Quotes About Ethics

The Koran likewise. The Magna Carta. The American Constitution. Billions of people govern their lives by those words. Society has been altered by them.

There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed. - Mahatma Gandhi

Principles had a nasty way of interfering with results.

When we talk about others, we should be very careful to observe our motive—especially if we're talking about a person who isn't present.

There can be no moral authority to tell you what to do, for no such authority can lie outside your own will.

Do not do unto others what you would not have done unto you.

The Buddha encouraged people to "know for yourselves that certain things are unwholesome and wrong. And when you do, then give them up. And when you know for yourselves that certain things are wholesome and good, then accept them and follow them.

Sincerity: that's the hard part. If you can fake that, the rest is easy.

My partner has no use for what passes as journalism these days, particularly on the tube. According to Harry, they spend too much time in deep admiration for politicians who show particular skill in lying, so much so that they have now institutionalized the destruction of public ethics by elevating deceit to a statecraft called "spin." It is no longer the lie that matters but the qualitative fashion in which it is told. We

Wealth is a common side effect of no remorse.

We are to fulfill our calling to be caretakers of the earth, regardless of whether global warming is real, or there are holes in the ozone layer, or three nonhuman species become extinct each day. Our vocation is not contingent on results or the state of the planet. It is simply dependent on our character as God's response-able human image-bearers.

As we suggested near the beginning of this book, if morality represents an ideal world, then economics represents the actual world.

Thinking like a Freak may sometimes sound like an exercise in using clever means to get exactly what you want, and there's nothing wrong with that. But if there is one thing we've learned from a lifetime of designing and analyzing incentives, the best way to get what you want is to treat other people with decency. Decency can push almost any interaction into the cooperative frame.

There are three basic flavours of incentive: economic, social and moral.

With any problem, it's important to figure out which incentives will actually work, not just what your moral compass tells you should work.

What Do Schoolteachers and Sumo Wrestlers Have in Common?

People aren't "good" or "bad." People are people, and they respond to incentives. They can nearly always be manipulated—for good or ill—if only you find the right levers.

Know that some people will do everything they can to game the system, finding ways to win that you never could have imagined. If only to keep yourself sane, try to applaud their ingenuity rather than curse their greed.

There are three basic flavors of incentive: economic, social, and moral.

podría sugerir que la moral representa el modo en que a las personas les gustaría que funcionase el mundo, mientras que la economía representa cómo funciona éste en realidad.

Never, ever think that people will do something just because it is the "right" thing to do.

la moral representa el modo en que a las personas les gustaría que funcionase el mundo, mientras que la economía representa cómo funciona éste en realidad.

But one need not oppose abortion on moral or religious grounds to feel shaken by the notion of a private sadness being converted into a public good.

Could any man resist the temptation of evil if he knew his acts could not be witnessed?