Ethical Behavior Quotes

• It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I cannot take seriously. I also cannot imagine some will or goal outside the human sphere... Science has been charged with undermining morality, but the charge is unjust. A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.

  Albert Einstein

  Death, Religious, Atheist

  "Religion and Science", New York Times Magazine, November 9, 1930.

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• Ethical behavior is doing the right thing when no one else is watching- even when doing the wrong thing is legal.

  Aldo Leopold

  Behavior, Ethical, Wrong Things

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• If you don't have integrity, you have nothing. You can't buy it. You can have all the money in the world, but if you are not a moral and ethical person, you really have nothing.

  Henry Kravis

  Money, Integrity, World

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• Aspire to decency. Practice civility toward one another. Admire and emulate ethical behavior wherever you find it. Apply a rigid standard of morality to your lives; and if, periodically, you fail ­ as you surely will adjust your lives, not the standards.

  Ted Koppel

  Inspiring, Practice, Morality

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• But you cannot have harmony without a commitment to ethical behavior. It's the fence that keeps out the goats that will eat all the young shoots in your garden.

  Jon Kabat-Zinn

  Commitment, Garden, Goats

  Jon Kabat-Zinn (2005). “Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life”, Hyperion

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• No responsibility of government is more fundamental than the responsibility of maintaining the highest standard of ethical behavior for those who conduct the public business.

  John F. Kennedy

  Responsibility, Government, Political

  Kennedy, John F. (1962). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1961”, p.326, Best Books on

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• A man's ethical behaviour should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.

  Albert Einstein

  Sympathy, God, Death

  Albert Einstein (2010). “Ideas And Opinions”, p.39, Broadway Books

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• The man of character, sensitive to the meaning of what he is doing, will know how to discover the ethical paths in the maze of possible behavior.

  Earl Warren

  Character, Men, Mazes

  Earl Warren's Speech at the Louis Marshall Award Dinner of the Jewish Theological Seminary, Americana Hotel, New York City, November 11, 1962.

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• Where there is not community, trust, respect, ethical behavior are difficult for the young to learn and for the old to maintain.

  Robert K. Greenleaf

  Community, Servant Leadership, Behavior

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• A country should be defended not by arms, but by ethical behavior.

  Vinoba Bhave

  Country, Arms, Behavior

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• There's a great deal of difference between thinking reflectively about moral issues and achieving higher standards of ethical behavior.

  Derek Bok

  Thinking, Differences, Issues

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• Since belief determines behavior, doesn't it make sense that we should be teaching ethical, moral values in every home and in every school in America?

  Zig Ziglar

  Teaching, School, Home

  Zig Ziglar (2000). “Staying Up, Up, Up in a Down, Down World: Daily Hope for the Daily Grind”, Thomas Nelson Inc

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• Don't make misrepresentations to anyone you deal with. If you believe the other person may have misunderstood you, correct any misunderstanding you find exists. Honesty is integral to ethical behavior, and trustworthiness is essential for good, lasting relationships.

  Buck Rodgers

  Honesty, Believe, Misunderstood

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• If networks are to be more efficient...this will come about only on the basis of a high level of trust and the existence of shared norms of ethical behavior between network members

  Francis Fukuyama

  Levels, Behavior, Ethical

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• The idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I am unable to take seriously.

  Albert Einstein

  God, Religious, Atheist

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• It is an open question whether any behavior based on fear of eternal punishment can be regarded as ethical or should be regarded as merely cowardly.

  Margaret Mead

  Fear, Fog, Punishment

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• Man would indeeded be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.

  Albert Einstein

  God, Religious, Atheist

  Albert Einstein (2010). “The Ultimate Quotable Einstein”, p.328, Princeton University Press

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• The mind cannot support moral chaos for long. Men are under as strong a compulsion to invent an ethical setting for their behavior as spiders are to weave themselves webs

  John Dos Passos

  Strong, Men, Fog

  John Dos Passos (1956). “The Theme is Freedom”

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• The question is, when so many others cut corners, shave the truth, self-deal, believe in the fast buck, and follow the crowd along the low road of least resistance, can we even afford to travel the high road of ethical behavior? Frankly, we can't afford anything else. Any other competitive angle is a pure crapshoot in today's business world. Companies with shaky ethics and shabby standards will be crippled as they try to compete in our changing world.

  Price Pritchett

  Business, Believe, Cutting

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• Man is an animal with primary instincts of survival. Consequently his ingenuity has developed first and his soul afterwards. The progress of science is far ahead of man's ethical behavior.

  Charlie Chaplin

  Life, Science, Animal

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• Most corporate mission statements are worthless. They consist largely of pious platitudes such as: "We will hold ourselves to the highest standards of professionalism and ethical behavior." They often formulate necessities as objectives; for example, "to achieve sufficient profit." This is like a person saying his mission is to breathe sufficiently.

  Russell L. Ackoff

  Risk, Example, Management

  Russell L. Ackoff (1986). “Management in Small Doses”, Wiley

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• Research shows the presence of women raises the standards of ethical behavior and lowers corruption.

  Hillary Clinton

  Research, Corruption, Behavior

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• A kernel of truth lurks at the heart of religion, because spiritual experience, ethical behavior, and strong communities are essential for human happiness. And yet our religious traditions are intellectually defunct and politically ruinous. While spiritual experience is clearly a natural propensity of the human mind, we need not believe anything on insufficient evidence to actualize it.

  Sam Harris

  Spiritual, Religious, Strong

  Sam Harris (2005). “The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason”, p.221, W. W. Norton & Company

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• We all have one, in one form or another. To me, this dragon is both the wild nature of ourselves and our conscience in his embodiment of the Old Code ethical behavior and morality. At the same time, he's our unconscious, the place from which our dreams arise. I just spoke my lines to the dragon within me.

  Dennis Quaid

  Dream, Dragons, Lines

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• Driven by a wish to save Tomás from a life of penury and misunderstanding, Fermin had decided that he needed to develop my friend's latent conversational and social skills. Like the good ape he is, man is a social animal, characterized by cronyism, nepotism, corruption, and gossip. That's the intrinsic blueprint for our ethical behavior.

  Carlos Ruiz Zafon

  Animal, Men, Skills

  Carlos Ruiz Zafon (2005). “The Shadow of the Wind”, p.96, Penguin

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