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Ethics Quotes

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Ethics Quotes

“The recognition of the sanctity of the life of every man is the first and only basis of all morality.”

Men Firsts Morality Ethics Bases Every Man Recognition Sanctity

Author:Leo Tolstoy

“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.”

“Developing a good work ethic is a key [to success]. Apply yourself at whatever you do, whether you're a janitor or taking your first summer job, because that work ethic will be reflected in everything you do in life.”

Firsts Jobs Keys Summer Ethics Developing Good Work Work Ethic Key To Success Janitor Good Work Ethic

Author:Tyler Perry

“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?”

“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.”

“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.”

“It's that wonderful old-fashioned idea that others come first and you come second. This was the whole ethic by which I was brought up. Others matter more than you do, so 'don't fuss, dear; get on with it.'”

Firsts Ideas Matter Whole Inspiring Wonderful Ethics Dear Lovely Selfless Selflessness Old Fashioned Happy Girl Old Fashion

Author:Audrey Hepburn

“I took ethics classes in college, and it always amazes me how they [tabloids] will blatantly say something that I did not say, in quotation marks. The first thing that we learned in ethics is that you better have it right. If you're putting quotation marks around something, it better be exactly what that person said.”

Ifs Firsts Persons Said Class College Ethics Mark Quotations Tabloids Quotation Marks

Author:Carrie Underwood

“Changes in the structure of society are not brought about solely by massive engines of doctrine. The first flash of insight which persuades human beings to change their basic assumptions is usually contained in a few phrases.”

Firsts Humans Human Beings Ethics Structure Insight Doctrine Phrases Assumption Massive Engines Flash

Book:Selected Writings

Source: Selected Writings

“One of the greatest challenges facing civilization in the twenty-first century is for human beings to learn to speak about their deepest personal concerns-about ethics, spiritual experience, and the inevitability of human suffering-in ways that are not flagrantly irrational. We desperately need a public discourse that encourages critical thinking and intellectual honesty. Nothing stands in the way of this project more that the respect we accord religious faith.”

Source: Letter to a Christian Nation

“Altruism demands that an individual serve others, but doesn’t stipulate whether those others should be one’s family, or the homeless, or society as a whole. Collectivism states that, in politics, society comes first and the individual must obey. Collectivism is the application of the altruist ethics to politics.”

Should Firsts States Whole Individual Demand Ethics Application Altruism Homeless Collectivism

Author:Andrew Bernstein

“First word [of my father] when I arrived [as a CEO] is, 'Son, i hope your first deal is a loser, otherwise, you'll think you're a lot smarter than you are.' But he had tremendous values, tremendous integrity, humility, work ethic and terrific thirst for knowledge.”

Thinking Firsts Values Father Deals Humility Son Integrity Ethics Loser Smarter Thirst Ceo Work Ethic Terrific Thirst For Knowledge

Author:Charles Koch

“I'll work to maintain my work ethic out on the road, playing my shows, giving 110%, keeping God first, my family second, and treating my fans like royalty.”

Giving Firsts Shows Fans Ethics My Family Work Ethic Royalty God First

Author:Aaron Watson

“The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.”

Source: Light and Liberty: Reflections on the Pursuit of Happiness

“As Muslims, we are all equals, we abide by the laws and we understand that we have to be active citizens wherever we are. Our goals are first to live by our principles, to remind people of these values, to reconcile our respective societies with these shared universal values and to try our best to push for a spiritual agenda with more ethics in society, in politics, in economics, and in culture.”

People Trying Firsts Spiritual Law Values Culture Goal Principles Citizens Ethics Economics Universal Active Agendas Live By Reconcile

Author:Tariq Ramadan

“Most boys' first hero is their father. That was definitely true of my dad. He was a proud Irish American and he taught me a lot about ethics and responsibility. He also introduced me to a lot of wonderful folk music.”

Firsts Father Responsibility Boys Wonderful Taught Proud Hero Dad Ethics My Dad Folks Folk Music

Author:John C. Reilly

“The first step in the evolution of ethics is a sense of solidarity with other human beings.”

Firsts Humans Peace Human Beings Steps Evolution Morality Ethics Loyalty Ethical First Steps Solidarity Rhyming Human Evolution Business Ethics Christian Ethics

Book:The Teaching of Reverence for Life

Source: The Teaching of Reverence for Life

“The first and only principle of sexual ethics: the accuser is always in the wrong.”

Firsts Principles Ethics Accusers

Book:Minima Moralia: Reflections on a Damaged Life

Source: Minima Moralia: Reflections on a Damaged Life

“The Puritan ethic of marriage was first to look not for a partner whom you do love passionately at this moment but rather for one whom you can love steadily as your best friend for life, then to proceed with God’s help to do just that.”

Firsts Looks Moments Helping Ethics Partners Your Best Friend Puritan Friends For Life

Author:J. I. Packer

“Grub first, then ethics.”

Firsts Food Morality Eating Ethics Dignity Cooking Cynicism Altruism

Author:Bertolt Brecht

“Robinson Crusoe, the first capitalist hero, is a self-made man who accepts objective reality and then fashions it to his needs through the work ethic, common sense, resilience, technology, and, if need be, racism and imperialism.”

