Quotes About Ethics

It was dangerous to kill when there wasn't enough reason, because after a while killing became the solution to everything, and when you got to thinking that way you were only one step from the chair.

leadership often means having to choose between two bad options and that good men have to make decisions that have bad consequences.

There is nothing beneath a leader.

But in practice there is no clear reason why a division of labour in society should necessarily imply a division of moral behaviour as well.

it is impossible to cure a political prostitute from whoring'.

Richard Turner

There are many manipulators highly skilled in telling "big" lies and thus in making those lies seem true. For example, if one studies the history of the CIA, one can document any number of unethical deeds that have been covered up by lies (see any volume of Covert Action Quarterly for documentation of the misdeeds and dirty tricks of the CIA in every region of the world).14 Virtually all of these unethical acts were officially denied at the time of their commission. Dirty

We are not merely the most intelligent of animals. We also have a rare and perplexing combination of moral tendencies. We can be the nastiest of species and also the nicest.

there is one thing we all take from granted: from hunter-gatherers to the Pope, we all live by a moral compass.

Many tendencies that we regard as morally reprehensible clearly evolved, including numerous kinds of sexual coercion, lethal violence, and social domination. Equally, many morally delightful tendencies did not evolve, such as charity to strangers and kindness to animals.

The moral sense was once explained purely by religion. Now an evolutionary account is needed.

People often expect religious believers to act in especially prosocial ways, which they often do, but religiosity is not always a predictor or moral kindness.

However, being moral can include not only acts of kindness but also deeds of conformity and violence.

Darwinism by itself did not produce the Holocaust, but without Darwinism... neither Hitler nor his Nazi followers would have had the necessary scientific underpinnings to convince themselves and their collaborators that one of the worlds greatest atrocities was really morally praiseworthy.

Everyone wishes to have truth on his side, but not everyone wishes to be on the side of truth.

Honesty is the best policy; but he who is governed by that maxim is not an honest man.

Are you an environmentalist or do you work for a living

One must not content oneself with small demands but must rise to the thought that all living creatures have to be redeemed. One must not be trivial and irresponsible in heart, but must strive to make deeds prove one's words.

We are too willing to reap death to save a hypothetical life.

The tyrant of Syracuse once went to the slavephilosopher Epictetus and told him, "I'll pay the ransom for you and you will be liberated " Epictetus replied, "Why do you care about me? Free yourself." "But I am a king," said the amazed tyrant. "This I contest," was the answer of the philosopher. "He who masters his passions is a king even while in chains. He who is ruled by his passions is a slave even while sitting on a throne.

As human beings, it's essential that we keep the future human. Even if we manage to build artificial general intelligence, its reasoning can never fully align with human values. Nonhuman perspectives are only a benefit if they inform rather than impose decision making."

And I thought the whole point of my education was that violence IS the answer.

I supposed if you were going to make a career of breaking laws, you might as well know them.

You have an interesting set of morals," he observed. "Breaking out of jail is okay. But steal a car, and you sound totally outraged.