Quotes About Ethics

Nietzsche held that the strong had a duty towards the less fortunate: 'The man of virtue, too, helps the unfortunate, but not, or almost not, out of pity, but prompted by an urge which is begotten by the excess of power'.

Forecasters who see illusory correlations and assume that moral and cognitive weakness run together will fail when we need them most.

Some people have a great sense of moral responsibility; unfortunately, it's backed up with a poor sense of musical taste. Other people have great musical ability, and very little sense of moral responsibility. It's very difficult to have a good balance. —Eric Clapton

The first gold star a child gets in school for the mere performance of a needful task is its first lesson in graft.

The businessmen have corrupted liberty by trying to propose it as a material quality.

A philosophy that cannot be lived is no philosophy at all.

The line between good and evil is permeable and almost anyone can be induced to cross it when pressured by situational forces.

Heroes are those who can somehow resist the power of the situation and act out of noble motives, or behave in ways that do not demean others when they easily can.

Evil is knowing better, but willingly doing worse.

We can assume that most people, most of the time, are moral creatures. But imagine that this morality is like a gearshift that at times gets pushed into neutral. When that happens, morality is disengaged. If the car happens to be on an incline, car and driver move precipitously downhill. It is then the nature of the circumstances that determines outcomes, not the driver's skills or intentions.

I have been primarily interested in how and why ordinary people do unusual things, things that seem alien to their natures. Why do good people sometimes act evil? Why do smart people sometimes do dumb or irrational things?

Every evil starts with 15 volts.

People are less rational than they are adept at rationalizing--explaining away discrepancies between their private morality and actions contrary to it.

Any deed, for good or evil, that any human being has ever done, you and I could also do--given the same situational forces.

All evil begins with fifteen volts.

There is a little good in the worst of us and a little bad in the best of us and it ill behoves any of us to criticize the rest of us.

If the Martians take the writings of moral philosophers as a guide to what goes on on this planet they will get a shock when they arrive.

Anyone who thinks about it can see that for human beings the teaching and following of morality is something necessary.

I do not have the preconceptions of the bigot, and I have more faith in mankind than I do in a morality in which everything is proscribed.

To be a hero is honourable; not to be one is not necessarily dishonourable.

As pessoas bondosas desaparecem depressa. Toda a gente gosta muito delas, a morte também. Só os patifes são resistentes. Esses, em geral, morrem velhos e por vezes na própria cama. Em paz.

GARY: Speaking of pain and blood, did you read about the artist who raised all these frogs in his apartment and released them outside a school in New York City? ANDY: That was a slaughter. Inhumane. I heard he got charged with animal cruelty. The members of PETA want long jail time. Why should a frog's life be any less than a human life? GARY: Well the answer is simple: they don't consume goods and contribute to the economy.

A sports journalist doesn't have to be sporty any more than a political journalist has to be an opportunistic liar.

It is shocking, but true, that in today's America, "Justice" is a purchasable commodity.