Quotes About Ethics

dubious means might subvert virtuous ends.

Supreme Good and Evil (De finibus)

Cicero's central concern is the contradiction between virtue and the inevitable expediencies that divert human agents from the path of right conduct.

Octavian merely replied: "That's a matter for the carrion birds to decide.

In feeling pudor, a Roman meditating self-destruction did not so much suffer from guilt at some bad thing he had done

virtue outweighs everything and even if the good man is not supremely happy, he is on balance happy.

People naturally prefer you to lie to them rather than refuse them your help," he writes.

Evil is not something instilled in a few unlucky persons by a malicious Lucifer. If we are to understand "evil" at all, we must think of it as a word—an emotional word—we use to describe actions performed by other humans that we experience as breathtakingly horrible, shocking, and, often enough, nauseating.

There were three main new schools of thought: the Epicureans, the Stoics and the Sceptics. On the whole, if an Epicurean said one thing, a Stoic would say the opposite and a Sceptic would refuse to commit himself either way.

Just as nothing can be said to be either contrary to or in accordance with God's will, so nothing is either good or bad from God's perspective, which is to say from the point of view of nature or the universe as a whole:

God, or nature, has no use for such categories as good and bad.

To be successful in real estate, you must always and consistently put your clients' best interests first. When you do, your personal needs will be realized beyond your greatest expectations.

For my part, if a man must needs be a knave I would have him a debonair knave... It makes your sin no worse as I conceive, to do it à la mode and stylishly.

a person with a position in society has responsibilities

He who fight monsters must take care that he doesn't become one himself.

In the old days, spies had done they'd done because they loved their country, because they believed in what they were doing. But he'd never been given a choice. Nowadays, spies weren't employed. They were used.

You're trying to tell me that everything you've done is for a good cause. You think that all this killing is worth it because of the results. I'm not sure I agree. Lots of people work for charity; lots of people want to change the world. But they don't have to behave like you.

We all make choices, Cossack. Who we are in this world, what we do in it. Generous or selfish. Happy or sad. Good or evil. It's all down to choice.

When your business is death, the only death you should never consider is your own.

Let me ask you a question, Alex. What do you think is the greatest evil on this planet today?" "Is that including or not including you?" Alex asked.

know you're only doing your job, Mr Hawthorne, and you don't really care how you get your results. I was there when you were giving your talk and it struck me then that you have absolutely no heart at all. You don't believe in the law.

Like many wealthy Americans, he was imbued with a sense of civic responsibility

Have we killed everyone who needs killing?

It's easy enough to change your personality, to become evil. The trouble is, it stays with you. And it damages you.