Quotes About Ethics

Integrity includes but goes beyond honesty.

Into the hands of every individual is given a marvelous power for good or evil—the silent, unconscious, unseen influence of his life.

There is no real excellence in all this world which can be separated from right living.

In the words of Madame de Staël, "The voice of conscience is so delicate that it is easy to stifle it: but it is also so clear that it is impossible to mistake it.

One man cannot do right in one department of life whilst he is occupied in doing wrong in any other department. Life is one indivisible whole."2

The principles you live by create the world you live in.

The Personality Ethic tells me I could take some kind of dramatic action—shake

Notice the sequence: ethos, pathos, logos—your character, and your relationships, and then the logic of your presentation.

When we value correct principles, we have truth—a knowledge of things as they are.

But one of the executives was proactive. He was driven by values, not feelings.

There is no real excellence in all this world which can be separated from right living." DAVID STARR JORDAN

Conscience is the endowment that senses our congruence or disparity with correct principles and lifts us toward them—when it's in shape.

Just as junk food and lack of exercise can ruin an athlete's condition, those things that are obscene, crude, or pornographic can breed an inner darkness that numbs our higher sensibilities and substitutes the social conscience of "Will I be found out?" for the natural or divine conscience of "What is right and wrong?

Integrity also means avoiding any communication that is deceptive, full of guile, or beneath the dignity of people. "A lie is any communication with intent to deceive," according to one definition of the word. Whether we communicate with words or behavior, if we have integrity, our intent cannot be to deceive.

Principles are deep, fundamental truths, classic truths, generic common denominators. They are tightly interwoven threads running with exactness, consistency, beauty, and strength through the fabric of life.

build inner character first—private victory before public victory.

By making and keeping promises to ourselves and others, little by little, our honor becomes greater than our moods.

Never compromise with honesty.

For another example, suppose in my effort to build a relationship with you, I told you something someone else had shared with me in confidence. "I really shouldn't tell you this," I might say, "but since you're my friend…." Would my betraying another person build my trust account

Our behavior is governed by principles. Living in harmony with them brings positive consequences; violating them brings negative consequences. We are free to choose our response in any situation, but in doing so, we choose the attendant consequence. "When we pick up one end of the stick, we pick up the other.

I think it should contain two basic parts: vision and principles. Vision deals with the mental picture of what you are about. And principles deal with how you go about it.

The degree to which we have developed our independent will in our everyday lives is measured by our personal integrity. Integrity is, fundamentally, the value we place on ourselves. It's our ability to make and keep commitments to ourselves, to "walk our talk." It's honor with self, a fundamental part of the Character Ethic, the essence of proactive growth.

you want the secondary greatness of recognized talent, focus first on primary greatness of character.

IBM stands for three things: the dignity of the individual, excellence, and service.