Quotes About Morality

I'm willing to keep an open mind about the existence of God or whether or not Joye's Ulysses is a great novel, but I have no doubt that one way or another child molesters are nurtured, not born.

Also, serial killers, child killers, they're hot, they're the new cool kids, the new vampires, the new zombies, everybody's favourite spook monster.

Gandhi was warning that in a nation which honoured killing, the weak would be bullied by the well-armed, the well-heeled and the strong-bodied.

one who breaks an unjust law, must do it openly and lovingly

The consummate leader cultivates the Moral Law, and strictly adheres to method and discipline; thus it is in his power to control success.

said, "All life is…and cannot be judged good or bad.

writing about something was not the moral equivalent of doing it

Making a decision never to freely choose to commit even a small sin is an important turning point in the spiritual journey.

What is your state of soul with respect to mortal sin? Are you firmly resolved never to commit it for any reason whatsoever? . . . In this resolution consists the foundation of the spiritual life.

When pleasure follows the temptation and could have been avoided but was not, there is always some kind of sin according to the amount of time it is dwelt on and the pleasure taken in it.41

What a mystery the human person is. Sometimes horrible effects of our choices come that we in no way intend. Sometimes the difference between what we think we are doing and what we are actually doing is total. But it is the inner intention that then characterizes what we do or do not do.

A man's character is like his house. If he tears boards off his house and burns them to keep himself warm and comfortable, his house soon becomes a ruin. If he tells lies to be able to do the things he shouldn't do but wants to, his character will soon become a ruin. A man with a ruined character is a shame on the face of the earth.

You know, Son, sometimes a fellow has to take a licking for doing the right thing. A licking only lasts a short while, even if it's a hard one, but failing to do the right thing will often make a mark on a man that will last forever.

There are only two kinds of men in this world: Honest men and dishonest men. There are black men and white men and yellow men and red men, but nothing counts except whether they're honest men or dishonest men.

Moral courage is the highest expression of humanity ...

Don't go thinking I was one of these hellfire-and-brimstone fellers. No, sir. I put more stock in Jesus than Jeremiah. And I never tried to tell a man Jesus really turned that wine into water, not the other way around. Just tried to persuade him that getting hog-drunk and killing his own brother wasn't Christian.

They were hard and fearless, and had to be enterprising and manipulative in order to survive. Espionage to them was a means to a better life. There was no ideology, morality, or religious belief involved.

Religion is to do right. It is to love, it is to serve, it is to think, it is to be humble.

When a whole nation is roaring Patriotism at the top of its voice, I am fain to explore the cleanness of its hands and purity of its heart.

Men wish to be saved from the mischiefs of their vices, but not from their vices.

Civilization depends on morality.

The moral sense reappears today with the same morning newness that has been from of old the fountain of beauty and strength. You say there is no religion now. 'Tis like saying in rainy weather, There is no sun, when at that moment we are witnessing one of its superlative effects.

The true test of civilization is, not the census, nor the size of the cities, nor the crops, but the kind of man that the country turns out.

Every vice is only an exaggeration of a necessary and virtuous function.