Ethics and Morality

Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depend on simplicity I mean the true simplicity of a rightly and nobly ordered mind and character, not that other simplicity which is only a euphemism for folly.

As there are misanthropists, or haters of men, there are also misologists, or haters of ideas, and both spring from the same cause, which is ignorance of the world.

All who do evil and dishonorable things do them against their will.

An accomplished one might not be found even among a hundred thousand men

All knowledge, when separated from justice and virtue, is seen to be cunning and not wisdom.

Age isn't easy for a good man if he's poor, nor will a bad man ever be cheerful with himself even if he's rich.

Above all things truth beareth away the victory.

A measure of such things which in any degree falls short of the whole truth is not fair measure; for nothing imperfect is the measure of anything, although persons are too apt to be contented and think that they need search no further.

A sensible man will remember that the eyes may be confused in two ways - by a change from light to darkness or from darkness to light; and he will recognize that the same thing happens to the soul.

A person's desires force him to something to reason and he berates himself and gets indignant with the part that forces him, and his spirit allies with reason as though reason and desire were at civil war.

A principle which has any soundness should stand firm not only just now, but always.

A man ought not to return evil for evil, as many think, since at no time ought we to do an injury to our neighbor.

The arc of a moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.

One ought not to be obstinate, except when one ought to be; but when one ought to be, then one ought to be unshakable.

The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.

Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world . . . would do this, it would change the earth.

If I were to remain silent, I’d be guilty of complicity.

If by a ‘Liberal’ they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people—their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights and their civil liberties—someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a ‘Liberal,’ then I’m proud to say I’m a ‘Liberal.’

One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.

Half of the harm that is done in this world Is due to people who want to feel important.

All rights tend to declare themselves absolute to their logical extreme. Yet all in fact are limited by the neighborhood of principles of policy which are other than those on which the particular right is founded, and which become strong enough to hold their own when a certain point is reached.

‘Freedom from fear’ could be said to sum up the whole philosophy of human rights.

It is better that a man should tyrannize over his bank balance than over his fellow citizens.