Ethical Quotes - Page 20

• To believe in'the greater good' isto operate, necessarily, in a certain ethical suspension.

  Joan Didion

  Believe, Certain, Greater Good

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• It cannot be denied that Islam, regarded as an ethical ideal plus a certain kind of polity - by which expression I mean a social structure regulated by a legal system and animated by a specific ethical ideal - has been the chief formative factor in the life-history of the Muslims of India. It has furnished those basic emotions and loyalties which gradually unify scattered individuals and groups, and finally transform them into a well-defined people, possessing a moral consciousness of their own.

  Muhammad Iqbal

  Loyalty, Mean, Expression

  Sir Muhammad Iqbal (2005). “Speeches, Writings, and Statements of Iqbal”

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• I have already indicated to you the meaning of the word religion, as applied to Islam. The truth is that Islam is not a Church. It is a State conceived as a contractual organism long before Rousseau ever thought of such a thing, and animated by an ethical ideal which regards man not as an earth-rooted creature, defined by this or that portion of the earth, but as a spiritual being understood in terms of a social mechanism, and possessing rights and duties as a living factor in that mechanism.

  Muhammad Iqbal

  Spiritual, Men, Rights

  Presidential Address to the 25th Session of the All-India Muslim League, Allahabad, www.columbia.edu. December 29, 1930.

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• I have the strong suspicion that when the brain's greed system is in operation, those parts of the brain that regulate ethical conduct are de-activated. Perhaps the greater the amount of money to be made, the greater the deactivation of the system that regulates ethical behaviour.

  Semir Zeki

  Strong, Greed, Brain

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• Intuitive Eaters march to their inner hunger signals, and eat whatever they choose without experiencing guilt or an ethical dilemma.

  Evelyn Tribole

  Guilt, March, Hunger

  Evelyn Tribole, M.S., R.D., Elyse Resch, M.S., R.D., F.A.D.A. (2012). “Intuitive Eating”, p.14, Macmillan

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• Time will prolong time, and life will serve life. In this field that is both limited and bulging with possibilities, everything to himself, except his lucidity, seems unforeseeable to him. What rule, then, could emanate from that unreasonable order? The only truth that might seem instructive to him is not formal: it comes to life and unfolds in men. The absurd mind cannot so much expect ethical rules at the end of its reasoning as, rather, illustrations and the breath of human lives.

  Albert Camus

  Men, Illustration, Order

  Albert Camus (2012). “The Myth of Sisyphus: And Other Essays”, p.68, Vintage

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• Every day we act in ways that reflect our ethical judgements.

  Peter Singer

  Judgement, Everyday, Way

  "The Expanding Circle: Ethics, Evolution, and Moral Progress". Book by Peter Singer, 1981.

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• In the light of absolute values (religious or ethical) man himself is judged to be limited or imperfect, while he can occasionally accomplish acts which partake of perfection, he, himself can never be perfect.

  T. E. Hulme

  Religious, Men, Light

  "Speculations: Essays on Humanism and the Philosophy of Art". Book by T. E. Hulme, 1924.

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• Just as the philanthropist is the nuisance of the ethical sphere, so the nuisance of the intellectual sphere is the man who is so occupied in trying to educate others, that he has never had any time to educate himself.

  Oscar Wilde

  Men, Intellectual, Trying

  Oscar Wilde, General Press (2016). “The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde: Novel, Short Stories, Poetry, Essays and Plays”, p.692, GENERAL PRESS

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• The ethical regime [of the Jews] was quite definitely Ptolemaic, revolving around the small group of Jews, not the larger Gentile group and, accordingly, they learned to remain unimpressed by Gentile temporal power. Being unimpressed did not mean being unafraid material power might beat or starve one to death; it did mean refusing to surrender moral hegemony to the majority merely because it had power.

  David Riesman

  Mean, Might, Majority

  "Individualism Reconsidered". Book by David Riesman, 1954.

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• The ethical decision is always the fearsome decision. When something matters enough that we are afraid of the consequences - afraid that even the honorable choice could result in harm or loss or sorrow - that's when ethics are involved.

  Henry W. Bloch

  Loss, Choices, Decision

  "Stand for the Best: What I Learned after Leaving My Job as CEO". Book by Thomas M. Bloch, 2010.

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• Ethical ideas and sentiments have to be considered as parts of the phenomena of life at large. We have to deal with man as a product of evolution, with society as a product of evolution, and with moral phenomena as products of evolution.

  Herbert Spencer

  Men, Ideas, Moral

  Herbert Spencer (1893). “Ethics of Individual Life”

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• Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living. The way to win an atomic war is to make certain it never starts. And the way to make sure it never starts is to abolish the dangerous costly nuclear stockpiles which imprison mankind.

