Quotes About Ethics

How can one respect people as members of the human race unless one holds them to a standard of conduct and truthfulness?

Political correctness is the means by which we try to control others; decency is the means by which we try to control ourselves.

All men should be good, all women virtuous. Wherefore, villain, hast thou failed?

The bankers got the free use of the money a part of the time, the brokers another part: the officials made money, and the brokers received a fat commission.

There is nothing in this world more delightful than that middle state in which we mentally balance at times, possessed of the means, lured by desire, and yet deterred by conscience or want of decision.

Qui suis-je, moi, pour tirer des conclusions positives au sujet de la moralité et des codes qui puissent servir à l'humanité entière ?

My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground on which I stand.

Every thought you produce, anything you say, any action you do, it bears your signature.

The problem is whether we are determined to go in the direction of compassion or not. If we are, then can we reduce the suffering to a minimum? If I lose my direction, I have to look for the North Star, and I go to the north. That does not mean I expect to arrive at the North Star. I just want to go in that direction.

Anyone can practice some nonviolence, even soldiers. Some army generals, for example, conduct their operations in ways that avoid killing innocent people; this is a kind of nonviolence.

The bad things, don't do them. The good things, try to do them. Try to purify, subdue your own mind. That is the teaching of all buddhas.

The teachings of the Buddha could be summarized in four short sentences. ... [The Buddha] said ... The bad things, don't do them. The good things, try to do them. Try to purify, subdue your own mind. That is the teaching of all buddhas.

The roots of war are in the way we live our daily lives —the way we develop our industries, build up our society, and consume goods.

vow to speak purely and lovingly. When my mouth is fragrant with right speech, a flower blooms in the garden of my heart.

Our quality of being determines our quality of doing.

No act of killing can be justified.

Your action, what you do, depends on who you are. The quality of your action depends on the quality of your being. [...] So there is a link between doing and being. If you don't succeed in being, you can't succeed in doing.

You have the right to pursue economic growth, but not at the expense of life.

We are not noble by birth. We are noble only by virtue of the way we think, speak, and act.

Every time we buy or consume something, we may be condoning some form of killing.

1. Tell the truth. Don't lie or turn the truth upside down. 2. Don't exaggerate. 3. Be consistent. This means no double-talk: speaking about something in one way to one person and in an opposite way to another for selfish or manipulative reasons. 4. Use peaceful language. Don't use insulting or violent words, cruel speech, verbal abuse, or condemnation.

I stopped committing acts that cause suffering to other living beings. All living beings want to live. All fear death. We must nurture a heart of compassion and protect the lives of all beings.

Listen Bhikkhus, just as a buffalo boy recognizes each of his own buffaloes, a bhikkhu recognizes each of the essential elements of his own body. Just as a buffalo boy knows the characteristics and tendencies of each buffalo, a bhikkhu knows which actions of body, speech, and mind are worthy and which are not. Just as a buffalo boy scrubs his animals clean, a bhikkhu must cleanse his mind and body of desires, attachments, anger, and aversions.

Right or wrong action can be determined by using the single criterion of suffering or nonsuffering. Whatever causes suffering in the present or the future, for ourselves and people around us, is the wrong thing to do. What brings well-being in the present and the future is the right thing. The criterion is clear.