Quotes About Ethics

Every murder proves that hanging is not altogether deterrent; every hanging, that it is somewhat deterrent—it deters the person hanged.

The tendency to lie is one thing; lying is another.

May it please your honour, crimes are ghastly or agreeable only by comparison.

there are four kinds of homicide felonious excusable justifiable and praise worthy

LAWFUL, adj. Compatible with the will of a judge having jurisdiction. LAWYER, n. One skilled in circumvention of the law.

Wall street, n. a symbol of sin for every devil to rebuke. That wall street is a den of thieves is a belief that serves every unsuccessful thief in place of a hope in heaven

ACCOUNTABILITY, n. The mother of caution.

VIRTUES, n.pl. Certain abstentions.

How differently we behave in other peoples countries ... no sooner than we think we can get away with it, we do as we please. It doesn't require the breakdown of a social order. It takes a six-hour plane flight.

when merchants and traders begin to run wars – hundreds of lives depend on bribes.

It's a rare man who's made better by a bit of power.

War is no place for good men.

One must keep a close eye on the current definitions. To be unpatriotic would be terrible. To be patriotic in the wrong way could be fatal.

A man who gives all his thought to doing good, but no thought to the consequences …" Father Yarvi lifted his withered hand and pressed its one crooked finger into Brand's chest. "That is a dangerous man.

Nothing to it. You treat folk the way you'd want to be treated, and you can't go far wrong.

You keep an oath not for the oath but for yourself.

That was an age of great men doing what was right...This is an age of little men doing what they must.

Never took an easy path if he thought it was the wrong one. Never stepped back from a fight if he thought it had to be done.

Does the devil know he is a devil?

You are a gentleman, sir,' muttered Cosca. 'I am a murderer.' 'I see no reason why a man cannot be both . . .

If you're a good man, and you try to think about what the right thing is every day of your life, and you build things to be proud of so bastards can come and burn them in a moment, and you make sure and say thank you kindly each time they kick the guts out of you, do you think when you die, and they stick you in the mud, you turn into gold?' 'What?' 'Or do you turn to fucking shit like the rest of us?

Who says there even is a real Shenkt? People like things that are simple. Black and white. Good and evil. They want to make a choice and tell themselves they were right. But as His Eminence is fond of saying, the real world is painted in greys. The truth is complicated, full of mixed emotions and blurred outcomes and each-way bets. The truth … is a hard sell.

We all got our reasons...good men and bad men. It's all a matter of where you stand.

Loyalty is an admirable quality,' said Barezin. 'Admirable. But it must cut both ways.' 'Loyalty to a corrupt regime,' added Heugen, 'is foolishness . Worse. Cowardice. Worse! It's dis loyalty!