Quotes About Ethics

Dharma is precisely this 'discipline of ordered existence', a 'belief system that restrains and gives coherence to desires.

Its own position veers towards the pragmatic evolutionary principle of reciprocal altruism: adopt a friendly face to the world but do not allow yourself to be exploited.

ahimsa paramo dharma', 'non-violence is the highest dharma'.59

By deceiving Drona, Yudhishthira corrupts his teacher's relationship with the world. So do we every time we lie - we corrupt the 'other' in the same way.

Yudhishthira taught me that moral integrity begins with the awareness of other human beings. The reality of others looms large in Yudhishthira's consciousness—it is the shining feature of his personality,

The concept of dharma evolved over time, its meaning shifting from a 'ritual ethics of deeds' to a more personal virtue based on one's conscience.

people do, in fact, act against their moral convictions and this is an unhappy fact about ourselves'.

Dharma, the word at the heart of the epic, is in fact untranslatable. Duty, goodness, justice, law and custom all have something to do with it, but they all fall short.

It was a stronger, more positive attitude, exhibiting maitri, 'benevolence', which is entailed in acting 'for the sake of others', and this is ultimately 'the highest dharma'.

Who has in his heart always the well-being of others, and is wholly given, in acts, thoughts, and in speech, to the good of others, he alone knows what dharma is.

If a good person suffers, then the bad person should suffer even more: this is an idea that seems embedded in the human psyche. Consciously one denies it, of course, and proclaims piously, 'I'm not the sort of person who holds grudges.' Yet one unconsciously applauds when the villain 'gets what he deserves'. Wanting to punish a villain or seeing him punished is ubiquitous in literature, movies and politics.

The task of an inspiring leader in Kali Yuga is not just to think about the difficulty of being good but how to confront that difficulty—and to place that thinking in the great textual confrontations of the past.

Dharma, in any case, is at the heart of the poem; it is not only untranslatable, but the Mahabharata's characters are still trying to figure it out at the epic's end.

Speak only that which will bring you honor.

I had never had a positive leading character - somebody that wasn't an antihero, or who wasn't more of a guy that you're supposed to be on the side of.

Just watch me. Do what I do. These guys will tell you that I am a monster, but I'm the only grunt in this squad that doesn't have his head up his ass. In this world of shit, monsters live forever and everybody else dies. If you kill for fun, you're a sadist. If you kill for money, you're a mercenary. If you kill for both, you're a Marine.

Se ammazzi per sfizio, sei sadico, sei. Se ammazzi per soldi, sei un mercenario. Se ammazzi per soldi e per sfizio, sei un marine, ragazzo.

What is beautiful is moral, that is all there is to it.

Never touch your idols: the gilding will stick to your fingers." (Il ne faut pas toucher aux idoles: la dorure en reste aux mains.)

If, then, crowds often abandon themselves to low instincts, they also set the example at times of acts of lofty morality.

A minor bureaucrat's demand for payment to process a form is condemned as corruption. A national leader's sweetheart privatization of public assets to friends and relatives is applauded as market liberalization.

If you steal from one person is Theft, and if you steal from Lots of people is Research

A lawful kiss is never worth as much as a stolen one.

In India there is a sect of Jainist monks called the Shvetambara, who always carry a broom and sweep the ground before them as they walk, lest they accidentally tread on some insects and squash them.