Ethics

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.

If we can look upon our work not for self-benefit,
but as a means to benefit society,
we will be practicing appreciation and patience in our daily lives.

Little progress can be made by merely attempting to repress what is evil; our great hope lies in developing what is good.

The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world it's own shame.

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.

Ethics must begin at the top of an organization. It is a leadership issue and the chief executive must set the example.

The character ethic, which I believe to be the foundation of success, teaches that there are basic principles of effective living, and that people can only experience true success and enduring happiness as they learn and integrate these principles into their basic character."

The first principle of ethical power is Purpose. By purpose, I don't mean your objective or intention--something toward which you are always striving. Purpose is something bigger. It is the picture you have of yourself--the kind of person you want to be or the kind of life you want to lead.'

A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world.

Shelving hard decisions is the least ethical course.

The most important ingredient we put into any relationship is not what we say or what we do, but what we are. And if our words and our actions come from superficial human relations techniques (the Personality Ethic) rather than from our own inner core (the Character Ethic), others will sense that duplicity. We simply won't be able to create and sustain the foundation necessary for effective interdependence.

Although the legal and ethical definitions of right are the antithesis of each other, most writers use them as synonyms. They confuse power with goodness, and mistake law for justice.

Hope has two beautiful daughters-their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.

Ethics is in origin the art of recommending to others the sacrifices required for cooperation with oneself.

Always do right.  That will gratify some of the people, and astonish the rest.

Ethics, too, are nothing but reverence for life. That 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.

My own view, which does not rely solely on religious faith or even on an original idea, but rather on ordinary common sense, is that establishing binding ethical principles is possible when we take as our starting point the observation that we all desire happiness and wish to avoid suffering.