Quotes About Principles

Yes, I have a philosophy, and you have to come with good arguments to change that philosophy, but, if someone has a better argument than me, then I will change.

Principles are the pivot on which the hands of the political barometer turn." There was an instant shout of laughter.

Aki azzal dicsekszik, hogy sohasem változtatja meg a véleményét, az úgy tesz, mintha arra vállalkozna, hogy mindig nyílegyenes vonalban fog haladni. Együgy? az ilyen, hisz a csalhatatlanságban. Márpedig nincsenek elvek, csak események vannak; nincsenek törvények, csak körülmények vannak.

People without religion are capable of anything.

Men and events count for nothing," said the Republican, following out his theory in spite of hiccoughs; "in politics, as in philosophy, there are only principles and ideas." "What an abomination! Then you would ruthlessly put your friends to death for a shibboleth?

Of course I know," said Madame Massin, "that the Abbe Chaperon is an honest man; but he is capable of anything for the sake of his poor. He must have mined and undermined uncle, and the old man has just tumbled into piety. We did nothing, and here he is perverted! A man who never believed in anything, and had principles of his own! Well! we're done for. My husband is absolutely beside himself.

Some persons may, perhaps, think that this declaration is somewhat autocratic and self-assertive. They will quarrel with the novelist for wanting to be an historian, and will call him to account for writing politics. I am simply fulfilling an obligation — that is my reply. The work I have undertaken will be as long as a history; I was compelled to explain the logic of it, hitherto unrevealed, and its principles and moral purpose.

I have never paid for fornication, and I don't intend to begin with you. When you come to me, and come to me you shall, you shall do so of your own accord and wholly free of all commerce and custom.

Those of us who pursue science studies are the Darwins of science, showing how the exquisite beauty of facts, theories, instruments and machines can be accounted for without ever resorting to teleological principles or arguments by design

Such a concept of morality sounds noble and high-minded; the supreme importance of morality means that it must be based on the highest authority, and this is the authority of reason itself. However, as MacIntyre and other critics of Kant have noted, the grandeur of the structure of Kant's ethics is matched by the emptiness of its content

Any company, when faced with adversity, would be tempted to go forward with an idea that promises to quickly erase pain. But in business as in life, people have to stay true to their guiding principles.

universalistic demands of morality. Faith requires

I have a lot of time for vegetarians (though apparently not all of them have a lot of time for me), and that's because I respect anyone with principles about food.

One of the most ordinary weaknesses of the human intellect is to seek to reconcile contrary principles, and to purchase peace at the expense of logic. Thus there have ever been, and will ever be, men who, after having submitted some portion of their religious belief to the principle of authority, will seek to exempt several other parts of their faith from its influence, and to keep their minds floating at random between liberty and obedience.

To get down to the quick of it, respect motivates me - not success.

I don't believe in principles. They don't exist! There are laws and facts...

The third natural law: Growth is the process of changing principles on your Belief Window.

I am, as I have always been, of the opinion that while the niceties of normal moral constraints should be our guides, they must not be our masters.

Good laws left to the interpretation of evil men are no longer good.

It's all just policy to you, isn't it?" Rebus said. "No right and wrong, legal and illegal, no fair and corrupt … just politics." "Listen to yourself, man," Sir Iain Hunter spat. "What are you, some Old Testament prophet? Who gives you the right to hold the scales?" He dug the tip of his umbrella into the ground

Freedom. And Justice. If you have those two, it covers everything. You must stick to those principles and have the courage of your convictions.

it is easier to legislate a rule than to develop a value.

And there are many people, both Moslem and Christian, who have a good grasp of each others0 conceptions of surrender to God an other principles. But the widespread existence of bias, misinformation and lack of knowledge (…) militate against the effectiveness of dialogue, (…) by the most subtle and one of the most effective of instruments, the subconscious, almost the subliminal, introduction of hostility.

Principles and inelastic rules are the last bastion of the primitive. Principles are guides which substitute for knowledge; rules are drawn up to guide those who do not know. Primitive man has stayed with us for aeons, sustained by the pessimistic belief that, since knowledge is impossible, substitutes must always be employed instead.