Quotes About Ethics

And, see, those metaphors – 'up front' and 'out in the open' – are part of a system we call atavistic purism. AP implies the existence of an ethically perfect state, which not only doesn't exist and never existed, but it's usually used to shore up the prejudices of whoever's making the judgments.

I think ethical ambivalence is a kind of innoculation, a way of excusing yourself in advance for something you actually want to do. No offense.

To hell with God," Fern said. "I'm worried about the Internet." "By which you mean an all-seeing, all-knowing entity that may be predicting and controlling your behavior, even when you think you're choosing for yourself?

he'd won by playing dirty—worse than losing.

Holding my phone, looking out at twinkling Lake Michigan, I understood with sudden clarity that doing the right thing—being right—gets you nothing in this world. It's the sinners everyone loves: the flailers, the scramblers, the bumblers. There was nothing sexy about getting it right the first time. Fuck Sasha, I thought.

Never part with a fact unless you've no choice.

Holding my phone, looking out at twinkling Lake Michigan, I understood with sudden clarity that doing the right thing—being right—gets you nothing in this world. It's the sinners everyone loves: the flailers, the scramblers, the bumblers. There was nothing sexy about getting it right the first time.

If you ever find yourself thinking that a mass human extinction event would be good for population control, you might want to get checked out.

And, see, those metaphors—'up front' and 'out in the open'—are part of a system we call atavistic purism. AP implies the existence of an ethically perfect state, which not only doesn't exist and never existed, but it's usually used to shore up the prejudices of whoever's making the judgments.

A fetus had no thoughts or memories; it had made nothing, understood nothing. And yet, this mute, unthinking knot of tissue—alive, yes, but unformed, unconscious, incapable of tenderness or reasoning or even laughter—was the life that mattered. The woman carrying it, the complex creature formed by twenty or thirty years of living in the world, was simply the means of production. Her feelings about the matter, her particular ideas and needs and desires, didn't matter at all.

Though no such study would or should receive approval from an ethical review board, Kristiansen, Haslip, and Kelly (1997) pointed out that there are no empirical studies demonstrating that it is possible to instill false memories of abuse." KNOWING AND NOT KNOWING ABOUT TRAUMA: IMPLICATIONS FOR THERAPY

That the good that we do might live on after us, while the evil lies interred with their bones.

She'd been taught all her life not to attack humans, but knocking them unconscious with tranquilizer guns was more of a gray area.

Someone told me once that fortunes like this one–at a certain point, it's not about the money, because you couldn't spend billions if you tried It's about the power." I looked down. "And I just don't think anyone should have power like that, certainly not me.

There were people out there who might live or die because of me, futures good or bad might be realized because of my choices. What right did I even have to be the one making them?

There is no such thing as fighting dirty, I told Nash, if you win.

It might feel better to give to someone you know than a stranger, or to donate to an organization whose story brings a tear to your eye, but that's your brain playing tricks on you. The morality of an action depends, ultimately and only, on its outcomes.

Some people do horrible things because of their beliefs, and some people choose beliefs that let them do horrible things.

Is it still a lie, if you're masking what matters but what you're saying is technically true?

Knowing about Eve and letting her be raised by people who treated her as less than? Pretending that our family owed Toby's daughter nothing? There's nothing honorable about that." Grayson shook. "Any of it.

Sometimes," he said, "when I'm in a social pickle, I like to ask myself, WWJAD?" I raised an eyebrow, and he explained. "What Would Jane Austen Do?

Some people weren't worth the breath it took to shoot them down.

Wat is onze regel over smerige spelletjes ook alweer? - Nash Smerige spelletjes bestaan niet, zolang je maar wint. - Avery

The morality of an action depends, ultimately and only, on its outcomes