Philosophy & Thought: Ethics & Morality Quotes

"Radical Chic, after all, is only radical in Style; in its heart it is part of Society and its traditions"

Tom Wolfe, Journalist

"And there isn't any way that one can get rid of the guilt of having a nice body by saying that one can serve society with it, because that would end up with oneself as what? There simply doesn't seem to be any moral place for flesh"

Margaret Drabble, Novelist

"Fear prophets and those prepared to die for the truth, for as a rule they make many others die with them, often before them, at times instead of them"

Umberto Eco, Novelist

"Our personal consumer choices have ecological, social, and spiritual consequences. It is time to re-examine some of our deeply held notions that underlie our lifestyles"

David Suzuki, Scientist

"One must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being"

May Sarton, Poet

"The more I had to act like a saint, the more I felt like being a sinner"

Max von Sydow, Actor

"The only thing worse than an active conscience is one that's retroactive"

Harold Coffin, Writer

"It means, people who are in high and responsible positions, if they go against righteousness, righteousness itself will get transformed into a destroyer"

Abdul Kalam, Statesman

"Better to die in the pursuit of civilized values, we believed, than in a flight underground. We were offering a value system couched in the language of science"

John Charles Polanyi, Scientist

"Say not that honor is the child of boldness, nor believe thou that the hazard of life alone can pay the price of it: it is not to the action that it is due, but to the manner of performing it"

Akhenaton, Statesman

"Acceptance of prevailing standards often means we have no standards of our own"

Jean Toomer, Author

"Still, whether we like it or not, the task of speeding up the decrease of the human population becomes increasingly urgent"

Havelock Ellis, Psychologist

"Corporations cannot commit treason, or be outlawed or excommunicated, for they have no souls"

Harold Coffin, Writer

"A big ethical question is what happens after people stop using the device. Does it degrade the environment? Could it have been designed so it would actually be good for the environment?"

Donald Norman, Scientist

"Progressive rhetoric has the effect of concealing social crisis and moral breakdown by presenting them as the birth pangs of a new order"

Christopher Lasch, Historian

"I have never regarded politics as the arena of morals. It is the arena of interest"

Aneurin Bevan, Politician

"In our society, daily experience teaches the individual to want and need a never-ending supply of new toys and drugs"

Christopher Lasch, Historian

"Conservatives have no understanding of modern capitalism. They have a distorted understanding of the traditional values they claim to defend"

Christopher Lasch, Historian

"Societies can be sunk by the weight of buried ugliness"

Daniel Goleman, Author

"Drugs are merely the most obvious form of addiction in our society. Drug addiction is one of the things that undermines traditional values"

Christopher Lasch, Historian

"I find capitalism repugnant. It is filthy, it is gross, it is alienating... because it causes war, hypocrisy and competition"

Fidel Castro, Statesman

"Knavery seems to be so much a the striking feature of its inhabitants, that it may not in the end be an evil that they will become aliens to this kingdom"

George III, Royalty

"There is no moral authority like that of sacrifice"

Nadine Gordimer, Novelist

"Are right and wrong convertible terms, dependant upon popular opinion?"

William Lloyd Garrison, Journalist

"Wicked people are always surprised to find ability in those that are good"

Luc de Clapiers, Writer

"What happens when good people are put into an evil place? Do they triumph or does the situation dominate their past history and morality?"

Philip Zimbardo, Psychologist

"Heroes are those who can somehow resist the power of the situation and act out of noble motives or behave in ways that do not demean others when they easily can"

Philip Zimbardo, Psychologist

"The success of any great moral enterprise does not depend upon numbers"

William Lloyd Garrison, Journalist

"It is immoral from almost any point of view to refuse to defend yourself and others from very grave and terrible threats, even as there are limits to the means that can be used in such defense"

Herman Kahn, Scientist

"Two kinds of men generally best succeed in political life; men of no principle, but of great talent; and men of no talent, but of one principle - that of obedience to their superiors"

Wendell Phillips, Activist

"Honor wears different coats to different eyes"

Barbara Tuchman, Historian

"While we ourselves are the living graves of murdered animals, how can we expect any ideal living conditions on this earth?"

Isadora Duncan, Dancer

"Human and moral factors must always be considered. They must never be missing from policies and from public discussion"

Herman Kahn, Scientist

"Deterrence itself is not a preeminent value; the primary values are safety and morality"

Herman Kahn, Scientist

"Evil is knowing better, but willingly doing worse"

Philip Zimbardo, Psychologist

"We take nothing to the grave with us, but a good or evil conscience... It is true, terrors of conscience cast us down; and yet without terrors of conscience we cannot be raised up again"

Samuel Rutherford, Theologian

"Tragedy, for me, is not a conflict between right and wrong, but between two different kinds of right"

Peter Shaffer, Playwright

"Power is something of which I am convinced there is no innocence this side of the womb"

Nadine Gordimer, Novelist

"It is not enough to show people how to live better: there is a mandate for any group with enormous powers of communication to show people how to be better"

Marya Mannes, Journalist

"It did not come naturally; in fact, it would be difficult to conceive of any more dogmatic and less tolerant people than the first settlers on New England shores"

Paul Harris, Lawyer

Page 46 of 78