"I need no master to punish me in order to behave as I ought. If I did, I would be no more than a child who obeys his father's rules only because he fears the whip, and not because he actually means good."

Morality, Obedience, Responsibility, Truth

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"I need no master to punish me in order to behave as I ought. If I did, I would be no more than a child who obeys his father's rules only because he fears the whip, and not because he actually means good."

Exlpore more Morality quotes

"...evil must constantly respawn, while good, while virtue, is immortal. Vice has always a new fresh young face, while virtue is venerable as nothing else in the world is."

John Steinbeck, American Author

Morality, Evil, Virtue, Immortality

"The malice thus becomes wholly real and the benevolence largely imaginary."

C. S. Lewis, British Author

Morality, Malice, Benevolence, Reality, Imagination

"We perhaps know more than we care to admit, keeping it down in the dark places of our memory-disavowed. When we eat factory-farmed meat we live, literally, on tortured flesh. Increasingly, that tortured flesh is becoming our own."

Jonathan Safran Foer, American Novelist

Morality, Suffering, Memory, Ethics, Animals

"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."

Gilbert K. Chesterton, English Writer

Morality, Action, Judgment, Ethics

"One man thinks justice consists in paying debts, and has no measure in his abhorrence of another who is very remiss in this duty and makes the creditor wait tediously. But that second man has his own way of looking at things; asks himself Which debt must I pay first, the debt to the rich, or the debt to the poor? the debt of money or the debt of thought to mankind, of genius to nature? For you, O broker, there is not other principle but arithmetic. For me, commerce is of trivial import; love, faith, truth of character, the aspiration of man, these are sacred."

Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Poet

Morality, Debt, Justice, Truth

"There are sins much more serious than socio-pathologies which really are mental illnesses, whereas self-righteousness is an illness of the soul."

R. Alan Woods, American Author

Morality, Sin, Truth, Wisdom

"Violence is not the answer. Terrorism is the most dangerous of answers."

Elie Wiesel, American Novelist

Morality, Violence, Terrorism, Conflict

"The Ten Commandments are the most visible symbol because these commandments are recognized by Christians and Jews alike as being the foundation of our system of public morality."

Pat Robertson, American Clergyman

Morality, Being, Public, Symbol

"On the whole human beings want to be good, but not too good, and not quite all the time."

George Orwell, British Author

Morality, Humanity, Behavior, Limit

"Morality without a sense of paradox is mean."

Karl Schlegel, German Philosopher

Morality, Paradox, Sense

Explore more quotes by Christopher Paolini

"If any honor existed in war, it was in fighting to protect others from harm."

Honor

"Let'sss just kill him," said the shorter Ra'zac. "He has caused us much grief." The taller one ran his finger down his sword. "A good plan. But remember, the king's instructions were to keep them alive."-from Eragon, Chapter Title: The Ra'zac's Revenge."

Conflict

"Who is it who decides that one man should live and another should die? My life wasn't worth any more than his, but he's the one who's buried, while I get to enjoy at least a few more hours above the ground. Is it chance, random and cruel, or is there some purpose or pattern to all this, even if it lies beyond our ken?"

Fate

"I won't tell you what to believe, Eragon. It is far better to be taught to think critically and then be allowed to make your own decisions than to have someone else's notions thrust upon you."

Philosophy

"I'll fight when needed, revel when there's an occasion, mourn when there is grief and die if my time comes...But I will not let anyone use me against my will."

Autonomy

"Live in the present, remember the past, and fear not the future, for it doesn't exist and never shall. There is only now."

Mindfulness

"Whatever you make, base it upon that which is most important to you. Only then will it have depth and meaning, and only then will it resonate with others."

Creativity

"Wise? No, I simply learned to think."

Knowledge

"When you teach them-teach them not to fear. Fear is good in small amounts, but when it is a constant, pounding companion, it cuts away at who you are and makes it hard to do what you know is right."

Fear

"When the sun touched the earth, it spread out along the horizon like a giant yolk oozing free of its skin."

Nature