Moral Philosophy Quotes

“As you say of yourself, I too am anEpicurean.I consider the genuine (not the imputed) doctrines ofEpicurusas containing everything rational in moral philosophy which Greece and Rome have left us.

[Letter to William Short, 31 October 1819]”
― Thomas Jefferson, Letters of Thomas Jefferson

“If we can use an H-bomb--and as you said it's no checker game; it's real, it's war and nobody is fooling around--isn't it sort of ridiculous to go crawling around in the weeds, throwing knives and maybe getting yourself killed... and even losing the war... when you've got a real weapon you can use to win? What's the point in a whole lot of men risking their lives with obsolete weapons when one professor type can do so much more just by pushing a button?'
Zim didn't answer at once, which wasn't like him at all. Then he said softly, 'Are you happy in the Infantry, Hendrick? You can resign, you know.'
Hendrick muttered something; Zim said, 'Speak up!'
I'm not itching to resign, sir. I'm going to sweat out my term.'
I see. Well, the question you asked is one that a sergeant isn't really qualified to answer... and one that you shouldn't ask me. You're supposed to know the answer before you join up. Or you should. Did your school have a course in History and Moral Philosophy?'
What? Sure--yes, sir.'
Then you've heard the answer. But I'll give you my own--unofficial--views on it. If you wanted to teach a baby a lesson, would you cuts its head off?'
Why... no, sir!'
Of course not. You'd paddle it. There can be circumstances when it's just as foolish to hit an enemy with an H-Bomb as it would be to spank a baby with an ax. War is not violence and killing, pure and simple; war is controlled violence, for a purpose. The purpose of war is to support your government's decisions by force. The purpose is never to kill the enemy just to be killing him... but to make him do what you want him to do. Not killing... but controlled and purposeful violence. But it's not your business or mine to decide the purpose of the control. It's never a soldier's business to decide when or where or how--or why--he fights; that belongs to the statesmen and the generals. The statesmen decide why and how much; the generals take it from there and tell us where and when and how. We supply the violence; other people-- "older and wiser heads," as they say--supply the control. Which is as it should be. That's the best answer I can give you. If it doesn't satisfy you, I'll get you a chit to go talk to the regimental commander. If he can't convince you--then go home and be a civilian! Because in that case you will certainly never make a soldier.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers

“The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals, Utility, or the Greatest-Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain, and the privation of pleasure.”
― John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism

“I will call no being good who is not what I mean when I apply that epithet to my fellow creatures; and if such a creature can sentence me to hell for not so calling him, to hell I will go.”
― John Stuart Mill, An examination of Sir William Hamilton's philosophy, and of the principal philosophical questions discussed in his writings

“The good which every man, who follows after virtue, desires for himself he will also desire for other men...”
― Baruch Spinoza, Ethics

“There's right and there's wrong. Y'gotta do one or the other. Do the other and you may be walking around, but you're dead as a beaver hat.”
― John Wayne

“The state of a moral man, is one of tranquillity and peace; the state of an immoral man is one of perpetual unrest.”
― Marquis de Sade, Philosophy in the Boudoir

“Science and Metaphysics show us part of what “is”. Logic and Epistemology help us interpret this part and understand how much of it we can really know. And finally, Ethics teaches us how to embrace this knowledge and how to cherry-pick only those things that will give us endurance and contentment in the long run, avoiding those that may keep our hearts buried in the ground; how to live well and decently and how to help the society function properly.”
― Giannis Delimitsos

“Ethical actions can often entail short-term pain, but will always result in long-term gains. By contrast, unethical actions frequently have short-term gains, which make them so attractive. But I guarantee that unethical actions will always result in some form of long-term pain and ultimate collapse, frequently in unexpected ways.”
― Kashonia Carnegie PhD

“It is, indeed, very important for the moral philosopher to come up with new, illuminating theories about life and what is the best way to live it. But her toughest task is to live according to her teachings and to bring theory and practice as close as possible.”
― Giannis Delimitsos

“When we began this thing, you were intent to save the world. Now you’re more concerned about getting your hands dirty. Well, fuck your sense of propriety. I hope the view is lovely from atop your high horse while you watch the world burn.” ~Grist”
― Emily Brandish, Monsters & Mind Games

