Quotes About Ethics

you can't go around changing your definition of right and wrong (or smart and stupid) just because doing the wrong thing happens to be really convenient. Sometimes it isn't easy to be sane, smart, and responsible.

He was wrong," I said. "That doesn't make him a villain. It just makes him an asshole. It isn't reason enough to kill him.

I spent my lifetime fighting the darkness without becoming the darkness. Maybe I had faltered at the very end. Maybe I had finally come up against something that made me cross the line-but even then, I hadn't turned into a degenerate freakazoid of the Kemmler variety. One mistake at the end of my life couldn't erase all the times I had stood unmoved at the edge of the abyss and made snide remarks at its expense.

It's only cheating if he gets caught.

Every faith has its ceremonies. And since it's made up of people, every faith also has its assholes.

life isn't simple. There is such a thing as black and white. Right and wrong. But when you're in the thick of things, sometimes it's hard for us to tell. You didn't do what you did for your own benefit. You did it so that you could protect others. That doesn't make it right—but it doesn't make you a monster, either. You still have free will. You still get to choose what you will do and what you will be and what you will become.

I wouldn't burden any decent system of faith by participating in it.

It is how decent, civilized people behave, Captain Ransom. Though I suppose that to someone of your level of moral fortitude, it must seem remarkable.

It isn't about being fair and equal. It's about the difference between right and wrong.

It is one thing for you to say, 'Let the world burn.' It is another to say, 'Let Molly burn.' The difference is all in the name.

What I believe doesn't matter, Mr. Dresden. What is important is that a lot of the scum out there believe in it. It affects the way they think and operate. If I could make use of your advice to solve this case, I would, the same as any other law officer.

The real battle for your own soul isn't about falling from a great height; it's about descending, or not, one choice at a time.

Bob," I said. "You can't just go around killing people." "I know. That's why you should do it." "No, no. I can't go around killing people, either." "Why not? You've done it before. And you've got a new gun and everything.

The distinction between good and evil is meaningless if one does not have the freedom to choose between them.

Visionary companies pursue a cluster of objectives, of which making money is only one—and not necessarily the primary one.

Enduring great companies don't exist merely to deliver returns to shareholders. Indeed, in a truly great company, profits and cash flow become like blood and water to a healthy body: They are absolutely essential for life, but they are not the very point of life.

He who fills His pockets with the Rocks of Misdeeds shall surely sink in the River of Good Fortune.

Be a peacemaker but never at the expense of your character or God's standards.

God condemns those who oppress and take advantage of others.

It is always wrong to enrich yourself at the expense of others.

There are no true monsters, only some people [...] who with regularity acted like a monster. It's still episodic. [...] It never works when you leave out even a small part of the picture.

Maybe a single life doesn't amount to much but perhaps it should at least drift toward the common good.

A sonic boom crushes a baby mink's skull. We know that. Isn't it enough?

How much l wanted to take scalps, but it was not my kill. - Legends of the Fall