"If you punish a child for being naughty, and reward him for being good, he will do right merely for the sake of the reward; and when he goes out into the world and finds that goodness is not always rewarded, nor wickedness always punished, he will grow into a man who only thinks about how he may get on in the world, and does right or wrong according as he finds advantage to himself"
About this Quote
The subtext is distinctly Kantian: a deed isn’t truly moral if it’s done for payoff, fear, or social applause. That’s not puritanical hair-splitting; it’s a diagnosis of motive. Incentives don’t just steer actions, they colonize the inner life. Raise someone on carrots and sticks and you don’t get integrity, you get compliance - and the moment the world stops dispensing prizes for decency, the “good” person discovers there’s no reason to be good.
Context matters. Kant is writing in an Enlightenment culture fascinated by shaping citizens through discipline, religion, and emerging state institutions. His counterpoint is autonomy: the capacity to act from principle even when it costs you. He’s also striking at a naive moral universe that promises cosmic fairness. Life, he notes, is uneven: wickedness can flourish; goodness can be ignored. If your ethics depends on the universe keeping score, it will collapse the first time you watch a scoundrel get promoted.
The intent, then, is preventive. Teach children not that goodness wins, but that it’s binding - because reason demands it, not because the market rewards it.
Quote Details
| Topic | Ethics & Morality |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Kant, Immanuel. (2026, February 10). If you punish a child for being naughty, and reward him for being good, he will do right merely for the sake of the reward; and when he goes out into the world and finds that goodness is not always rewarded, nor wickedness always punished, he will grow into a man who only thinks about how he may get on in the world, and does right or wrong according as he finds advantage to himself. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-you-punish-a-child-for-being-naughty-and-185056/
Chicago Style
Kant, Immanuel. "If you punish a child for being naughty, and reward him for being good, he will do right merely for the sake of the reward; and when he goes out into the world and finds that goodness is not always rewarded, nor wickedness always punished, he will grow into a man who only thinks about how he may get on in the world, and does right or wrong according as he finds advantage to himself." FixQuotes. February 10, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-you-punish-a-child-for-being-naughty-and-185056/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"If you punish a child for being naughty, and reward him for being good, he will do right merely for the sake of the reward; and when he goes out into the world and finds that goodness is not always rewarded, nor wickedness always punished, he will grow into a man who only thinks about how he may get on in the world, and does right or wrong according as he finds advantage to himself." FixQuotes, 10 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-you-punish-a-child-for-being-naughty-and-185056/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
