Quotes About Ethics

A man does what he must -- in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers -- and this is the basis of all human morality.

Dante once said that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in a period of moral crisis maintain their neutrality.

Let's not talk so much about vice. I'm against vice in all forms.

Modern cynics and skeptics ... see no harm in paying those to whom they entrust the minds of their children a smaller wage than is paid to those to whom they entrust the care of their plumbing.

My father always told me that all businessmen were sons of bitches, but I never believed it till now. (On steel industry executives who increased prices)

But then, in his lifetime, Halt had often ignored what was technically legal. Technicalities didn't appeal to him. All too often, they simply got in the way of doing the right thing.

She didn't like the fact that she had reduced a man – no matter how evil he might be—to a drooling idiot.

You can always win points; winning people's respect is a lot more important.

It's only cheating if you're caught doing it. Otherwise, it's good tactics.

Hij wist dat Halt op het punt stonden om te beginnen met wat hij 'creatieve administratie' noemde. Voor Arnaut was het gewoon vervalsing... En niet voor het eerst besloot hij dat naarmate hij langer optrok met twee Grijze Jagers, zijn morele standaard alleen maar verder naar beneden ging.

Jesper," Hal said, "find a food stall and get a pie or a sausage for Ulf. Buy it. Don't steal it," he added. Jesper looked offended, but said nothing. In fact, he had been planning to "liberate" a pie for Ulf and save some money. He didn't consider taking food to be stealing. Everybody did that, he thought. He just did it better than most.

You can always win points," he said. "Winning people's respect is a lot more important. Now get back to your camp.

I just think of things as beautiful or not. Can't you understand? I don't think of good or bad. Just of beautiful or ugly. I think a lot of nice things are ugly and a lot of nasty things are beautiful.

How could men get fat by being bad and starve by being good? I thought and thought about my vision, and it made me very sad.

Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong.

He was afflicted by the thought that where Beauty was, nothing ever ran quite straight, which no doubt, was why so many people looked on it as immoral.

It's always worth while before you do anything to consider whether it's going to hurt another person more than is absolutely necessary.

To cheat a man is nothing; but the woman must have fine parts, indeed, who cheats a woman.

I hate the man who builds his nameOn ruins of another's fame.

A fox may steal your hens, Sir, a whore your health and pence, Sir, your daughter rob your chest, Sir, your wife may steal your rest, Sir, a thief your goods and plate. But this is all but picking, with rest, pence, chest and chicken; it ever was decreed, Sir, if lawyer's hand is feed, Sir, he steals your whole estate.

no good writing flows from a polluted well - you can write about monsters, but you can't be one...

when we perfect 3-D copiers and they reproduce tissue, we'll have a million Marilyns walking around with no souls...

freedom of conscience does not mean being uncontrolled - we have to control ourselves and at times submit to others...

Now, I'd like to ask people in the room, please raise your hand if you have not broken a law, any law, in the past month... That's the kind of society I want to build. I want to guarantee — with physics and mathematics, not with laws — that we can give ourselves real privacy of personal communications.