Moral Principles Quotes

• Moral principles do not depend on a majority vote. Wrong is wrong, even if everybody is wrong. Right is right, even if nobody is right.

  Fulton J. Sheen

  Majority Vote, Principles, Moral

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• Moral principles have lost their distinctiveness. For modern man, absolute right and absolute wrong are a matter of what the majority is doing.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Men, Matter, Majority

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2012). “A Gift of Love: Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings”, p.76, Beacon Press

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• Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.

  Benjamin Franklin

  Years, People, Needs

  Letter to the Abbés Chalut and Arnaud, April 17, 1787.

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• It is always easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.

  Alfred Adler

  Inspirational, Wisdom, Courage

  In Phyllis Bottome Alfred Adler (1939) p. 76

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• It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.

  Mark Twain

  Inspirational, Courage, Integrity

  Mark Twain (2013). “Autobiography of Mark Twain”, p.372, Univ of California Press

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• There can be no compromise on moral principles.

  Ayn Rand

  Principles, Moral, Compromise

  Ayn Rand (2001). “The Art of Nonfiction: A Guide for Writers and Readers”, p.51, Penguin

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• One of the most basic principles for making and keeping peace within and between nations. . . is that in political, military, moral, and spiritual confrontations, there should be an honest attempt at the reconciliation of differences before resorting to combat

  Jimmy Carter

  Forgiveness, Spiritual, Peace

  Jimmy Carter (2011). “Living Faith”, p.141, Three Rivers Press

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• As human beings we are all the same. We have this marvelous intelligence, which sometimes creates problems for us, but when influenced by warm-heartedness can be very constructive. In this context we need to appreciate the value of having moral principles.

  Dalai Lama

  Appreciate, Principles, Needs

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• All universal moral principles are idle fancies.

  Marquis de Sade

  Principles, Fancy, Moral

  Sade (marquis de), Marquis de Sade (1987). “The 120 days of Sodom and other writings”, Grove Pr

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• The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scripture ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws.

  Noah Webster

  Law, Scripture, Principles

  Noah Webster (1832). “History of the United States: To which is Prefixed a Brief Historical Account of Our [English] Ancestors, from the Dispersion at Babel, to Their Migration to America, and of the Conquest of South America, by the Spaniards”, p.339

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• Let us with Caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion.

  George Washington

  Religious, Godly, Indulge In

  George Washington, United States. President (1789-1797 : Washington) (1847). “Washington's Farewell Address to the People of the United States of America: Published in September, 1796”, p.9

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• Ethics, too, are nothing but reverence for life. This is what gives me the fundamental principle of morality, namely, that good consists in maintaining, promoting, and enhancing life, and that destroying, injuring, and limiting life are evil.

  Albert Schweitzer

  Inspirational Life, Integrity, Evil

  Albert Schweitzer (1932). “Civilization and ethics. 3d. ed”

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• All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.

  Noah Webster

  Christian, Religious, War

  Noah Webster (1832). “History of the United States: To which is Prefixed a Brief Historical Account of Our [English] Ancestors, from the Dispersion at Babel, to Their Migration to America, and of the Conquest of South America, by the Spaniards”, p.339

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• Moral principle is the foundation of law.

  Ronald Dworkin

  Law, Foundation, Principles

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• Lastly, our ancestors established their system of government on morality and religious sentiment. Moral habits, they believed, cannot safely be trusted on any other foundation than religious principle, nor any government be secure which is not supported by moral habits.... Whatever makes men good Christians, makes them good citizens.

  Daniel Webster

  Christian, Religious, Men

  Daniel Webster (1853). “The Great Orations and Senatorial Speech of Daniel Webster”, p.49

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• There should be an honest attempt at the reconciliation of differences before resorting to combat.

  Jimmy Carter

  Peace, War, Differences

  Jimmy Carter (2011). “Living Faith”, p.141, Three Rivers Press

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• Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can exist apart from religious principle.

  George Washington

  Religious, Truth, Freedom

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• What passes in the world for talent or dexterity or enterprise is often only a want of moral principle. We may succeed where others fail, not from a greater share of invention, but from not being nice in the choice of expedients.

  William Hazlitt

  Nice, Choices, Principles

  William Hazlitt (1871). “The Round Table. A collection of Essays ... By W. H. and Leigh Hunt”, p.468

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• It is a world not of angels but of angles, where men speak of moral principles but act on power principles; a world where we are always moral and our enemies always immoral.

  Saul Alinsky

  Angel, Men, Enemy

  Saul Alinsky (2010). “Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals”, p.13, Vintage

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• Sound moral principle is the only sure evidence of strength, the only firm foundation of greatness and perpetuity. Where this is lacking, no man's character is strong; no nation's life can be lasting.

  Orson F. Whitney

  Strong, Character, Greatness

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• Right and wrong as moral principles do not change. They are applicable and reliable determinants whether the situations with which we deal are simple or complicated. There is always a right and wrong to every question which requires our solution.

  Ezra Taft Benson

  Simple, Principles, Moral

  Ezra Taft Benson (1969). “An enemy hath done this”

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• I think my heart is quite selfish. If I followed my heart, I would not be a good person. But I have moral principles. I have to sit down and reflect.

  Jo Nesbo

  Selfish, Heart, Thinking

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• If by sticking to the moral principles you have followed all your life, you jeopardize your happiness and that of others, throw over your principles. Principles for principles' sake -that is not wisdom; that is obstinacy. Principles should be fluid because life is fluid.

  Epifanio de los Santos

  Over You, Sake, Principles

  "Don Pañong - Genius" by A.V.H. Hartendorp, Philippine Magazine, p. 211, September 1929.

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• It is difficult for me to regard anyone who obeys no moral principle in his conduct to be a religious man.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Religious, Men, Principles

  Mahatma Gandhi (1967). “Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi”

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• I know not, Madam, that you have a right, upon moral principles, to make your readers suffer so much.

  Samuel Johnson

  Writing, Suffering, Principles

  James Boswell, Samuel Johnson, Edmond Malone (1824). “The life of Samuel Johnson, LL. D., comprehending an account of his studies, and numerous works, in chronological order: a series of his epistolary correspondence and conversations with many eminent persons; and various original pieces of his composition, never before published; the whole exhibiting a view of literature and literary men in Great Britain, for near half a century during which he flourished”, p.342

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