Quotes About Ethics

As Count Bismarck once said, "Laws are like sausages: you have much more respect for them if you haven't actually seen how they're made.

E.M. Forster, who said that if he had to choose between betraying his country and betraying his friend, he hoped he'd have the courage to betray his country.

I do the best I can to approve and disapprove only of my own behavior. I don't always succeed, but I try. I'm trying now and I'm going to keep at it.

How about, you never act like a jerk when you're working," Jenn said. Jesse nodded. "It's why I work," he said.

Freedom of the press is a flaming sword. Use it wisely, hold it high, guard it well.

You ever read Machiavelli?" I said. "I imagine somebody mentioned him to me at Harvard." "He argued that it is better to be feared than loved," I said.

A pig is a pig," she said. "Whether he's public or private, he works for the same people." "Next time you're in trouble," I said, "call a hippie.

Robert B. Parker

We don't ask other teachers about their sexual habits.

You do the best you can, as decently as you can, and you accept the consequences.

Lowery would half kill himself to make an extra dollar, and he'd be perfectly willing to kill any of his employees for another fifty cents. But

I have been unable to save much money in my life. I have been in politics, and in politics an honest man does not get rich. -Sam Rayburn (whose savings at his death totaled $15,000)

It was also he who said of Day, "He is, by nature, incapable of allowing injustice to go unchallenged.

You're not telling us that these promises were not made; you're just saying they don't have to be kept?

Krulak had done the right thing, but there is often a price to pay for doing the right thing.

I wonder if it's a special sin to lie to a nun

Cole stared at the Pinocchio clock, then a small ceramic figurine of Jiminy Cricket a client had given him. Let your conscience be your guide. Everyone needed a Jiminy.

I leaned against the fence and crossed my arms and stared at her. After a while she looked over and said, "Why are you staring at me?" "Because I am the Lord High Keeper of the Knowledge of Right and Wrong, and I am trying to figure out what to do." She blinked at me. "Jiminy Cricket," I said. "He was also Counselor in Moments of Temptation, and Guide Along the Straight and Narrow Path. You need that.

She said, "Oh, Studly." I could see her smile. "The law is not about justice. You know that.

Terry Ito had said Eddie Tang was on his way up. Maybe Eddie figured taking advantage of Mimi Warren and stealing the Hagakure were the keys to ascendancy.

Truly said, "We've talked to people, Mr. Cole. You've an outstanding reputation for diligence, and your integrity is above reproach.

I said, "Okay, Luke. Here's my problem. I suspect that your mentor, Mr. Green, is suborning testimony. I think he may even be involved in murder, only I can't figure out why a man in his position and of his stature would risk his ass by so doing. Do you understand that?

I left them to their lives and walked out into the sun. You want to do the right thing, but sometimes there is no right thing to be done.

Of course, there is often nothing worse than war and violent death. But a truism that bears repeating is that peace, as a primary goal, is dangerous because it implies that you will sacrifice any principle for the sake of it.