Quotes About Ethics

the demon virtues — patience, deception, quick hands, craftiness, an for the mistakes of others

He knew there were two kinds of truth in this world. The truth that was the unalterable bedrock of one's life and mission. And the other, malleable truth of politicians, charlatans, corrupt lawyers, and their clients, bent and molded to serve whatever purpose was at hand.

Livingstone had said sympathy was no substitute for action. That was an essential brick in Bosch's wall. He had built himself as a man of action and, at the moment when the integrity of his life's work had been called into question by a man on death row, he had chosen to turn his sympathy for Elizabeth Clayton into action.

where there's government subsidy, there is always corruption.

Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you….

Aronson was getting at the fine line between seeking the truth and seeking a verdict in your client's favor. They weren't always the same thing.

the most likely place that elected politicians ran afoul of the law was in the area of money.

The truth was, there was nothing in the law that I objected to more than the death penalty. It was not that I had ever had a client executed or even tried such a case. It was simply a belief in the idea that an enlightened society did not kill its own.

He believed that war brought out the true character in a person, good or bad. He had no sympathy for Banks or the others.

It's all a cesspool, man. Doesn't matter if you're on the bottom or the top. You're still swimming in shit.

Okay, Harry. We can work cases. But we bend the rules. We don't break them.

It was a stock answer and I noted that going beyond government requirements when there were no such requirements meant nothing.

In his career, he had chased down hundreds of killers and put them in prison. If he was wrong about one, then it would put the lie to everything else. It would cast him adrift.

Those five words…"the good of the department." They never added up to anything but high jingo.

Bosch turned off the screen and sat there thinking about how the truth was always manipulated by those in power. It bothered him to know things that shouldn't be kept secret.

Think of all the great journalism we've seen in our lifetimes. The corruption exposed, the public benefit. Where's that going to come from now with every paper in the country getting shredded? Our government? No way. TV, the blogs? Forget it. My friend who took the buyout in Florida says corruption will be the new growth industry without the papers watching.

Joel Bremmer, Times Staff Writer

He urged the new officers never to break the law to enforce the law. To do their job constitutionally and compassionately at all times.

It was simply a belief in the idea that an enlightened society did not kill its own.

center. He said no. He said, in very fine English, 'I buy, I don't sell.' Then he escorted me out. But I think that was Tran. Something about him.

jurisprudence. I

The law school notions about the virtue of the adversarial system, of the system's checks and balances, of the search for truth, had long since eroded like the faces of statues from other civilizations. The law was not about truth. It was about negotiation, amelioration, manipulation

What's that line that Nietzsche said? 'Whoever fights monsters…' Ã¢â'¬Â " Ã¢â'¬ËœShould see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.

Everybody wants the chance to do the right thing, Hirsch. It makes them feel good inside. Even if doing it doesn't exactly fit inside the rules, sometimes you have to rely on the voice inside that tells you what to do.