight of metal or by an armament race. Peace can be made tranquil and secure only by understanding and agreement fortified by sanctions. We must embrace international cooperation or international disintegration. Science has taught us how to put the atom to work. But to make it work for good instead of for evil lies in the domain dealing with the principles of human dignity. We are now facing a problem more of ethics than of physics.”

HumansLongMadeProblemLyingEvilUnderstandingRacePrinciplesTaughtEthicsDignityWeightEmbraceInternationalPhysicsSecureAgreementCooperationAtomsMetalsDomainSanctionsTranquilTaught UsHuman DignityArmamentDisintegrationInternational Cooperation
Author:Bernard Baruch
Create image

“Fantasy is a literature particularly useful for embodying and examining the real difference between good and evil. In an America where our reality may seem degraded to posturing patriotism and self-righteous brutality, imaginative literature continues to question what heroism is, to examine the roots of power, and to offer moral alternatives. Imagination is the instrument of ethics. There are many metaphors besides battle, many choices besides war, and most ways of doing good do not, in fact, involve killing anybody. Fanstasy is good at thinking about those other ways.”

ThinkingWayMayWarRealSelfFactsRealitySeemsAmericaChoicesEvilLiteratureImaginationDifferencesMoralFantasyBattleOffersEthicsRootsInstrumentsKillingMetaphorAlternativesGood And EvilRighteousHeroismImaginativeDoing GoodBrutalityExaminingSelf Righteous
Author:Ursula K. Le Guin
Create image

“War proves nothing. To kill a man does not prove that he was in the wrong. Bloodletting cannot change men's spirits, neither can the evil of men's thoughts be driven out by blows. If I go to my neighbor's house, and break her furniture, and smash her pictures, and bind her children captive, it does not prove that I am fitter to live than she - yet according to ethics of nations it does. I have conquered her and she must pay me for my trouble; and her house and all that is left in it belongs to my heirs and successors, forever. That is war!”

IfsMenChildrenDoeWarSpiritEvilHouseLeftNationsPayBreakForeverTroubleProveEthicsBlowDrivenNeighborFurnitureHeirsCaptivesSuccessorsBloodletting
Book:In Times Like These
Create image

“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.”

MenActionEvilCausesVirtueHabitEthicsPraiseAffectionVicesGood And EvilCustomsMediocrityUsefulnessCommonwealth
Book:Behemoth or The Long Parliament
Create image

“In walking through the world there is a choice for a man to make. He can choose the fair and open path, the path which sound ethics, sound democracy, and the common law prescribe, or choose the secret way by which he can get the better of his fellow man.”

MenWorldWayLawChoicesEvilSoundCommonSecretDemocracyPathWalkingEthicsFairsFellowsGood And EvilFellow ManCommon Law
Book:All in the Day's Work: An Autobiography
Create image

“One reason for the decline in moral values is that the world has invented a new, constantly changing and undependable standard of moral conduct referred to as "situational ethics." Now, individuals define good and evil as being adjustable according to each situation; this is in direct contrast to the proclaimed God-given absolute standard: "Thou shalt not!"-as in "Thou shalt not steal".”

WorldReasonValuesEvilIndividualGivenSituationMoralStandardsEthicsDirectAbsolutesStealingGood And EvilContrastDeclineMoral ValuesAbsolutism
Author:David B. Haight
Create image

“Faith drives a wedge between ethics and suffering. Where certain actions cause no suffering at all, religious dogmatists still maintain that they are evil and worthy of punishment. . . . And yet, where suffering and death are found in abundance their causes are often deemed to be good. . . . This inversion of priorities not only victimizes innocent people and squanders scarce resources; it completely falsifies our ethics.”

PeopleStillsActionCertainReligionSufferingEvilFoundCausesReligiousEthicsResourcesWorthyBe GoodPrioritiesPunishmentInnocentAbundanceScarceWedgesScarce ResourcesSuffering And DeathInversions
Author:Sam Harris
Create image

“The ethics of sex is a thorny problem. Each of us is forced to grope for a solution he can live with - in the face of preposterous, unworkable, and evil code of so-called 'Morals.' Most of us know the code is wrong, almost everybody breaks it. But we pay Danegeld by feeling guilty and giving lip service. Willy-nilly, the code rides us, dead and stinking, an albatross around the neck.”

KnowsGivingFeelingsProblemFacesEvilSexPayMoralBreakSolutionsEthicsLipsGuiltyCodeNecksLip ServiceFeeling GuiltyAlbatross
Book:Stranger in a Strange Land
Create image

“The time is always right to do what is right.”

