Source-backed quotations about moral duties, ethical principles, right conduct, conscience, fair dealing, justice and beneficence, responsibility to others, and the standards used to judge conduct. Ethics is kept distinct from generic Virtue, Character or Integrity when no explicit moral obligation, principle or judgment is central.
“Honour thy father and thy mother.”
Respect within family life is framed as an enduring obligation rather than something owed only when relationships are easy or convenient.
Exodus 20:12 in the King James Version; the commandment places honor for parents among core covenant duties.
“An invisible man is a man of power.”
Griffin treats invisibility primarily as power over other people, foreshadowing how technological possibility without restraint becomes domination and danger in the novel.
The Invisible Man, Chapter IX, “Mr. Thomas Marvel,” Project Gutenberg #5230. Griffin tells Thomas Marvel that “An invisible man is a man of power” while coercing the frightened stranger into becoming his helper; Chapter X begins immediately after this exchange. The line remains fictional character speech within Wells’s critique of Griffin’s power fantasy rather than a general endorsement of domination.
“Do the Duty which lies nearest thee”
The advice narrows attention from an overwhelming field of possibilities to the responsibility that is already clear enough to act on, with later duties expected to become clearer through action.
Sartor Resartus, Book II, Chapter IX, “The Everlasting Yea,” printed page 156 / Wikisource scan leaf 188 in The Works of Thomas Carlyle, Centenary Edition, Vol. I (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1896). “Do the Duty which lies nearest thee” follows the doubt/action sentence and is explicitly described as a precept that was of invaluable service to Teufelsdröckh. It remains fictional-philosophical and religious conduct-of-life rhetoric rather than a context-free productivity command.
“he must try to give happiness to others.”
Stevenson makes other people’s happiness part of ordinary moral duty even while admitting that a person may not possess a complete theory of goodness.
A Christmas Sermon, section III, first published in Scribner’s Magazine in 1888; Project Gutenberg #14535. Stevenson writes that although a person may not know exactly what goodness is or what will make another person happy, he must still try to be good and try to give happiness to others. The inherited section-II note is corrected here after direct source review. This is historical ethical / Christian-sermon argument rather than a guarantee of emotional outcomes.
“Let us have faith that right makes might.”
Lincoln reverses the idea that power establishes right, arguing that moral judgment should guide sustained political action rather than treating strength or intimidation as proof of justice.
Cooper Union Address, February 27, 1860, closing passage. Lincoln is defending Republican opposition to the extension of slavery into federal territories; the line retains that antislavery political context.
“By doing just actions we come to be just.”
Character is formed through repeated conduct: practicing just actions helps turn justice from an abstract ideal into a stable disposition.
Nicomachean Ethics, Book II; Aristotle explains virtue as something developed through corresponding actions.
“In politics we cannot keep our hands clean.”
Ratcliffe bluntly argues that political action can involve morally compromising choices, exposing the novel’s conflict between expediency and personal integrity.
Democracy: An American Novel, represented by Project Gutenberg #2815. Senator Silas Ratcliffe says this to Madeleine Lee while defending questionable acts in his political career. It is fictional character dialogue in Adams’s political novel, not Adams speaking autobiographically or prescribing political conduct.
“The Supreme Good is that which is honourable.”
Seneca defines the highest good in moral rather than material terms, making honorable character the standard for judging success.
Letter 71 argues that what is honorable is the only complete good.
“For action is indeed the sole medium of expression for ethics.”
Addams argues that ethical ideas become meaningful as social morality only when they are tested through concrete choices and conduct rather than remaining abstract commentary.
Democracy and Social Ethics, chapter “Political Reform,” Project Gutenberg #15487. Addams immediately contrasts moral action with merely speculating about morality, placing the sentence inside her Progressive Era social-ethics argument.
“A gentleman has no right to hurt a woman under any circumstances.”
Sergius recognizes that his claim to gentlemanly honor is incompatible with having physically hurt Louka, even though the scene also exposes his unstable chivalric self-image.
Arms and the Man, Act II, Project Gutenberg #3618. Sergius says “A gentleman has no right to hurt a woman under any circumstances” while apologizing after gripping Louka hard enough to bruise her; Louka immediately challenges the adequacy of his apology. The line is fictional dramatic dialogue that exposes contradictions in Sergius’s chivalric self-image rather than a complete legal or relationship rule.
“For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.”
Greater resources, knowledge, or authority create greater obligations rather than simply greater privilege.
Luke 12:48 in the King James Version; this excerpt keeps the central responsibility clause.
