Quotes About Ethics

If a man is a gentleman, he knows quite enough, and if he is not a gentleman, whatever he knows is bad for him.

It is strange,' the bird said. 'It is very cold, but I feel quite warm.' 'That is because you have done a good thing,' said the prince.

You never say a moral thing, and you never do a wrong thing.

These days man knows the price of everything but the value of nothing.

There is no such thing as a moral or immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.

All crime is vulgar, just as all vulgarity is a crime

The basis of every scandal is immoral certainty.

Besides, nothing makes one so vain as being told that one is a sinner.

Don't be led astray into the paths of virtue.

I am quite incapable of understanding how any work of art can be criticized from a moral standpoint. The sphere of art and the sphere of ethics are absolutely distinct and separate.

As long as war is regarded as wicked, it will always have its fascination.When it is looked upon as vulgar, it will cease to be popular.

Intellectual generalities are always interesting, but generalities in morals mean absolutely nothing.

Hear no evil, speak no evil, and you'll never be invited to a party.

I would sooner have fifty unnatural vices than one unnatural virtue. It is unnatural virtue that makes the world, for those who suffer, such a premature Hell.

Modern morality consists in accepting the standard of one's age. I consider that for any man of culture to accept the standard of his age is a form of the grossest immorality.

His principles were out of date, but there was a good deal to be said for his prejudices.

Non vi sono libri morali o libri immorali. Vi sono libri scritti bene e libri scritti male, e nient'altro.

the worst slave-owners were those who were kind to their slaves

When the prurient and the impotent attack you, be sure you are right.

Wenn ein Mann alt genug ist, um unrecht zu tun, so sollte er alt genug sein, um recht zu tun.

There are only two ways, as you know, of becoming civilized. One is by being cultured, the other is by being corrupt.

The picture, changed or unchanged, would be to him the visible emblem of conscience.

Pleasure is Nature's test, her sign of approval. When we are happy we are always good, but when we are good we are not always happy.

Thought and language are to the artist instruments of an art. Vice and virtue are to the artist materials for an art.