“Self-trust is the first secret of success.”

Source: The Collected Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson: Society and solitude

“The knowledge exists by which universal happiness can be secured; the chief obstacle to its utilization for that purpose is the teaching of religion. Religion prevents our children from having a rational education; religion prevents us from removing the fundamental causes of war; religion prevents us from teaching the ethic of scientific cooperation in place of the old fierce doctrines of sin and punishment. It is possible that mankind is on the threshold of a golden age; but, if so, it will be necessary first to slay the dragon that guards the door, and this dragon is religion.”

“Convinced as I am and as I am from my government that the world needs a new moral architecture over all I believe that this should be the first topic to debate in our world of today, ethics, moral.”

World Needs Should Firsts Believe Government Today I Believe Moral Ethics Convinced Architecture Debate Our World Topics

Author:Hugo Chavez

“To achieve in sports you first have to have a dream, and then you must act on that dream. The best athletes are those who truly enjoy what they are doing and display a tremendous amount of work ethic. They continue to persevere in spite of setbacks and never lose sight of their ultimate goal.”

Firsts Dream Success Sports Enjoy Goal Loses Effort Achieve Amount Ethics Ultimate Sight Athlete Spite Motivational Sports Display Work Ethic Persevere Setback Ultimate Goal Best Athlete

Author:Dianne Holum

“The formation of character in young people is educationally a different task from, and a prior task to, the discussion of the great, difficult, ethical controversies of the day. First things first. And planting the ideas of virtue, of good traits in the young, comes first. In the moral life, as in life itself, we take one step at a time. Every field has its complexities and controversies. And so does ethics. And every field has its basics. So too with values.”

“This is the duty of our generation as we enter the twenty-first century - solidarity with the weak, the persecuted, the lonely, the sick, and those in despair. It is expressed by the desire to give a noble and humanizing meaning to a community in which all members will define themselves not by their own identity but by that of others.”

Giving Firsts Desire Community Responsibility Generations Century Loneliness Identity Duty Members Despair Ethics Lonely Weak Sick Twenties Noble Solidarity Our Generation Persecuted

Author:Elie Wiesel

“Man is an animal with primary instincts of survival. Consequently his ingenuity has developed first and his soul afterwards. The progress of science is far ahead of man's ethical behavior.”

Men Life Firsts Soul Science Animal Progress Behavior Survival Ethics Intelligent Instinct Primaries Ethical Ingenuity Ethical Behavior

Author:Charlie Chaplin

“It is about getting better every game. Work ethic was the first part. We were not ready to give up and the Slovaks did not give up also. That is what the Olympics are all about. We executed where we needed to execute. It was important to play the way we always play.”

Way Giving Firsts Important Play Games Ready Needed Giving Up Ethics Get Better Hockey Olympics Work Ethic Not Giving Up Not Ready Ready To Give Up

Author:Jayna Hefford

“A code of ethics cannot be developed overnight by edict or official pronouncement. It is developed by years of practice and performance of duty according to high ethical standards. It must be self-policing. Without such a code, a professional soldier or a group soon loses identity and effectiveness. Once we know our job, have a genuine code of ethics, and maintain unquestioned personal integrity, we have met the first and most demanding challenge of leadership.”

“There are two principles of established acceptance in morals; first, that self-interest is the mainspring of all of our actions, and secondly, that utility is the test of their value.”

Firsts Two Self Action Values Interest Moral Principles Acceptance Morality Ethics Tests Our Actions Utility Self Interest

Author:Charles Caleb Colton

“Honesty is the first chapter in the Book of wisdom. Let it be our endeavor to merit the character of a just nation.”

Firsts Book Character Nations Honesty Ethics Merit Endeavor Chapters

Author:Thomas Jefferson

“I am sure that in estimating every man's value either in private or public life, a pure integrity is the quality we take first into calculation, and that learning and talents are only the second.”

Men Firsts Values Quality Talent Integrity Pure Ethics Every Man Calculations Public Life Moral Ethics Estimating

Book:Thomas Jefferson: A Chronology of His Thoughts

Source: Thomas Jefferson: A Chronology of His Thoughts

“Common sense doesn't have the last word in ethics or anywhere else, but it has, as J. L. Austin said about ordinary language, the first word: it should be examined before it is discarded.”

Should Firsts Said Action Lasts Language Common Moral Psychology Ordinary Ethics Common Sense Last Words Discarded Austin

Book:The View From Nowhere

Source: The View From Nowhere

“Actually, there is only one first question of government, and it is How should we live? or What kind of people do we want our citizens to be?”

People Want Should Firsts Kind Government Citizens Ethics

Book:Statecraft as Soulcraft

Source: Statecraft as Soulcraft

“We must never allow the voice of humanity within us to be silenced. It is humanity's sympathy with all creatures that first makes us truly human.”

Firsts Humans Humanity Voice Animal Creatures Ethics Pet Sympathy Animal Ethics

Author:Albert Schweitzer

“Whenever you wish to do anything against the law, Cicely, always consult a good solicitor first.”