  Omar N. Bradley

  War, Winning, Way

  "Collected Writings". Book by Omar Bradley Volume 1, 1967.

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• Christianity is no mere scheme of doctrine or of ethical practice, but is instead a kind of miracle, a power out of nature and above, descending into it; a historically supernatural movement on the world, that is visibly entered into it, and organized to be an institution in the person of Jesus Christ.

  Horace Bushnell

  Jesus, Practice, Miracle

  Horace Bushnell (2001). “The Character of Jesus”, p.7, Wipf and Stock Publishers

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• Man is the "ethical animal" ethical in potentiality even if, unfortunately, not in actuality. His capacity for ethical judgment like freedom, reason and the other unique characteristics of the human being is based upon his consciousness of himself.

  Rollo May

  Unique, Men, Animal

  Rollo May (2009). “Man's Search for Himself”, p.130, W. W. Norton & Company

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• Faith exalts the human heart, by removing it from the market-place, making it sacred and unexchangeable. Under the jurisdiction of religion our deeper feelings are sacralized, so as to become raw material for the ethical life: the life lived in judgement.

  Roger Scruton

  Heart, Judgement, Feelings

  Roger Scruton (2013). “Modern Culture”, p.91, Bloomsbury Publishing

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• The ethical life... is maintained in being by a common culture, which also upholds the togetherness of society... Unlike the modern youth culture, a common culture sanctifies the adult state, to which it offers rites of passage.

  Roger Scruton

  Modern Youth, Adults, Culture

  Roger Scruton (2006). “Modern Culture”, p.127, A&C Black

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• Courtesy, modesty, good manners, conformity to definite ethical standards are universal, but what constitutes courtesy, modesty, good manners, and definite ethical standards is not universal. It is instructive to know that standards differ in the most unexpected ways.

  Franz Boas

  Ethical Standards, Good Man, Way

  Foreword to "Coming of Age in Samoa" by Margaret Mead, 1928.

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• Everyone seems to assume that the unscrupulous parts of journalism will be the frivolous or jocular parts. This is against all ethical experience. Jokes are generally honest. Complete solemnity is almost always dishonest. The writer of the snippet merely refers to a frivolous and fugitive fact in a frivolous and fugitive way. The writer of the leading article has to write about a fact he has known for 20 minutes as though he has studied it for 20 years.

  Gilbert K. Chesterton

  Writing, Years, Way

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• Daily contact with some teachers is itself all-sided ethical education for the child without a spoken precept. Here, too, the real advantage of male over female teachers,especially for boys, is seen in their superior physical strength,which often, if highly estimated, gives real dignity and commands real respect, and especially in the unquestionably greater uniformity of their moods and their discipline.

  G. Stanley Hall

  Teacher, Children, Real

  "Youth: it's education, regimen and hygiene". Book by G. Stanley Hall, 1906.

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• As far as male and female are concerned, difference is a biological fact, whereas equality is a political, ethical and social concept. No rule of nature or of social organization says that the sexes have to be the same or do the same things in order to be social, political and economic equals.

  Alice S Rossi

  Sex, Equality, Order

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• One of the most depressing features of the ethical side of the matter is that instead of such methods arousing contempt they are more or less openly admired. And this is logical. Canonise 'business success,' and men who made a success like that of the Standard Oil Trust become national heroes!

  Ida Tarbell

  Depressing, Business, Hero

  Ida M. Tarbell (2012). “The History of the Standard Oil Company: Briefer Version”, p.224, Courier Corporation

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• Art is realistic when it strives to express an ethical ideal. Realism is striving for truth, and truth is always beautiful. Here the aesthetic coincides with the ethical.

  Andrei Tarkovsky

  Beautiful, Art, Truth Is

  "Sculpting in Time" by Andrei Tarkovsky, (p. 113), 1986.

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• (Because) the notion of absolute truth is difficult to sustain outside the context of religion, ethical conduct is not something we engage in because it is somehow right in itself but because, like ourselves, all others desire to be happy and to avoid suffering. Given that this is a natural disposition, shared by all, it follows that each individual has a right to pursue this goal. Accordingly, I suggest that one of the things which determines whether an act is ethical or not is its effect on others' experience or expectation of happiness.

  Dalai Lama

  Goal, Expectations, Suffering

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• What is the relationship between spirituality and ethical practice? Since love and compassion and similar qualities all, by definition, presume some level of concern for others' well-being, they presume ethical restraint. We cannot be loving and compassionate unless at the same time we curb our own harmful impulses and desires.

  Dalai Lama

  Compassion, Practice, Concern For Others

  The Dalai Lama (2012). “The Essence Of Wisdom”, p.10, Hachette UK

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