Quotes About Ethics

The absence of bad things, such as pain, is good even if there is nobody to enjoy that good, whereas the absence of good things, such as pleasure, is bad only if there is somebody who is deprived of these good things. The implication of this is that the avoidance of the bad by never existing is a real advantage over existence, whereas the loss of certain goods by not existing is not a real disadvantage over never existing.

Just as absent pleasures that do deprive are 'bad' in the sense of 'worse', so absent pleasures that do not deprive are 'not bad' in the sense of 'not worse'.

absent pleasures are not bad

coming into existence, far from ever constituting a net benefit, always constitutes a net harm.

Epictetus: "Look not for any greater harm than this: destroying the trustworthy, self-respecting well-behaved man within you.

THOSE WHO STUDY the rise and fall of civilizations learn that no shortcoming has been as surely fatal to republics as a dearth of public virtue, the unwillingness of those who govern to place the value of their society above personal interest.

don't let "reputation" get mixed up with your moral purpose or your will power; they are important. Make sure "reputation" is in that box in the bottom drawer marked "matters of indifference

But the relationship of morality and power is a very subtle one. Because ultimately power without morality is no longer power.

What is a law, if those who make it Become the forwardest to break it?

I turned on my heel and left the building. With only £4.76 in the bank, and my subscription to 'Men Only' due, things were looking bleak. Seeing that Keith Moore had apparently purloined Sting's money, though at this time, he had not been yet convicted of the offence, it seemed to me that he was a better bet for a loan than Sting was.

T]he end cannot justify the means; but if there are no other means, and the end is necessary...

To act from pure benevolence is not possible for finite beings. Human benevolence is mingled with vanity, interest, or some other motive.

For scores of millions of Americans, Clinton's "caring" was more important than his lying.

Good and evil keep very exact accounts... and the face of every man is their ledger.

We enter into no illegal turpitude until rather careful reflection has assured us of its expediency.

Then, too, he had a sort of prejudice against the way in which Florimel spent her time in seducing and murdering young men.

I am Jurgen. And I deal fairly with all women, and raise my staff against none save in the way of kindness.

These men who considered that all you possessed was loaned you to devote to the service of your God, your King and every woman who crossed your path, could hardly be behaving rationally.

There is no weapon like words, no armor against words, and with words the Master Philologist has conquered me. It is not at all equitable: but the man showed me a huge book wherein were the names of everything in the world, and justice was not among them. It develops that, instead, justice is merely a common noun, vaguely denoting an ethical idea of conduct proper to the circumstances, whether of individuals or communities. It is, you observe, just a grammarian's notion.

Rather we must seek out9 the good things peculiar to the good, and give the widest berth to the evils peculiar to evil men.

Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong.

Public virtue is the vital spirit of republics, and history proves that when this has decayed and the love of money has usurped its place, although the forms of free government may remain for a season, the substance has departed forever.

There is no occasion to trample upon the meanest reptile, nor to sneak to the greatest prince. Insolence and baseness are equally unmanly.

The beauty of behaviour consists in the manner more than the matter of your discourse.