Quotes About Ethics

In philosophy class I think we finally decided that 'good' is an infinitely recursive term - it can't be defined except in terms of itself. Good is good because it's better than bad, though why it's better to be good than bad depends on how you define good, and on and on.

But Father has also taught him: Treat a man as if he had a fine reputation to protect, and he will usually endeavor to deserve it.

Just because they didn't know they were killing human beings doesn't mean they weren't killing human beings.

The selective voluntary blindness of human beings allows them to ignore the moral consequences of their choices. It has been one of the species' most valuable traits, in terms of the survival of any particular human community.

If the act is evil, the actor is evil.

Val, said Mother, goodness trumps greatness any day. Not in the history books, said Valentine. Then the wrong people are writing history, aren't they? said Father.

He was only a child, doing what adults led him to do; but somewhere in his heart he knew that even a child is a real person, that a child's acts are real acts, that even a child's play is not without moral context.

You don't know who a person is until you see how he acts when given unexpected power. He hasn't rehearsed for the part. So what you see is what he is.

The piggies were not to be disturbed-

I don't care if I pass your test, I don't care if I follow your rules. If you can cheat, so can I. I won't let you beat me unfairly—I'll beat you unfairly first.

But then, I would rather be mocked for doing a good thing than to be respected, knowing I have done wrong.

I thought speakers didn't believe in sin, said a sullen boy. Andrew smiled. You believe in sin, Styrka, and you do things because of that belief. So sin is real in you, and knowing you, this speaker must believe in sin.

He did what he thought was right

I hear they whip you for stealing. Or put you in jail, or sell you into slavery, or kill you, depending on the town and what mood they're in.

The computer is also not famous for having mercy.

Treat a man as if he had a fine reputation to protect, and he will usually endeavor to deserve it.

Even gentle people recognize that sometimes the decision not to kill is a decision to die.

What I'm telling you is, there's some people who do things so bad it tears at the fabric of the world, and then there's some people so sweet and good that they can feel it when the world gets torn.

Which of them, then, was more detestable? The one who was loathsome by nature, or the one who wanted to be loathsome but hadn't enough ambition to excel at it>

If you can cheat, so can I. I won't let you beat me unfairly - I'll beat you unfairly first.

Evil isn't best served by equally evil servants.

Going to say it anyway, said Graff. Poor fool of a boy. Pacifism only works with an enemy that can't bear to do murder against the innocent. How many times are you lucky enough to get an enemy like that?

Since I don't have actual authority over anybody, Petra, how can it possibly matter if I'm not legitimately authorized?

Fairness is a wonderful attribute, Major Anderson. It has nothing to do with war.