Quotes About Morality

There is very much in the world that is bad. But usually the attempt to defeat evil engenders more evil. I advise you to do good; that is the only way to win the victory!

If we do any deed that is unconditionally good, it gives the Dark Magicians the right to do an evil deed.

What kind of monster are you anyway? You should be more humane, Gennady!" "I was humane when I was alive," said the vampire.

Others are not born bad or good... and neither are people, by the way.

Evil goes unpunished for too often.

The common good and the individual good rarely coincide. Sure, I know it's true. But some truths are probably worse than lies.

the whole problem is that the regime is a reflection of society. Crooked and grotesque, but still a reflection. And as long as most of the citizens of a country—if they happened to gain power—would steal and regard themselves as better than other people, no remoralization of the ruling circles will change anything. Those politicians who acquire a conscience will leave. And new ones without consciences will take their places. It's people who have to change, society—

I'll tell you what the problem is. You're a young guy, you join the Watch, and you're delighted with yourself. At last the whole world is divided up into black and white! Your dream for humanity has come true; now you can tell who's good and who's bad. So get this. That's not the way it is. Not at all.

But usually the attempt to defeat evil engenders more evil. I advise you to do good; that is the only way to win the victory!" Alisher

If there's no ethically correct solution, act irrationally.

The common good and the individual good rarely coincide.

Many years ago someone told me something that I flatly refused to accept. And I still don't accept it now, despite all the times I've seen it proved right. "The common good and the individual good rarely coincide..." Sure, I know, it's true. But some truths are probably worse than lies.

There is no abstract Evil; you have to understand that! Its roots are here, all around us, in this herd that goes on chewing and having a good time only an hour after a murder! That's what you have to fight for. For people. Evil is a hydra with many heads, and the more of them you cut off, the more it grows! Hydras have to be starved to death, do you understand that? Kill a hundred Dark Ones, and a thousand more will take their place.

Because love stands above Darkness and Light. Because love is not sex or a shared faith, or "the joint maintenance of a household and the upbringing of children." Because love is also Power. And Light and Darkness, people and Others, morality and law, the Ten Commandments and the Great Treaty have damn all to do with it.

At Harvard, the strong and savvy and confident thrived, while the nice or shy or quaintly moral were just bit players. In Ysleta, you believed in God because you were poor and needed something to hold on to. At Harvard, you believed in your good luck or bad luck, in all-nighters, in your political savvy.

There is one Christian commandment that can be used as a yardstick...'Thou shalt not kill.' That is clear enough...'Thou shalt not kill' says you shall not kill your neighbor no matter how you feel about him.

The ends do not justify the means

Contrary to his infallibly "honest" image, Abe wasn't above lying so long as it served a noble purpose.

These fools who haven't the slightest idea how to live the morals they espouse. These fools who proclaim themselves men of God, yet show not the slightest reverance to His word...Is it any different from a drunkard preaching temperance? A whore preaching modesty?

The true roll in determing to embrace or reject anything is not whether it have any evil in it but whether it have more of evil than of good. There are few things wholly evil or wholly good.

I wouldn't back away from what's right just because it's hard.

Surely life has taught you that a thing can be both beautiful and vile.

These fools who haven't the slightest idea how to live the morals they espouse. These fools who proclaim themselves man of God, yet show not the slightest reverence to His word.

By being human, I was actually being inhumane. My hesitation to embrace my new abilities was causing needless suffering. Once you cross that moral threshold—once you decide to kill a man who hasn't threatened or wronged you—better to do it quickly, or whatever moral high ground you're standing on gets washed away by their blood.