Quotes About Ethics

Do not worry about holding high position; worry rather about playing your proper role.

A gentleman considers what is right; The vulgar consider what will pay.

Make fair agreements and stick to them.

Is there any one maxim which ought to be acted upon throughout one's whole life? Surely the maxim of loving kindness is such: Do not unto others what you would not they should do unto you.

In the presence of a good man, think all the time how you may learn to equal him. In the presence of a bad man, turn your gaze within!

A gentleman is ashamed to let his words outrun his deeds.

What the superior man seeks is in himself. What the mean man seeks is in others.

He who seeks only coarse food to eat, water to drink, and bent arm for pillow, will without looking for it find happiness to boot. Any thought of accepting wealth and rank by means that I know to be wrong is as remote from me as the clouds that float above.

A young man's duty is to behave well to his parents at home and to his elders abroad.

Moral force never dwells in solitude; it will always bring neighbors.

Meet resentment with upright dealing and meet inner power with inner power.

First and foremost he must learn to be faithful to his superiors, to keep promises, to refuse the friendship of all who are not like him. And if he finds he has made a mistake, then he must not be afraid of admitting the fact and amending his ways.

He who rules by moral force is like the pole-star, which remains in its place while all the lesser stars do homage to it.

Wisdom, compassion, and courage are the three universally recognized moral qualities of men.

Tzu-chang asked Master K'ung about Goodness. Master K'ung said, He who could put the Five into practice everywhere under Heaven would be Good. Tzu-chang begged to hear what these were. The Master said, Courtesy, breadth, good faith, diligence, and clemency.

Neither the knight who has truly the heart of a knight nor the man of good stock who has the qualities that belong to good stock will ever seek life at the expense of Goodness; and it may be that he has to give his life in order to achieve Goodness.

Virtue is not left to stand alone. He who practices it will have neighbors.

To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.

The object of the superior man is truth.

There is one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one's life - reciprocity.

Never do to others what you would not like them to do to you.

To know what is right and not do it is the worst cowardice.

Goodness is more to the people than water and fire. I have seen men lose their lives when "treading upon" water and fire; but I have never seen anyone lose his life through "treading upon" Goodness.

The demands that a gentleman makes are upon himself; those that a small man makes are upon others.