Quotes About Morality

Virtue is concerned with what we do, and honour is concerned with how we do it. You can fight a war in an honourable way—the Geneva Convention exists for that very reason—and you can enforce the peace without any honour at all. In its essence, honour is the art of being humble.

is necessary to do the wrong thing for the right reasons. The important thing is to be sure that our reasons are right, and that we admit the wrong—that we do not lie to ourselves, and convince ourselves that what we do is right.

Khaderbhai once said that every virtuous act is inspired by a dark secret.

Sometimes it is necessary to do the wrong things for the right reasons. The important thing is to be sure that our reasons are right and that we admit the wrong, that we do not lie to ourselves and convince ourselves that what we do is right.

Virtue is concerned with what we do, and honour is concerned with how we do it.

I detest bullies for their cowardice, and despise them for their cruelty. I never knew a tough man who preyed on the weak. Tough men hate bullies almost as much as bullies hate tough men.

Bad cops are bad priests', she said. 'All confession, and no absolution.

Despotism despises nothing so much as righteousness in its victims.

The truth is there are no good men or bad men. It is the deeds that have goodness or badness in them. There are good deeds, and bad deeds. Men are just men - it is what they do, or refuse to do, that links them to good or evil.

People say that money is the root of all evil. But it's not true. It's the other way round. Money isn't the root of all evil. Evil is the root of all money. There's no such thing as clean money. All the money in the world is dirty, in some way, because there's no clean way to make it. If you get paid in money, somebody, somewhere is suffering for it.

Every guru you meet and every teacher, every prophet and every philosopher, should answer these two questions for you: What is an objective, universally acceptable definition of good and evil? And, What is the relationship between consciousness and matter? If he cannot answer these two questions, as I have done, you know that he has not passed the test.

Virtue is concerned with what we do, and honour is concerned with how we do it. You

There is no objective and universally acceptable definition of good and evil. And until we have one, we will go on justifying our own actions, while condemning the actions of the others.

There is no objective and universally acceptable definition of good and evil. And until we have one, we will go on justifying our own actions, while condemning the actions of others.

But it's not true. It's the other way round. Money isn't the root of all evil. Evil is the root of all money. There's no such thing as clean money. All the money in the world is dirty, in some way, because there's no clean way to make it.

Sin is a measure of evil.

One never knows how the witch became wicked, or whether that was the right choice for her — is it ever the right choice? Does the devil ever struggle to be good again, or if so is he not a devil? It is the very least question of definitions.

She wasn't afraid of doing good or of resisting evil. She was merely afraid she might not be able to tell the difference.

The colossal might of wickedness: how we love to locate it massively elsewhere. But so much of it comes down to what each one of us does between breakfast and bedtime.

It isn't hard to find evil in this world. Evil is always more easily imagined than good, somehow.

It's hard to find evil in this world,' said the Witch. Evil is always more easily imagined than good, somehow.

Staring at a world too horrible to comprehend, believing -- by dint of ignorance and innocence -- that beneath this unbearable contract of guilt and blame there is always an older contract that may bind and release in a more salutary way.

Glinda used her glitter beads, and you used your exotic looks and background, but weren't you just doing the same thing, trying to maximize what you had in order to get what you wanted? People who claim that they're evil are usually no worse than the rest of us. It's people who claim that they're good, or anyway better than the rest of us, that you have to be wary of.

after discussion about what evil is, a question asked to Elphaba on why she killed Madame Morrible] Why did you do it? asked the hostess with spirit. The Witch shrugged. For fun? Maybe evil is an art form.