Mathematics is distinguished from all other sciences except only ethics, in standing in no need of ethics. Every other science, even logic, especially in its early stages, is in danger of evaporating into airy nothingness, degenerating, as the Germans say, into an arachnoid film, spun from the stuff that dreams are made of. There is no such danger for pure mathematics; for that is precisely what mathematics ought to be.
—Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914) American Philosopher, Logician, Mathematician
There is, therefore, only one categorical imperative. It is: Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.
—Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) Prussian German Philosopher, Logician
We endeavor to make a virtue of the faults we are unwilling to correct.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
I do not believe in the immortality of the individual, and I consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern without any superhuman authority behind it.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
Live one day at a time emphasizing ethics rather than rules.
—Wayne Dyer (1940–2015) American Self-Help Author
When it comes to practicing good ethics, saying no to a vice is not good enough. A quality life is never achieved by focusing on the elimination of what is wrong. True success requires you to focus your mental, emotional, and spiritual energies on pursuing that which is right and good. Trying to become virtuous merely by excluding vice is as unrealistic as trying to cultivate roses simply by eliminating weeds.
—Gary Ryan Blair
To care for anyone else enough to make their problems one’s own, is ever the beginning of one’s real ethical development.
—Felix Adler (1851–1933) German-Born American Philosopher
Live according to the ethics of excellence, and you can always stand proud. Pride – not vanity, but dignity and self-respect – should carry a lot of weight in helping you make decisions. Let pride help you decide.
—Price Pritchett
A man is ethical only when life, as such, is sacred to him, that of plants and animals as that of his fellow men, and when he devotes himself helpfully to all life that is in need of help.
—Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French Theologian, Musician, Philosopher, Physician
An ethical person ought to do more than he’s required to do and less than he’s allowed to do
—Indian Proverb
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.
—Stephen Covey (1932–2012) American Self-help Author
Nothing is politically right which is morally wrong.
—Daniel O’Connell (1775–1847) Irish Nationalist Leader
The three hardest tasks in the world are neither physical feats nor intellectual achievements, but moral acts: to return love for hate, to include the excluded, and to say, “I was wrong.”
—Sydney J. Harris (1917–86) American Essayist, Drama Critic
I consider ethics, as well as religion, as supplements to law in the government of man.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
Idleness is the beginning of all vices.
—Common Proverb
A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world.
—Albert Camus (1913–60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist, Author
People need religion. It’s a vehicle for a moral tradition. A crucial role. Nothing can take its place.
—Irving Kristol (1920–2009) American Political Writer, Publisher
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.
—Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French Theologian, Musician, Philosopher, Physician
Humanity has every reason to place the proclaimers of high moral standards and values above the discoverers of objective truth. What humanity own to personalities like Buddha, Moses, and Jesus ranks for me higher than all the achievements of the of the inquiring constructive mind.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
In civilized life, law floats in a sea of ethics.
—Earl Warren (1891–1974) American Judge, Politician
Men of integrity, by their very existence, rekindle the belief that as a people we can live above the level of moral squalor. We need that belief; a cynical community is a corrupt community.
—John W. Gardner (1912–2002) American Activist
A man’s ethical behavior should be based effectively on sympathy, education, and social relationships; 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 (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
Nothing that is morally wrong can be politically right.
—William Ewart Gladstone (1809–98) English Liberal Statesman, Prime Minister
Relativity applies to physics, not ethics.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
The darkest hour in the history of any young man is when he sits down to study how to get money without honestly earning it.
—Horace Greeley (1811–72) American Elected Rep, Politician, Reformer, Editor
Ethics is nothing else than reverence for life.
—Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French Theologian, Musician, Philosopher, Physician
We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. 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.
—Omar Bradley (1893–1981) American Military Leader
Rich men without convictions are more dangerous in modern society than poor women without chastity.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Grub first, then ethics.
—Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) German Poet, Playwright, Theater Personality
Let me give you the definition of ethics: it is good to maintain life and to further life. It is bad to damage and destroy life. And this ethic, profound and universal, has the significance of a religion. It is religion.
—Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French Theologian, Musician, Philosopher, Physician