InspirationalTimeEvilFreedomInspiringBusinessAttitudeResponsibilityOne ThingPositivePositive ThinkingKingsHonorIntegrityBehaviorStandardsEthicsIntelligenceCivil RightsThings To DoRight ThingRighteousnessRighteousAmerican DreamSelf DisciplineBadassBlack HistoryRight PlaceCivil Rights MovementBaptistsDoing The Right ThingGood CharacterPeace And JusticeDoing RightBlack History MonthHonesty IntegrityHonesty And IntegrityBlack History Month InspirationalIntegrity And CharacterHonest And IntegrityIntegrity CharacterHonor And IntegrityAfrican American HistoryPrecious TimeMoral EthicsKings And LoveLeadership IntegrityGood KingsBlack History InspirationalSocial GoodLife DeterminationInspirational CharacterKwanzaaProper TimeEthics And IntegrityLiving RightAfrican American History MonthBlack InspirationalSpiritual IntegrityMoral IntegrityMorals And IntegrityAfrican American Civil RightsTime Is PreciousInspirational HistoryPositive BehaviorRight TimingAlways Being Right
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
Create image

“Ethics, too, are nothing but reverence for life. This is what gives me the fundamental principle of morality, namely, that good consists in maintaining, promoting, and enhancing life, and that destroying, injuring, and limiting life are evil.”

GivingEvilPrinciplesInspirational LifeMoralityIntegrityEthicsGive MeSocial JusticeFundamentalsPatriotismDestroyingReverenceMaintainingPromotingDissentMoral ValuesMoral PrinciplesFundamental PrinciplesReverence For LifeGood MoralMoral EthicsMorality And Ethics
Book:Civilization and ethics. 3d. ed
Create image

“I have always known that there were spellbinding evil parts for women. For one thing, I was taken at an early age to see Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Never mind the Protestant work ethic of the dwarfs. Never mind the tedious housework-is-virtuous motif. Never mind the fact that Snow White is a vampire -- anyone who lies in a glass coffin without decaying and then comes to life again must be. The truth is that I was paralysed by the scene in which the evil queen drinks the magic potion and changes her shape. What power, what untold possibilities!”

MindFactsAgeLyingEvilWhiteKnownTakenMagicOne ThingPossibilityDrinkTruth IsSceneShapesEthicsSevenGlassesSnowVampireQueensVirtuousWork EthicTediousProtestantsCoffinsHouseworkDwarfsSnow WhiteMotifsProtestant Work Ethic
Book:Curious Pursuits: Occasional Writing
Create image

“God is the creator of all things, right? He is the force that dictates the laws of the universe, and is therefore the ultimate source of ethics. He is absolute morality... We claim to be doing good. But the Lord Ruler - as God - defines what is good. So by opposing him we're actually evil. But since he's doing the wrong thing, does evil actually count as good in this case?”

DoeLawUniverseEvilForceLordCasesSourceMoralityEthicsAll ThingsUltimateClaimsAbsolutesCreatorRulersDoing GoodWrong ThingsOpposing
Book:Mistborn Trilogy
Create image

“The problem of vindicating an omnipotent and omniscient God in the face of evil is insurmountable. Those who claim to have surmounted it, by recourse to notions of free will and other incoherencies, have merely heaped bad philosophy onto bad ethics.”

PhilosophyProblemFacesEvilEthicsClaimsNotionFree WillOmnipotentRecourseInsurmountableOmniscient
Book:The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason
Create image

“It is almost impossible systematically to constitute a natural moral law. Nature has no principles. She furnishes us with no reason to believe that human life is to be respected. Nature, in her indifference, makes no distinction between good and evil.”

LifeBelieveHumansReasonLawLife IsEvilBeliefNatureNaturalMoralPrinciplesImpossibleMoralityEthicsHuman LifeIndifferenceDistinctionGood And EvilNo ReasonMoral Law
Book:The Revolt of the Angels: Works by France
Create image

“In our struggle against racial segregation in Montgomery, Alabama, I came to see at a very early stage that a synthesis of Gandhi's method of nonviolence and the Christian ethic of love is the best weapon available to Negroes for this struggle for freedom and human dignity. It may well be that the Gandhian approach will bring about a solution to the race problem in America. His spirit is a continual reminder to oppressed people that it is possible to resist evil and yet not resort to violence.”

