Quotes About Ethics

For liberality resides not in the multitude of the gifts but in the state of character of the giver.

What then is a moral virtue, the result of such a process duly directed? It is no mere mood of feeling, no mere liability to emotion, no mere natural aptitude or endowment, it is a permanent state of the agent's self, or, as we might in modern phrase put it, of his will, it consists in a steady self-imposed obedience to a rule of action in certain situations which frequently recur in human life.

We can do noble acts without ruling earth and sea; for even with moderate advantages one can act excellently.

What a society honors will be cultivated.

Man, if perfected is the best of all animals but when isolated he is the worst of all

Thus, to give money away is quite a simple task, but for the act to be virtuous, the donor must give to the right person, for the right purpose, in the right amount, in the right manner, and at the right time.

And, generally speaking, all things are good which men deliberately choose to do;

Correct habituation distinguishes a good political system from a bad one.

Moral experience—the actual possession and exercise of good character—is necessary truly to understand moral principles and profitably to apply them. The mere intellectual apprehension of them is not possible, or if possible, profitless.

for we are noble in only one way, but bad in all sorts of ways.

Aristotle states that only one thing could justify monarchy, and that was if the virtue of the king and his family were greater than the virtue of the rest of the citizens put together. Tactfully

I have gained this by philosophy: that I do without being commanded what others do only from fear of the law.

Komedya, ortalamadan daha kötü karakterleri, tragedya ise ortalamadan daha iyi olan karakterleri taklit etmek isterler.

La justicia encierra y comprende en sí misma todas las virtudes, porque la justicia es la práctica de la virtud perfecta, y su perfección reside en el hecho de quien la ejerce y la posee; éste no lo hace sólo respecto de sí mismo, sino también respecto de los demás

It is in justice that the ordering of society is centered.

Tolerance is the last virtue of a dying society

For it is about our actions that we deliberate and inquire, and all our actions have a contingent character; hardly any of them are determined by necessity.

State comes into being for the sake of living, but it exists for the sake of living well.

But what matters for questions of virtue and vice is whether your acts are not merely voluntary but also chosen.

But we must not follow those who advise us…being mortal, [to think] of mortal things, but must, so far as we can, make ourselves immortal, and strain every nerve to live in accordance with the best thing in us; for even if it be small in bulk, much more does it in power and worth surpass everything.

And retaliation too is pleasant, because if failing at it is painful, succeeding at it is pleasant.

Une chose, quand elle n'est pas excessive, est un bien ; du moment qu'elle est plus grande qu'il ne faut, elle devient un mal.

Il y a trois causes qui font que l'orateur persuade son auditoire, parce qu'il y a trois causes qui déterminent notre acquiescement, en dehors des démonstrations. Ces trois causes sont : la raison, la probité et la bienveillance.

Let us now turn to their circumstances and their victims. People do wrong, then, when they think that the deed can be done, and can be done by them — which is to say that they think either† (a) they can get away with it, or (b) that if they are caught they will avoid punishment, or (c) that if they are punished the penalty paid by themselves or those they care for will be less than their profits.