The best Quotes and Sayings about Morality & Ethics

Sometimes good people make bad choices. It doesn't mean they're bad people. It means they're human.

Every time I've done something that doesn't feel right, it's ended up not being right.

In civilized life, law floats in a sea of ethics.

Moral power is probably best when it is not used. The less you use it the more you have.

I always wanted to be someone better the next day than I was the day before.

As a man, I've been representative of the values I hold dear. And the values I hold dear are carryovers from the lives of my parents.

The right to do something does not mean that doing it is right.

Respect for the truth comes close to being the basis for all morality.

Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught.

In life, there is good, evil, love, and hatred. What we desire, choose, and need to pursue is in our hands.

Thinking good thoughts is not enough, doing good deeds is not enough, seeing others follow your good examples is enough.

Despite what they tell you, there are simply no moral absolutes in a complex world.

Ethics are more important than laws.

My basis of morality is this: does this action enhance life, or does it denigrate life? Does it build up or does it tear down?

It is the eternal struggle between these two principles - right and wrong - throughout the world.

I'm starting to realize more than I ever wanted to, that doing the right thing doesn't always make you feel good.

We all want to do the right thing. But the right thing is seldom free.

Morality depends on individual freedom, and it requires some sense to know where to draw the line.

I’ve known good criminals and bad cops. Bad priests, honorable thieves. You can be on one side of the law or the other. But if you make a deal with somebody, you keep your word. You can go home today with your money and never do this again. But you took something that wasn’t yours. And you sold it for a profit. You’re now a criminal. Good one, bad one? That’s up to you.

The battleline between good and evil runs through the heart of every man.

Politics have no relation to morals.

A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.

It is easier to exemplify values than teach them.

Do not do an immoral thing for moral reasons.

At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; seperated from law and justice he is the worst.

Soon we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy.

The important thing is moral choice. Evil has to exist along with good, in order that moral choice may operate. Life is sustained by the grinding opposition of moral entities.

A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.

Live your life as though your every act were to become a universal law.

No man chooses evil because it is evil. He only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks.

Matthew Dougherty: "Jean-Luc, we're only moving 600 people."
Picard: "How many people does it take before it becomes wrong?"

Force answers force, war breeds war, and death only brings death. To break this vicious circle one must do more than just act without any thought or doubt.

An enemy that is pure evil? Right or wrong are not what separates us and our enemies. It's our different standpoints, our perspectives that separate us. Both sides blame one another. There's no good or bad side. Just two sides holding different views.

'It is as though I have a black dog and a white dog inside me fighting each other constantly.' The black dog, he explained, represented evil and the white dog represented good. The missionary asked him, 'Which dog wins the fight within you?' After several moments of silence, the native said, 'The dog that wins is the one I feed and the dog that loses is the one I starve.'

When a man is pushed to his limits, he will stand by his convictions.

About morals, I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.

Sam Fisher: "No point in rescuing one and leaving the other."
Lambert: "You don't even exist, Fisher. You can't get a medal for this."
Sam Fisher: "Medals don't help me sleep at night, Lambert."

Killing thousands to save millions... nobody should have to make these decisions.

What humanity owes to personalities like Buddha, Moses, and Jesus ranks for me higher than all the achievements of the enquiring and constructive mind.
What these blessed men have given us we must guard and try to keep alive with all our strength if humanity is not to lose its dignity, the security of its existence, and its joy in living.

No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.

Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.