“At first, this ethic of love strikes us as rightly as beautiful. Yet, if we take it seriously, we will recognize that by its very goodness, it condemns us.”
― Neil Shenvi, Why Believe?: A Reasoned Approach to Christianity

“Svak je tvorac svoje sreće, ali bi nekad i to trebalo žrtvovati za sreću bližnjega.”
― Abdurezak Hivzi Bjelevac, Pod drugim suncem

“Health and sanity do not rise by erasing all moral lines. Key to psychological health is finding the right balance.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Esperanza Impossible: 100 Sonnets of Ethics, Engineering & Existence

“Whether you believe a word of the Bible or not, it's a beautifully written example of mythic storytelling. The moral ideals expressed in its pages are noble aspirations. Sadly, they are routinely ignored or (accidentally or deliberately) misinterpreted.”
― Stewart Stafford

“People say I have to be good. But what does it mean to be good? To follow the precepts of another man's thinking? To bind oneself to the morality of another man's religion?

Where others see morality, I see a means to power. Where others see ethics, I see a mark of the weak.”
― Makuochukwu Okigbo

“I do not want beings to suffer, I want all to live happy healthy lives while ending up with peaceful deaths.”
― Jordan G Kobos

“Ik moest erg aan de vrede wennen. Al dat geklets over goed en slecht, over zwart en over wit. De ervaring had me geleerd dat er mensen bestonden die zeer slecht waren, maar de ervaring had me ook geleerd dat het merendeel zich in het rijk der tussentinten ophield. Dat was een verademing.”
― Armando, De straat en het struikgewas

“Don't stop being a good person because of bad people, because you're not being good for the bad in the world but to uphold the good in it.”
― Isabella Poretsis

“The crucial distinction that these emerging adults are missing is the difference between the basis or reason for some moral truth and the effects of living according to that moral truth. Right moral living should normally have certain positive, patterned effects, at least over the long run. But that does not make those effects per se the reason why those things are morally right in the first place. If they are indeed morally right, they should remain so even if they sometimes fail to have those effects.”
― Christian Smith, Lost in Transition: The Dark Side of Emerging Adulthood

“Another, more basic reason is that even being able to know or define in the first place what hurts or helps other people often itself requires reference to certain moral standards and understandings of what is good and bad.”
― Christian Smith, Lost in Transition: The Dark Side of Emerging Adulthood

“Health and sanity do not rise by erasing all moral lines, Key to psychological health is finding the right balance.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Esperanza Impossible: 100 Sonnets of Ethics, Engineering & Existence

“Evil is a fiction. Results are what matter." ~Grist”
― Emily Brandish, Monsters & Mind Games

“The interests of the consumer of any commodity whatsoever should always prevail over the interests of the producer.”
― Gustave de Molinari, The Production of Security

“A bundle of broken parts cannot create a proper whole”
― S.L. Burkhart, Epic of Ryn: The Reconciliation

“Morality is an act of self-correction.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Either Right or Human: 300 Limericks of Inclusion

“Today, Adam Smith is famous as the father of capitalism and an advocate of a central tenet of free market thought: that greed is supposedly good and it drives markets. This was an idea pushed by neoliberal economists, inspired by Friedrich Hayeck and Milton Friedman, who had no knowledge of the history of moral philosophy, or of Scotland. What they missed is that no gentleman of his time could ever espouse greed, least of all a professor of moral philosophy. Indeed, Adam Smith recognized greed as an economic driver, and saw it as necessary, but also realized that it was a problem for society. His work was not an espousal of greed, but rather a response to it. His work was an attempt to find a way to reign in commercial greed to support the agrarian order, which he believed to be inherently more productive than business.”
― Jacob Soll, Adam Smith: The Kirkcaldy Papers

“If legality alone were the sole determinant of morality, then there would be no justification for redress, because apartheid laws would, like all laws, be considered moral.”
― Salatiso Lonwabo Mdeni

“A rural life of moral simplicity, despite its monotony, is the preferable personal narrative to a daring life of impulsive passion, which only leads to tragedy.”
― Lemony Snicket, The Slippery Slope

“If you don''t know where you want to go, any road will take you there.”
― unknown author