Firsts Law Wish Ethics Lawyer Solicitors Legal Ethics

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

Source: 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

“Ultimately a highly complex sentiment, having its first origin in the social instincts, largely guided by the approbation of our fellow-men, ruled by reason, self-interest, and in later times by deep religious feelings, confirmed by instruction and habit, all combined, constitute our moral sense or conscience.”

Source: Evolutionary Writings: including the Autobiographies

“To have something to say is a question of sleepless nights and worry and endless ratiocination of subject - of endless trying to dig out the essential truth, the essential justice. As a first premise you have to develop a conscience and if on top of that you have talent so much the better. But if you have talent without the conscience, you are just one of many thousands of journalists.”

Ifs Trying Firsts Night Justice Worry Subjects Talent Essentials Ethics Conscience Endless Journalist Just One Premises Sleepless Nights

Author:F. Scott Fitzgerald

“The first principle of ethical power is Purpose. By purpose, I don't mean your objective or intention-something toward which you are always striving. Purpose is something bigger. It is the picture you have of yourself-the kind of person you want to be or the kind of life you want to lead.”

Want Firsts Kind Mean Persons Purpose Principles Ethics Bigger Intention Strive Objectives Aspiration Ethical

Author:Stephen Covey

“I thank Thee first because I was never robbed before; second, because although they took my purse they did not take my life; third, because although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth because it was I who was robbed, and not I who robbed.”

Firsts Integrity Ethics Thirds Thee Fourth Purses

Author:Matthew Henry

“Blind obedience is itself an abuse of human morality. It is a misuse of the human soul in the name of religious commitment. It is a sin against individual conscience. It makes moral children of the adults from whom moral agency is required. It makes a vow, which is meant to require religious figures to listen always to the law of God, beholden first to the laws of very human organizations in the person of very human authorities. It is a law that isn't even working in the military and can never substitute for personal morality.”

“The point which I should first wish to understand is whether the pious or holy is beloved by the gods because it is holy, or holy because it is beloved of the gods.”

Should Firsts Action Wish Moral Psychology Holy Ethics Beloved Pious

Book:The Trial and Death of Socrates: Four Dialogues

Source: The Trial and Death of Socrates: Four Dialogues

“Any first-order, substantive normative theory worth its salt will require attention to the mental states of agents in a variety of quite complex ways. But realism, being a view about the status of such normative theories, insists that the truth of any firstorder normative standard is not a function of what anyone happens to think of it.”

Thinking Way Firsts States Happens Action Order Views Attention Moral Psychology Theory Standards Ethics Function Complexes Agents Variety Salt Realism Worth It

Book:Moral Realism: A Defence

Source: Moral Realism: A Defence

“Every defensive end who is going to be picked in the first round is going to be a good pick for whoever they're chosen by, but if I had to tell you what sets me apart, that would be my desire and determination to get better. I know what I need to work on, I know my weaknesses, but I have that work ethic to improve every day. I have that want to be the best player at my position, and I have the belief in myself that one day that will come true.”

Ifs Knows Want Needs Firsts Ends Would Be Desire Belief Player Position One Day Picks Ethics Weakness Determination Rounds Chosen Get Better Being The Best Work Ethic Best Players

Author:Justin Tuck

“Prior to the advent of the civilization of the Third Estate (mercantilism, capitalism), the social ethics that was religiously sanctioned in the West consisted in realizing one’s being and in achieving one’s own perfection within the fixed parameters that one’s individual nature and the group to which one belonged clearly defined. Economic activity, work, and profit were justified only in the measure in which they were necessary for sustenance and to ensure the dignity of an existence conformed to one’s own estate, without the lower instinct of self-interest or profit coming first.”

“From the apparent usefulness of the social virtues, it has readily been inferred by sceptics, both ancient and modern, that all moral distinctions arise from education, and were, at first, invented, and afterwards encouraged ... in order to render men tractable, and subdue their natural ferocity and selfishness, which incapacitated them for society.”

Men Firsts Order Social Natural Moral Virtue Modern Morality Ethics Ancient Arise Selfishness Distinction Usefulness Sceptic Ferocity

Book:An Inquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals

Source: An Inquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals

“So long as people do not consider all men as their brothers and do not consider human life as the most sacred thing, which rather than destroy they must consider it their first and foremost duty to support; that is so long as people do not behave towards one another in a religious manner, they will always ruin one another's lives for the sake of personal gain.”

People Men Firsts Humans Long Religious Support Brother Duty Morality Ethics Gains Sacred Sake Ruins Human Life Behave Sacred Things Personal Gain

Author:Leo Tolstoy

“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.”

Source: Moral and Political Philosophy

“For some days I quietly worked out in my own mind the metaphysics of Cosmic Unity. The more I thought about it, the more convinced I became that it was the living truth. It was logically incontrovertible. It provided for the first time a firm foundation for ethics. It offered mankind the radical change of heart and mind that was our only hope of peace at a time of desperate danger. Only one small problem remained. I must find a way to convert the world to my way of thinking.”