Quotes About Morality

TO BE HAPPY, BE VIRTUOUS. THERE ARE ONLY TWO REASONS TO EVER DO ANYTHING; TO BE HAPPY, AND TO HELP OTHER PEOPLE BE HAPPY. ALL VIRTUE LIES IN THE SECOND HALF OF THAT, IN WORKING FOR OTHERS, IN PROTECTING THE WEAK FROM THE STRONG.

An avowed anti-Catholic, Maurice Maeterlinck, the twentieth-century Belgian philosopher and playwright, weighed in with: "An act of goodness is of itself an act of happiness. No reward coming after the event can compare with the sweet reward that went with it.

Humanism: The stance that the good of humankind is of prime importance. In modern times, humanism means that pursuing this good has nothing to do with a god; doing good works for other humans is a value in itself, not the fulfillment of a duty to a god.

Nihilism: Negativity as an approach to philosophy and life. Various types of Nihilism range from negating the existence of everything to negating the possibility of knowing anything to just negating social and political mores and morality in general. Not a reassuring philosophy. Always reminds me of King Lear's line, "Nothing will come of nothing.

Utilitarianism: A moral and political philosophy that proposes the doctrine of the greatest good/happiness for the greatest number of people. According to one of Utilitarianism's chief architects, Jeremy Bentham, the basic idea is to find a balance between the individual's happiness and the happiness of the community, "each counting in an equal way." In positing happiness as its aim, Utilitarianism is a type of hedonism.

Utilitarianism is a type of hedonism.

Are good and evil of importance to the universe or only to man?

If a person did not have free will, how could he be held accountable for the bad things he did?

Men do not value a good deed unless it brings a reward.

First grub, then ethics." He was implying that ethical decision-making may only be a luxury reserved for those of us who do not need to struggle simply to stay alive.

In the past hundred years, since Logical Positivists like Bertrand Russell and A. J. Ayer have argued that the idea of a rational basis for ethics is as impossible as a rational basis for the existence of God—or of the Tooth Fairy

When the German twentieth-century playwright Bertolt Brecht was asked what he thought of ethics, he replied, "First grub, then ethics." He was implying that ethical decision-making may only be a luxury reserved for those of us who do not need to struggle simply to stay alive.

A man who strives after goodness in all his acts is sure to come to ruin, since there are so many men who are not good.

for the most part people prosper when they behave decently and honorably toward one another and live among others who conduct themselves similarly.

To really succeed in whatever is the business of your choice, you have to come to understand and utterly absorb into your being the fundamentally true idea that your activities in your business are virtuous and moral, provided of course that you conduct your business affairs honestly and honorably. Absorb this lesson into your heart and into your soul, and you will have overcome a major hurdle on your road to financial achievement.

real tragedy is never a straightforward confrontation between Good and Evil, but is, rather, much more exquisitely and much more agonizingly, a conflict between two irreconcilable views of the world.

from the beginnings of history, we have used the critique of consumption to confirm ourselves as essentially good and moral beings. Once upon a more religious time it was common to translate this into an actual asceticism, and I still think it gives us reason to lash out against a consumption we can't seem to control even in ourselves.

The Supreme Court was not and never will be perfect. Some of the most heinous, morally reprehensible, logically flawed decisions have emanated from the Supreme Court. To imbue it with infallibility is to say that, when it upheld slave catching or when it upheld racial segregation, it was right.

He did not consider it "the function of law to jack up the moral tone of any community." That, he said, was "the function of the home and the church.

Que unos libros puedan alterar hasta tal punto nuestra conciencia y dejar que el mundo siga de mal en peor, es algo que deja sin palabras.

Che ne dici, tu che sei il prodotto di un lungo interrogativo procreatorio: "E' giusto fare dei figli in un mondo come questo? Il Divino Paranoico merita che si accresca la sua opera? Ho io il diritto di mettere in moto un destino? Non so forse che avviare una vita significa metterle la morte alle calcagna? Cosa valgo io come padre e cosa varrà Julie come madre? Possiamo correre il rischio di assomigliarci?

Non vi è peggior crimine del volersi sostituire alla coscienza altrui.

Only a weak man fails to honor his parents.

And if there's one thing I've learned in this life, it's that everyone has a price. - Ari Shamron