Quotes About Morality

Those who choose the lesser evil forget very quickly that they chose evil." — Hannah Arendt

A melhor forma de determinar se uma pessoa foi expulsa do âmbito da lei é perguntar se, para ela, seria melhor cometer um crime. Se um pequeno furto pode melhorar a sua posição legal, pelo menos temporariamente, podemos estar certos de que foi destituída dos direitos humanos. Pois o crime passa a ser, então, a melhor forma de recuperação de certa igualdade humana, mesmo que ela seja reconhecida como exceção à norma.

For are not all things created by God? How could God have created evil? [God] made all natures, not only those which persevered in virtue and justice, but also those that were to sin; and the latter [He made] not that they should sin, but that they might decorate the universe whether they wished to sin or not to sin.58

The crimes against human rights, which have become a specialty of totalitarian regimes, can always be justified by the pretext that right is equivalent to being good or useful for the whole in distinction to its parts.

Eichmann said about this episode in his last statement: "Nobody," he repeated, "came to me and reproached me for anything in the performance of my duties. Not even Pastor Grüber claims to have done so.

And if he did not always like what he had to do...he never forgot what the alternative would have been. Not only in Argentina, leading the unhappy existence of a refugee, but also in the courtroom in Jerusalem, with his life as good as forfeited, he might have still preferred—if anybody had asked him—to be hanged as Obersturmbannführer a.D. (in retirement) rather than living out his life quietly and normally as a traveling salesman for the Vacuum Oil Company.

Justice, but not mercy, is a matter of judgment

In the simplicity of everyday life one rule reigns supreme: Each good action, even for a 'bad cause,' adds some real goodness to the world; each bad action even for the most beautiful of all ideals makes our common world a little worse.

Toda virtud comienza con el cumplido que se le hace, mediante el cual se expresa la satisfacción por ella.

The opposite of "slut" is someone who has not been labeled a slut, someone who has never been charged with violating doxa.

The soldier must say Yes when he thinks Yes. But when many say Yes and think No, when they feel forced to say Yes, though they think No, or when they say Yes for the sake of their careers, their own comfort or self-interest while their consciences tell them No, the point has been reached where true soldiering dies out altogether. And not only soldiering. This is death's great triumph. For when conscience dies, mankind dies with it.

Man may be evil or good, that wasn't the issue. The issue was that man rarely considered the consequences of his actions. In short, man was often just plain stupid.

Man may be evil or good, that wasn't the issue. The issue was that man rarely considered the consequences of his actions.

Just because you do right doesn't mean that wrong won't still find you.

Simon frowned. "Is this the part where I break down and confess?" "Nah, you just listen. I'm talking about the old moral quandary." "Uh-huh." "Question: Would you kill someone? Answer: No, of course not. Question: Would you kill someone to save your child? Answer…?

I would rather French-kiss a live rodent than shake the man's hand, but in prison, you do what you have to.

Go fuck myself? Seriously? That's the best you can come up with? Really, David, I'm disappointed. I came here for a serious philosophical discussion. We know things others don't. I want to understand what could possess a man to do something so barbaric. To kill his own son.

So I'm a hypocrite," Myron said. "Happy?" "But that is my point," Win said. "What?" "You're not a hypocrite. You aim toward lofty heights. The fact that your arrow cannot always reach them does not make you a hypocrite.

this. Evil exists because an airheaded bimbo, who started life as a man's rib, got tricked into eating a piece of bad fruit by a talking reptile.

killing the allegorical two birds with one stone, which was a really violent and weird image when you stopped and thought about it. You throw a stone and kill two birds—and this is a good thing?

I needed information. I broke laws to get it. One could easily rationalize what I had done. The case for obtaining that information while giving Edward a touch of comeuppance was certainly compelling. But

I'm not saying there's no such thing as right or wrong. But I'm saying what may work for some doesn't work for others. You talked before about your mother confusing memories with illusion. But that's okay. That's how she survives. Some people need illusions. And some people, like you, need answers." Kat

It was also lazy parenting, he thought. Teach them to do the right thing because it's the right thing—not because Mom and Dad are looking over your shoulder.

Money motivates neither the best people, nor the best in people. It can move the body and influence the mind, but it cannot touch the heart or move the spirit; that is reserved for belief, principle, and morality.