Quotes About Ethics

One advantage resulting from good actions is that they elevate the soul to a disposition of attempting still better; for such is human weakness, that we must place among our good deeds an abstinence from those crimes we are tempted to commit.

Renoncer à sa liberté c'est renoncer à sa qualité d'homme, aux droits de l'humanité, même à ses devoirs.

DoÄŸruluk yolunu seçiÅŸim, doÄŸru olma duygusundan çok gerçeÄŸi sevmeme dayan?r; gerçekten, uygulamada, eÄŸriyle doÄŸrunun soyut kavramlar?n? deÄŸil, vicdan?m?n ahlak alan?ndaki yolunu izledim. ÇoÄŸu kez, masal anlatt?m; ama pek az yalan söyledim.

Los antiguos políticos hablaban continuamente de buenas costumbres y de virtud; los nuestros no hablan sino de comercio y de dinero. Uno

l'impulsion du seul appétit est esclavage, et l'obéissance à la loi qu'on s'est prescrite est liberté.

It frequently happens that a villainous action does not torment us the instant we commit it, but on recollection, and sometimes even after a number of years have elapsed, for the remembrance of crimes is not to be extinguished.

La integridad de un hombre de bien es siempre antipática a los malvados.

Men, despite all their ethics, would never be anything more than monsters if nature had not given them pity to bolster their reason.

There is not a single ill-doer who could not be turned to some good. The State has no right to put to death, even for the sake of making an example, any one whom it can leave alive without danger.

This is how in every condition the guilty strong person saves himself at the expense of the innocent weak one...

Force is a physical power; I do not see how its effects could produce morality. To yield to force is an act of necessity, not of will; it is at best an act of prudence. In what sense can it be a moral duty?

Rien de vigoureux, rien de grand ne peut partir d'une plume toute vénale.

Virtue is a state of war, and to live in it means one always has some battle to wage against oneself.

mas también con la satisfacción interior, que experimentaba por vez primera, de poder decirme: "Merezco mi propia estimación; sé preferir mi deber a mi placer".

I may be asked whether I am a prince or a legislator that I should be writing about politics. I answer no: and indeed that is my reason for doing so. If I were a prince or a legislator I should not waste my time saying what ought to be done; I should do it or keep silent.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

LinguÈ™irea, sau mai bine zis îng?duinÈ›a, nu e totdeauna un p?cat, ea e de cele mai multe ori o virtute, îndeosebi la tineri. Bun?tatea cu care un om ne trateaz? ne leag? de el; nu-i cedezi ca s? profiÈ›i de el, ci ca s? nu-l mâhneÈ™ti, ca s? nu-i pl?teÈ™ti binele cu r?u.

Your beginning, he said to me, is the rule of what will be required of you: seek to behave so as to do more afterwards, but watch out never to do less.

sé concebir qué moralidad puede resultar de sus efectos. Ceder a la fuerza es un acto de necesidad y no de voluntad; cuando más es un acto de prudencia.

Ä°yilik etmek, insan yüreÄŸinin duyabileceÄŸi mutluluklar?n en gerçeÄŸidir. Yazg?ma egemen olanlar bana her ÅŸeyin yalan ve aldat?c? görünmesine özen gösterdikleri için, herhangi bir erdem konusu, beni düÅŸürmek istedikleri tuzaÄŸa çekmeye yarayan bir hileden baÅŸka bir ÅŸey deÄŸildir.

Según esto, ¿en qué consiste un derecho que se acaba cuando la fuerza cesa? Si se ha de obedecer por fuerza, no hay necesidad de obedecer por deber; y cuando a uno no le pueden forzar a obedecer, ya no está obligado a hacerlo.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

He visto que para obrar el bien con placer era preciso que actuase libremente, sin coacción, y que para privarme de toda la dulzura de una buena obra bastaba con que se convirtiera en un deber para mí.

nunca hará mal alguno a otro hombre, ni aun a cualquier ser sensible, salvo el legítimo caso en que, hallándose comprometida su propia conservación, se vea forzado a darse a sí mismo la preferencia.