“Satire is of the nature of moral philosophy, as being instructive;”
Dryden treats satire as a literary form whose purpose includes moral instruction, then compares how classical satirists pursue that end.
A Discourse Concerning the Original and Progress of Satire, represented in Project Gutenberg #2615. 'Satire is of the nature of moral philosophy, as being instructive' occurs inside Dryden's comparison of Persius, Juvenal and Horace, immediately before his account of Persius's Stoic moral teaching. The source does not expose a formal subsection corresponding to the queue parser's incidental 'Discourse C' clue, so this record is routed directly to the reviewed passage without inventing a structural heading. It remains Restoration literary criticism and moral theory rather than a timeless definition binding every modern satire.
“It is much easier to make good men wise, than to make bad men good.”
Fielding distinguishes correcting the judgment of basically well-intentioned people from trying to reform people whose conduct is fundamentally committed to wrongdoing.
The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, concluding authorial reflection, Project Gutenberg #6593. Fielding explains one of the novel’s stated moral aims: prudence can protect virtue from traps that deceit and indiscretion create.
“The best way of avenging thyself is not to become like the wrong-doer.”
Retaliation can reproduce the conduct we condemn; the stronger response is to preserve one’s own standards.
Meditations, Book VI, in George Long’s translation.
“the higher the individualism the more sterile the life of the community.”
The narrator presents an abstract tension between extreme individualism and communal vitality within a broader satirical treatment of class and social systems.
The Country House, represented by Project Gutenberg #2772. The wording belongs to the novel’s narrator and appears amid ironic treatment of Mr. Pendyce’s theory and landed-class assumptions; it is literary social commentary, not a universal sociological law.
“The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?”
Bentham shifts the basis for moral consideration of animals away from intelligence or speech and toward the capacity to experience suffering.
An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, Chapter XVII, section 1 footnote, reviewed against the represented Liberty Fund text. Bentham's 'Can they suffer?' question appears in his argument that sentience, not species membership or speech, is morally relevant to cruelty; it remains historical utilitarian philosophy rather than current legal doctrine.
“the essential thing is to fulfil our simple duties and exercise elementary justice.”
Large moral ambitions are brought back to ordinary obligations: doing the nearby duty and treating people justly matters more than impressive declarations of principle.
The Simple Life, Chapter V, “Simple Duty,” Mary Louise Hendee translation, Project Gutenberg #23092; Wagner contrasts ordinary duty with inflated moral ambition.
“The best men are not consistent in good—why should the worst men be consistent in evil?”
Walter Hartright rejects a simple moral picture in which people behave with perfect consistency, allowing that even deeply flawed characters can act in mixed or unexpected ways.
The Woman in White, Third Epoch, ‘The Story Continued by Walter Hartright,’ section II, Project Gutenberg #583. Walter tells Marian ‘The best men are not consistent in good—why should the worst men be consistent in evil?’ while they assess Count Fosco after Marian reports his warning. It remains fictional moral reasoning about a particular antagonist rather than an empirical rule about human behavior.
“it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong”
Bentham states the utilitarian standard he uses to judge laws and institutions: their moral evaluation should turn on the happiness produced for the people affected.
A Fragment on Government, Preface (1776). Bentham introduces the 'greatest happiness of the greatest number' formulation as a fundamental axiom while arguing for criticism and reform of established law. This remains eighteenth-century utilitarian legal/political philosophy rather than a settled universal ethical or policy metric.
“The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right.”
Thoreau places personal moral judgment ahead of automatic obedience, arguing that conscience creates an individual responsibility to decide whether one’s own action is right.
Civil Disobedience, first published in 1849 as 'Resistance to Civil Government'; reviewed in the public-domain Miscellanies transcription. The obligation-to-do-right sentence occurs early in Thoreau's argument contrasting conscience with automatic deference to majority rule and law. It remains historical political philosophy rather than current legal advice or a blanket instruction to violate law.
“The most influential of all the virtues are those which are the most in request for daily use.”
Virtues become socially important when they guide routine dealings with other people rather than appearing only in exceptional or ceremonial situations.
Character, Chapter I, “Influence of Character,” Project Gutenberg #2541. In the chapter’s discussion of duty in ordinary life, Smiles argues that the virtues most needed in everyday conduct exert the widest and most lasting influence.
“But there is this terrible thing in evil thoughts, that evil minds soon grow familiar with them.”
The narrator warns that repeatedly entertaining a harmful idea can reduce the resistance a person initially feels toward acting on it.