PeopleHumansWellsMayProblemChristianAmericaSpiritEvilLove IsRaceStruggleViolenceStageApproachWeaponsSolutionsEthicsDignityMethodAvailableNonviolenceOppressedRemindersResortsSegregationHuman DignityAlabamaSynthesisMontgomeryChristian EthicsStruggle For FreedomRacial Segregation
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
Create image

“Fair play with others is primarily the practice of not blaming them for anything that is wrong with us. We tend to rub our guilty conscience against others the way we wipe dirty fingers on a rag. This is as evil a misuse of others as the practice of exploitation.”

WayPlayEvilJusticePracticeEthicsConscienceFairsBlameFingersGuiltyDirtyFairnessExploitationWipeRagsMisuseGuilty ConscienceFair Play
Book:Between the Devil and the Dragon: The Best Essays and Aphorisms of Eric Hoffer
Create image

“The genius of American culture and its integrity comes from fidelity to the light. Plain as day, we say. Happy as the day is long. Early to bed, early to rise. American virtues are daylight virtues: honesty, integrity, plain speech. We say yes when we mean yes and no when we mean no, and all else comes from the evil one. America presumes innocence and even the right to happiness.”

MeanLongLightAmericaCultureEvilVirtueHonestyGeniusIntegrityBedSpeechEthicsInnocenceAmerican CultureFidelityDaylightHonesty IntegrityMoral EthicsYes And No
Author:Richard Rodriguez
Create image

“No one in the world can change Truth. What we can do and should do is to seek truth and to serve it when we have found it. The real conflict is the inner conflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the hecatombs [e.g. the sacrifice of many victims] of extermination camps, there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of every soul: good and evil, sin and love. And what use are the victories on the battlefield if we ourselves are defeated in our innermost personal selves?”

IfsWorldShouldTwoRealSoulSelfUseEvilFoundCan DoSinBusinessEnemySacrificeSocietyVictoryConflictEthicsAnd LoveArmyVictimDepthGood And EvilOccupationCampsDefeatedBattlefieldsExterminationInner ConflictSin And Love
Author:Maximilian Kolbe
Create image

“In regard to the past, where contemplation is not obscured by desire and the need for action, we see, more clearly than in the lives about us, the value for good and evil, of the aims men have pursued and the means they have adopted. It is good, from time to time, to view the present as already past, and to examine what elements it contains that will add to the world's store of permanent possessions, that will live and give life when we and all our generation have perished.”

MenWorldNeedsGivingMeanActionPastDesireValuesEvilViewsGenerationsElementsEthicsRegardAimAddPossessionStoresPermanentContemplationGood And EvilAdoptedPursuedOur Generation
Book:Contemplation and Action, 1902-14
Create image

“Ever since men became capable of free speculation, their actions, in innumerable important respects, have depended upon their theories as to the world and human life, as to what is good and what is evil. This is true in the present day as at any former time. To understand an age or a nation, we must understand its philosophy, and to understand its philosophy we must ourselves be in some degree philosophers. There is here a reciprocal causation: the circumstances of men s lives do much to determine their philosophy, but, conversely, their philosophy does much to determine their circumstances.”

MenWorldHumansDoeImportantPhilosophyAgeActionPoliticalEvilNationsTheoryCircumstancesMoralityDegreesCapableEthicsDeterminePhilosopherFormerHuman LifeSpeculationPresent DayReciprocalCausation
Author:Bertrand Russell
Create image

“Moral philosophy is nothing else but the science of what is good, and evil, in the conversation, and society of mankind. Good, and evil, are names that signify our appetites, and aversions; which in different tempers, customs, and doctrines of men, are different.”

MenDifferentPhilosophyPoliticalEvilNamesMoralMankindMoralityConversationEthicsDoctrineGood And EvilCustomsAppetiteTemperAversionMoral PhilosophyLeviathan
Book:The Essential Leviathan: A Modernized Edition
Create image

“In all determinations of morality, this circumstance of public utility is ever principally in view; and wherever disputes arise, either in philosophy or common life, concerning the bounds of duty, the questions cannot, by any means, be decided with greater certainty, than by ascertaining, on any side, the true interests of mankind. If any false opinion, embraced from appearances, has been found to prevail; as soon as farther experience and sounder reasoning have given us juster notions of human affairs, we retract our first sentiment, and adjust anew the boundaries of moral good and evil.”

IfsFirstsHumansMeanHas BeensPhilosophyEvilFoundGivenSidesInterestViewsCommonMoralOpinionGreaterMankindDutyCircumstancesMoralityEthicsDeterminationDecidedNotionBoundsAffairAppearanceBoundariesAriseCertaintyReasoningGood And EvilSentimentsDisputesUtilityCommon LifeSounder
Book:Moral and Political Philosophy
Create image