Quotes About Morality

the 20th century morality tale of 'socialism vs. freedom' or 'communism vs. capitalism' is misleading. Capitalism is not a political system; it is a form of economic life, compatible in practice with right-wing dictatorships (Chile under Pinochet), left-wing dictatorships (contemporary China), social-democratic monarchies (Sweden) and plutocratic republics (the United States).

dÄ›jiny nacismu – a v?bec vÅ¡ech forem totalitarismu – nelze plnÄ› pochopit, pokud je omezíme na vyprávÄ›ní o zlých lidech, kteÃ…â"¢í se vÄ›domÄ› a zámÄ›rnÄ› dopouÅ¡tÄ›jí zlo?in? s cílem páchat zlo

As the progressive Abbé Boulier explained to François Fejtö, when trying to prevent him from writing about the Rajk trial: drawing attention to Communist sins is 'to play the imperialists' game'.11

is never a struggle between good and evil, but between the preferable and the detestable.

in an Apparently Godless Era.

Socialism for social democrats, especially in Scandinavia, was a distributive concept. It was about making sure that wealth and assets were not disproportionately gathered into the hands of a privileged few. And this, as we have seen, was in essence a moral matter:

we have smuggled in a misleadingly 'ethical' vocabulary to bolster our economic arguments

The idea that it was the state's business to know what was good for people—while we accept it uncomplainingly in school curriculums and hospital practices—smacked of eugenics and perhaps euthanasia.

In an age when young people are encouraged to maximize self-interest and self-advancement, the grounds for altruism or even good behavior become obscured. Short of reverting to religious authority—itself on occasion corrosive of secular institutions—what can furnish a younger generation with a sense of purpose beyond its own short-term advantage?

Nietzsche's genealogical investigations do not undermine all values and all modes of evaluation equally. There are past tendencies, as well as present ones ... that Nietzsche esteems highly, and it is out of these estimations that his own ideal of the future emerges.

Only thieves and children run.

But John Chapman told us he didnt eat meat cause he couldnt stand for somethin livin to be killed jest to keep him alive.

People decide how to live their own lives! A scum bastard doesn't have the right to chain anyone down!" -Sven to Torneo

Eve: I don't understand this word..."Freedom." Does it mean...I do what I want? Sven: Yes. Eve: Then I wouldn't have to kill anymore? Sven: No more killing.

Is it so good to be sad...? If it is... then I don't care to be good.

I never wanted to be safe... I wanted to be good.

Get involved with humanity and you find yourself morally compromised,' he said, unencouragingly.

If my face is uncovered, a man—even someone I do not know—may fall into sin. Consequently, the scarves are necessary, essential. For life, I am wrapped as if in death. Why not have the man cover his eyes instead?

Oh, don't look so morally offended. Don't forget that if you get up on your high horse it's a long way to fall." He looked at his watch. "Do you know how late it is? Time for your next class." I lifted my chin. "You're right there," I said, trying to sound as icily scornful as possible. "My high horse and I must just go and find a toilet to throw up in first, because this conversation makes us sick to our stomachs.

Impressed deep in the psyche of America, the most literate society ever founded, was the idea that you could improve yourself—morally, philosophically, financially—through the written word.

God is not a symbol of goodness. Goodness is a symbol of God.

Defy the conventions . . . keep the commandments.

Right is right, even if nobody does it. Wrong is wrong, even if everybody is wrong about it.

Who was it who said that every virtue contains its corresponding vice? C.S. Lewis? Virginia Woolf? You forget. But it has always worried you that what the virtue of wit contained was the vice of scorn.