Quotes About Ethics

Men are not great or small because of their material possessions. They are great or small because of what they are.

What is the life of a man more than the life of a lamb, or any guiltless animal?

A man is accountable to no person for his doings.

There is one thing, Emma, which a man can always do if he chooses, and that is his duty; not by manoeuvring and finessing, but by vigour and resolution. - Mr. Knightley

I mean one of the basic rules when you're acting is that you mustn't stand in judgement on a character, you mustn't say Hitler was a bad man because you can't act in that way.

The pleasure a man of honor enjoys in the consciousness of having performed his duty is a reward he pays himself for all his pains.

To say of men that they are bad is to say they are worse than we think we are, or worse than the ideal man whose image we have built up on the basis of a certain few.

We are not naïve enough to ask for pure men; we ask merely for men whose impurity does not conflict with the obligations of their job.

An honest man nearly always thinks justly.

What is the value of sticking a microphone in a man's face right after he has learned of his wife's death?

It is possible that a wise and good man may be prevailed on to game; but it is impossi?ble that a professed gamester should be a wise and good man.

Nothing tells more about the character of a man than the things he makes fun of.

It is weakness rather than wickedness which renders men unfit to be trusted with unlimited power.

A thief, though rich, will continue to steal, but an honest man, though poor, will ever seek to pay his debts.

One may as well dam for water tanks the people's cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man.

A man is free in proportion to the measure of his virtues, and the extent to which he is free determines what his virtues can accomplish.

The laws of man may bind him in chains or may put him to death, but they never can make him wise, virtuous, or happy.

When a man has once forfeited the reputation of his integrity, he is set fast, and nothing will then serve his turn, neither truth nor falsehood.

Men always grow vicious before they become unbelievers.

The man who gets drunk in peacetime is a coward. The man who gets drunk in wartime goes on being a coward.

To be perfectly just is an attribute of the divine nature; to be so to the utmost of our abilities, is the glory of man.

It is more difficult to be an honorable man for a week than to be a hero for fifteen minutes.

You know that murder is wicked. If you saw your master kill a man, do you suppose this would be any excuse for you, if you should commit the same crime?

There's an argument for saying that brave men deserve what they get, but it's a serious business forcing cowards to stand in harm's way.