Quotes About Ethics

It is not fair to ask of others what you are unwilling to do yourself.

Old age has deformities enough of its own. It should never add to them the deformity of vice.

Will people ever be wise enough to refuse to follow bad leaders or to take away the freedom of other people?

I know that we will be the sufferers if we let great wrongs occur without exerting ourselves to correct them.

Only a man's character is the real criterion of worth.

being acquisitive on a large scale, cannot have value if it is bought at the expense of others.

One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes. In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.

Do what you feel in your heart to be right, for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do and damned if you don't.

It seems to me that I cannot afford, as a self-respecting individual, to refuse to do a thing merely because it will make me disliked or bring down a storm of criticism on my head.

You not only have a right to be an individual. You have a responsibility.

If you step on other people's necks to get rich, or barter your personal honor, then it is others who pay for your success and you can hardly call it your own. If, however, you build something that is of benefit to other people, give them an opportunity to rise with you on your upward climb, you make a contribution.

It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself.

I did not use paint, I made myself up morally.

The exploitation of man by man and the logic of maximum profit, which before had been considered an abomination, had returned to become the linchpins of freedom and democracy everywhere.

La explotación del hombre por el hombre y la lógica del máximo beneficio, antes consideradas una abominación, volvían a ser en todas partes las bases de la libertad y la democracia.

Non ci sono gesti, parole, sospiri che non contengano la somma di tutti i crimini che hanno commesso e commettono gli esseri umani.

Don't get angry, she said, try to reflect: what does a woman of your understanding feel at the idea that her happiness becomes the ruin of someone else?

Naquele momento, uma parte de mim desejava de fato discutir com ele sobre o mal que, enquanto você acha que está sendo boa, aos poucos ou de repente, se espalha pela cabeça, pelo estômago, por todo o corpo. De onde isso nasce, papai - eu queria perguntar -, como podemos controlar, e por que esse mal não elimina o bem, mas convive com ele.

We were, in short, on the side of the violation, but only because it reaffirmed the value of the rule.

Cómo vamos a traer a un niño a este mundo inhumano?... En un mundo absurdo, inhumano y cruel... traer a un hijo era equivalente a cometer un infanticidio.

Hay una contradicción en torno a esta vida que se quiere preservar. ¿Por qué se da a escoger a los creyentes entre la vida del feto y la de la madre? ¿Por qué se elige la vida del feto?

El que detenta el poder siempre está obligado a ser el más generoso. •José Ignacio Barraza, de la Facultad de Leyes de la UNAM

Si uno está haciendo lo que le dicta su conciencia, ¿por que tienes que agachar la cabeza delante de un tipo que se porta de una manera injusta y canalla?

Stealing isn't so easy, often it's hard work, otherwise we'd all be doing it.