Philosophy & Thought: Ethics & Morality Quotes

"If a psychiatric and scientific inquiry were to be made upon our rulers, mankind would be appalled at the disclosures"

Alfred Korzybski, Scientist

Hal Holbrook, Actor

"That a man be willing, when others are so too, as far forth as for peace and defence of himself he shall think it necessary, to lay down this right to all things; and be contented with so much liberty against other men, as he would allow other men against himself"

Thomas Hood, Poet

"It is straightforward for me to be ethical, responsible, and kind-hearted because I have the resources to support that"

Edward Tufte, Educator

"I am certainly not an intellectual relativist, nor a moral relativist"

Edward Tufte, Educator

"What is the value of sticking a microphone in a man's face right after he has learned of his wife's death?"

Jessica Savitch, Journalist

"The desire to be rewarded for one's creativity does not justify depriving the world in general of all or part of that creativity"

Richard Stallman, Scientist

"I could have made money this way, and perhaps amused myself writing code. But I knew that at the end of my career, I would look back on years of building walls to divide people, and feel I had spent my life making the world a worse place"

Richard Stallman, Scientist

"People will justify whatever for a good cause"

Julie Taymor, Director

"Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long, has been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong"

Richard Armour, Poet

"Morally, the world is both better and worse than it was. We are worse off than in the Middle Ages, or the 17th and 18th centuries, in that we have the atomic menace"

Pierre Schaeffer, Composer

"The idea that we can actually have an impact on places more or less instantly, too, by responding in some way or not responding, I think, also makes it true"

Peter Singer, Philosopher

"They tend to be pretty abstract ones then, like doing what will have the best consequences; obviously you wouldn't specify what consequences are best, they may be different in some circumstances, so at a lower, more specific level, you may well get differences"

Peter Singer, Philosopher

"The notion that human life is sacred just because it is human life is medieval"

Peter Singer, Philosopher

"I don't think there's much point in bemoaning the state of the world unless there's some way you can think of to improve it. Otherwise, don't bother writing a book; go and find a tropical island and lie in the sun"

Peter Singer, Philosopher

"The program of our movement stems from the fundamental moral laws and order"

Lech Walesa, Activist

"Barbarians always think of themselves as the bringers of civilization"

Pierre Schaeffer, Composer

"I have a huge and savage conscience that won't let me get away with things"

Octavia Butler, Writer

"Anytime there is a struggle between doing what is actually right and doing what seems right, then your ego is interfering with your decision.!"

Darren L. Johnson, Author

"Nature has left this tincture in the blood, that all men would be tyrants if they could"

Daniel Defoe, Journalist

"One should make morals judgements for oneself"

Kathryn Bigelow, Director

"In a situation where many national leaders do the same thing and look out for national interests, and with an issue like global warming, you're likely to get no solution, so I think you have to have some kind of ethical trump on some of those issues"

Peter Singer, Philosopher

"Work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed"

Vaclav Havel, Leader

"High moral character is not a precondition for great moral accomplishments"

Christopher Hitchens, Author

"We see things like reciprocity, which are fairly central to our view of ethics. But if you're talking about a set of worked-out rules on what we are supposed to do, then, yes, it is a human product"

Peter Singer, Philosopher

"My work is based on the assumption that clarity and consistency in our moral thinking is likely, in the long run, to lead us to hold better views on ethical issues"

Peter Singer, Philosopher

"At the descriptive level, certainly, you would expect different cultures to develop different sorts of ethics and obviously they have; that doesn't mean that you can't think of overarching ethical principles you would want people to follow in all kinds of places"

Peter Singer, Philosopher

"As we realize that more and more things have global impact, I think we're going to get people increasingly wanting to get away from a purely national interest"

Peter Singer, Philosopher

"All serial killers want to win. They choose victims they can kill successfully!"

Pat Brown, Entertainer

"Anticipate charity by preventing poverty"

Maimonides, Philosopher

"The reason that a good citizen does not use such destructive means to become wealthier is that, if everyone did so, we would all become poorer from the mutual destructiveness"

Richard Stallman, Scientist

"We have a lot to gain through furthering stem cell research, but medical breakthroughs should be fundamentally about saving, not destroying, human life. Therefore, I support stem cell research that does not destroy the embryo"

Michael Steele, Politician

"Patriotism has served, at different times, as widely different ends as a razor, which ought to be used in keeping your face clean and yet may be used to cut your own throat or that of an innocent person"

Charles Edward Montague, Journalist

"I don't think there's anything in the compromise that means that there's a clash of ethics"

Peter Singer, Philosopher

"An animal experiment cannot be justifiable unless the experiment is so important that the use of a brain-damaged human would be justifiable"

Peter Singer, Philosopher

"All the arguments to prove man's superiority cannot shatter this hard fact: in suffering the animals are our equals"

Peter Singer, Philosopher

"I cannot show remorse because I do not believe I am guilty"

Lyn Nofziger

"There ain't any news in being good. You might write the doings of all the convents of the world on the back of a postage stamp, and have room to spare"

Finley Peter Dunne, Journalist

"Vice came in always at the door of necessity, not at the door of inclination"

Daniel Defoe, Journalist

"Preachers denounce sin as if it was available to everyone"

Frank Dane, Writer

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