"His soul swayed in a vertigo of moral indecision. He had only to snap the thread of a rash vow made to a villainous society, and all his life could be as open and sunny as the square beneath him. He had, on the other other hand, only to keep his antiquated honour, and be delivered inch by inch into the power of this great enemy of mankind, whose very intellect was a torture-chamber. Whenever he looked down into the square he saw the comfortable policeman, a pillar of common sense and common order. Whenever he looked back at the breakfast-table he saw the President still quietly studying him with big, unbearable eyes."

Ethics, Moral, Indecision, Honor, Power

10

Create Your Own Wallpaper

Standard

Customized

"His soul swayed in a vertigo of moral indecision. He had only to snap the thread of a rash vow made to a villainous society, and all his life could be as open and sunny as the square beneath him. He had, on the other other hand, only to keep his antiquated honour, and be delivered inch by inch into the power of this great enemy of mankind, whose very intellect was a torture-chamber. Whenever he looked down into the square he saw the comfortable policeman, a pillar of common sense and common order. Whenever he looked back at the breakfast-table he saw the President still quietly studying him with big, unbearable eyes."

Exlpore more Ethics quotes

"But you can't just leave it at that!" said Anathema, pushing forward. "Think of all things you could do! Good things."Like what?" said Adam suspiciously."Well... you could bring all the whales back, to start with."He put his head on one side. "An' that'd stop people killing them?"She hesitated. It would have been nice to say yes."An' if people do start killing 'em, what would you ask me to do about 'em?" said Adam. "No. I reckon I'm getting the hang of this now. Once I start messing around like that, there'd be no stoppin' it. Seems to me, the only sensible thing is for people to know if they kill a whale, they've got a dead whale."

Terry Pratchett, English Author

Ethics, Environment, Morality, Responsibility, Power

"Religion [dharma] is that where there is no irreligion (adharma, immorality). Religion cannot exist where there is irreligion. There can be only one or the other. Behind every intention, there is either [the force of] religion or [the force of] irreligion."

Dada Bhagwan, Indian Spiritual Leader

Ethics, Religion, Morality, Truth, Wisdom

"Doing good things for bad people is no different than doing bad things on good people."

M.F. Moonzajer, Afghan Author

Ethics, Morality, Justice, Truth, Regret

"We are all flawed and creatures of our times. Is it fair to judge us by the unknown standards of the future?"

Carl Sagan, American Scientist

Ethics, Judgment, Fairness, Time, Perspective

"Because sometimes you have to do something bad to do something good."

Oscar Wilde, Irish Dramatist

Ethics, Morality, Action, Truth, Justice

"There is one thing, Emma, which a man can always do if he chooses, and that is his duty; not by manoeuvring and finessing, but by vigour and resolution. - Mr. Knightley."

Jane Austen, British Writer

Ethics, Duty, Resolution, Virtue, Action

"Of course, in the process, you must never do harm to others in any serious way, or you'll cease to amuse Him. Then payment comes due for promises you didn't keep."

Dean Koontz, American Author

Ethics, Promise, Responsibility, Harm

"It is better to be slave to righteousness than slave to sin."

Lailah Gifty Akita, Ghanaian Author

Ethics, Righteousness, Sin, Faith, Choice

"Happiness at any price is no happiness at all."

Abdulazeez Henry Musa, Nigerian Author

Ethics, Happiness, Morality, Selfishness, Empathy

"Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience, then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right."

Henry David Thoreau, American Author

Ethics, Conscience, Law, Morality, Rights

Explore more quotes by Gilbert K. Chesterton

"It is quite futile to argue that man is small compared to the cosmos, for man was always small compared to the nearest tree."

Perspective

"A puddle repeats infinity, and is full of light; nevertheless, if analyzed objectively, a puddle is a piece of dirty water spread very thin on mud."

Nature

"Job is an optimist. He shakes the pillars of the world and strikes insanely at the heavens; he lashes the stars, but it is not to silence them; it is to make them speak."

Strength

"A man reading the Dickens novel wished that it might never end. Men read a Dickens story six times because they knew it so well."

Literature

"The modern materialists are not permitted to doubt, they are forbidden to believe."

Philosophy

"And they that rule in England, in stately conclaves met, alas, alas for England they have no graves as yet."

Politics

"When modern sociologists talk of the necessity of accommodating one's self to the trend of the time, they forget that the trend of the time at its best consists entirely of people who will not accommodate themselves to anything. At its worst it consists of many millions of frightened creatures all accommodating themselves to a trend that is not there. And that is becoming more and more the situation...Every man speaks of public opinion, and means by public opinion, public opinion minus his opinion."

Society

"Once I thought it delightful and astonishing to find a present so big that it only went halfway into the stocking. Now I am delighted and astonished every morning to find a present so big that it takes two stockings to hold it, and then leaves a great deal outside; it is the large and preposterous present of myself."

Self

"The books that influence the world are those that it has not read."

Knowledge

"The word "good" has many meanings. For example, if a man were to shoot his grandmother at a range of five hundred yards, I should call him a good shot, but not necessarily a good man."

Perspective