Quotes About Ethics

Sometimes," Trumbo said to me once, "I think what a terrible state we're in when a man can be considered honorable simply because he isn't a shit.

the speed with which we're inventing our world is outpacing our avility to understand the impact of our inventions.

True" scientists consider anthropomorphism to be something of a mortal sin and ostracize scientists who knowingly employ it in their work.

A Code of Honor: Never approach a friend's girlfriend or wife with mischief as your goal. There are just too many women in the world to justify that sort of dishonorable behavior. Unless she's really attractive.

Knowledge earns you power, character earns you respect.

The good man wins a victory and then stops; he will not go on to acts of violent winning, he boasteth not, he will not triumph, he shows no arrogance. He wins because he cannot choose. After his victory he will not be overbearing.

Knowledge will give you power, but character respect

On humbleness. — To be humble to superiors is duty; to equals is courtesy; to inferiors is nobleness; and to all, safety!

Robert E. Lee was simply echoing conventional wisdom when he wrote that "the relation of master and slave, controlled by humane laws and influenced by Christianity and enlightened public sentiment, is the best that can exist between the white and black races.

As a general rule, I don't write down anything that I wouldn't be happy for the teacher to read if they wanted. I think this is important, because it helps create a climate of trust. Generally, though, nobody ever asks

When a democracy which is thirsting for freedom," Plato writes, "has evil cupbearers presiding over the feast, and has drunk too deeply of the strong wine of freedom, then, unless her rulers are very amenable and give a plentiful draught, she calls them to account and punishes them.

We kill people based on metadata.

One hundred years ago, everyone could have personal privacy. You and your friend could walk into an empty field, look around to see that no one else was nearby, and have a level of privacy that has forever been lost. As Whitfield Diffie has said: "No right of private conversation was enumerated in the Constitution. I don't suppose it occurred to anyone at the time that it could be prevented

The most common misconception about privacy is that it's about having something to hide. "If you aren't doing anything wrong, then you have nothing to hide," the saying goes, with the obvious implication that privacy only aids wrongdoers.

In 2014, former NSA and CIA director Michael Hayden remarked, "We kill people based on metadata.

Privacy is an inherent human right, and a requirement for maintaining the human condition with dignity and respect.

For years, well before consumer tracking became the norm, Radio Shack stores would routinely ask their customers for their addresses and phone numbers. For a while I just refused, but that was socially awkward. Instead, I got in the habit of replying with "9800 Savage Road, Columbia, MD, 20755": the address of the NSA.

Mug shot extortion sites turn this sort of thing into a business. Mug shots are public record, but they're not readily available. Owners of mug shot sites acquire the photos in bulk and publish them online, where everybody can find them, then charge individuals to remove their photos from the sites.

The only reason we know this story is that Levison ran his own company. He had no corporate masters. He had no shareholders. He was able to destroy his own business for moral reasons.

For example, we know that the US government convinced Skype—through bribery, coercion, threat, or legal compulsion—to make changes in how the program operates, to facilitate eavesdropping.

Opting out just isn't a viable choice for most of us, most of the time; it violates what have become very real norms of contemporary life.

our personal information is being bought and sold without our knowledge and consent.

The overwhelming bulk of surveillance is corporate, and it occurs because we ostensibly agree to it. I don't mean that we make an informed decision agreeing to it; instead, we accept it either because we get value from the service or because we are offered a package deal that includes surveillance and don't have any real choice in the matter.

Psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, novelists, and technologists have all written about the effects of constant surveillance. Studies show that we are less healthy, both physically and emotionally. We have feelings of low self-esteem, depression, and anxiety. Surveillance strips us of our dignity. It threatens our very selves as individuals. It's a dehumanizing tactic employed in prisons and detention camps around the world.