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Morality Quotes
"What is evil? - Whatever springs from weakness."
112
"Most of the evil in this world is done by people with good intentions."
108
"In some stories, it's easy. The moral of "The Three Bears," for instance, is "Never break into someone else's house." The moral of "Snow White" is "Never eat apples." The moral of World War One is "Never assassinate Archduke Ferdinand."
103
"But what worries me is not your shooting me, because after all, for people like us it's a natural death." He laid his glasses on the bed and took off his watch and chain. "What worries me," he went on, "is that out of so much hatred for the military, out of fighting them so much and thinking about them so much, you've ended up as bad as they are. And no ideal in life is worth that much baseness."
103
"Force always attracts men of low morality."
100
"If children were brought into the world by an act of pure reason alone, would the human race continue to exist? Would not a man rather have so much sympathy with the coming generation as to spare it the burden of existence, or at any rate not take it upon himself to impose that burden upon it in cold blood?"
98
"The rules of morality are not the conclusion of our reason."
89
"There is no such thing as moral phenomena, but only a moral interpretation of phenomena."
88
"One must not let oneself be misled: they say 'Judge not!' but they send to Hell everything that stands in their way."
84
"While some of them acknowledge the obligation of natural morality in their mode of conducting their cases, and preserve their individual character as gentlemen, there are others who acknowledge no law, human or divine, but the law of Scotland."
83
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible. And be kinder than is necessary."
83
"But magic is neither good nor evil. It is a tool, like a knife. Is a knife evil? Only if the wielder is evil."
79
"Mankind's true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply buried from view), consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals. And in this respect mankind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it."
79
"A man who preserves his integrity no real, long-lasting harm can ever come."
79
"I have to live for others and not for myself: that's middle-class morality."
77
"Angels are good not simply because they see bad as bad, but also because they see bad as corny."
76
"To be ashamed of one's immorality: that is a step on the staircase at whose end one is also ashamed of one's morality."
75
"To know what is right and not do it is the worst cowardice."
75
"Morality is the idiosyncrasy of decadents having the hidden desire to revenge themselves upon life " and being successful."
75
"The good men of every age are those who go to the roots of the old thoughts and bear fruit with them."
74
"Morality without a sense of paradox is mean."
73
"Don't swallow your moral code in tablet form."
71
"If anyone tells you that you cannot legislate morality, remeber that legislation IS morality."
70
"It is the job of thinking people not to be on the side of the executioners."
69
"As the sun does not wait for prayers and incantations tob e induced to rise, but immediately shines and is saluted by all, so do you also not wait for clappings of hands and shouts of praise tob e induced to do good, but be a doer of good voluntarily and you will be beloved as much as the sun."
69
"Values are the guiding principles through which you make choices and decisions. They are influenced by your beliefs, and will help you uphold a higher standard of personal character."
68
"No, it is not my sense of the immorality of the Humbert Humbert-Lolita relationship that is strong; it is Humbert's sense. He cares, I do not. I do not give a damn for public morals, in America or elsewhere. And, anyway, cases of men in their forties marrying girls in their teens or early twenties have no bearing on Lolita whatever. Humbert was fond of "little girls"-not simply "young girls." Nymphets are girl-children, not starlets and "sex kittens." Lolita was twelve, not eighteen, when Humbert met her. You may remember that by the time she is fourteen, he refers to her as his "aging mistress."
67
"Therefore the great mediator of any community is human morality."
66
"Anyone can perform good deeds for an audience, the best among us do their greatest work when no one is present to bear witness."
65
"I would rather be a little nobody, then to be a evil somebody."
65
"I think a servant of the enemy would look fairer and feel fouler."
64
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby becomes a monster."
63
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