The Black Tulip, Chapter VIII, “An Invasion,” Project Gutenberg #965. Exact-witness review corrects the inherited Chapter VI locator: the narrator says that evil minds soon grow familiar with evil thoughts immediately after Boxtel first shrinks from informing against Van Baerle and before he rationalizes the act.
“No false move should ever be made to extricate yourself out of a difficulty, or to gain an advantage.”
Franklin uses a rule of fair chess play as an ethical analogy: escaping difficulty through deception destroys trust and turns apparent advantage into unfair conduct.
Benjamin Franklin, The Morals of Chess, rule 3 in the reviewed public-domain Wikisource transcription. 'No false move should ever be made...' appears in Franklin's etiquette for fair play and functions as an ethical analogy about honesty in competition, not game-theory or behavioral-science evidence.
“The Law is what it is—a majestic edifice, sheltering all of us, each stone of which rests on another.”
The Judge invokes law as an interdependent institutional structure while refusing mercy to Falder, making the line part of the play’s examination of legal rigidity.
Justice, represented by Project Gutenberg #2911. Mr. Justice Floyd speaks during Falder’s sentencing. The line belongs to a dramatic judge inside Galsworthy’s social critique and should not be detached as the author’s unqualified endorsement of the sentence.
“When you have decided that a thing ought to be done, and are doing it, never avoid being seen doing it.”
Once judgment has concluded an action is right, misplaced criticism should not become a reason to hide or abandon the action.
Enchiridion, chapter 35, George Long translation; the following sentence distinguishes right action from fear of wrong criticism.
“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.”
Chesterton argues from within his Christian framework that failure to live up to an ideal should not automatically be treated as evidence that the ideal itself has been disproved.
What's Wrong with the World, Part One, Chapter V, ‘The Unfinished Temple,’ Project Gutenberg #1717. Chesterton argues that the Christian ideal was ‘found difficult; and left untried’ while claiming that older ideals failed through incomplete practice rather than exhaustion. It remains explicitly Christian and historical polemic rather than a neutral empirical rule about why institutions or ideals fail.
“He has a power and influence, both direct and indirect, which may be the means of much good or much evil.”
Dana argues that authority magnifies personal conduct: a leader’s character can improve or damage the behavior and conditions of the people under that authority.
The Seaman's Friend, represented by Project Gutenberg #40958 (fifth edition, 1847; copyright entered 1841). Dana is discussing the master of a merchant vessel and the effect of his conduct on officers and crew. This is nineteenth-century maritime professional guidance, not current maritime law.
“a magnanimous acceptance of privation or suffering for ourselves when it is the condition of good to others”
Eliot describes a form of acceptance that is active and relational rather than passive: willingly bearing a cost can become morally significant when that cost is genuinely required for another person’s good.
The Essays of George Eliot, essay VII, ‘Worldliness and Other-Worldliness: The Poet Young,’ around printed page 247, Project Gutenberg #28289. The frozen quote is a clause extracted from Eliot's longer enumeration of virtues grounded in human sympathy—neighbor's rights, participation in others' joys and sorrows, and accepting privation when it benefits others—inside her argument that such morality need not depend directly on belief in a future state. It remains Victorian literary/theological criticism rather than a complete empirical theory of altruism.
“Can we so educate a group of students that there will be in every one of them a conscience on which we can depend.”
The educational question shifts attention from acquiring information to developing dependable moral judgment, which Washington treats as a central test of character formation.
Character Building, “Each One His Part,” Project Gutenberg #60484. Washington asks whether Tuskegee can educate an individual conscience that performs small duties thoroughly even when no audience is watching; the question closes that address’s argument about conscientious responsibility.
“A nation's greatness is not dependent upon the things it makes and uses. Things without thots are mere vulgarities.”
Cooper rejects material production and display as sufficient measures of a nation, shifting the standard of greatness toward moral and intellectual life.
The Ethics of the Negro Question, delivered at the Friends’ General Conference in Asbury Park on September 5, 1902. Howard University preserves the primary address, and a public transcription reproduces the opening wording. Cooper’s spelling “thots” is retained from the represented transcription. This is historical civic and ethical argument, not a modern national-ranking metric.
“No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable.”
Smith rejects judging a society as broadly prosperous when the majority of the people who sustain it remain poor and unable to live tolerably well.
The Wealth of Nations, Book I, Chapter VIII, “Of the Wages of Labour,” Project Gutenberg #3300. Smith follows this sentence by arguing that workers who feed, clothe and lodge society should receive enough of the produce of their labour to be tolerably well fed, clothed and lodged.
“It may seem a strange principle to enunciate as the very first requirement in a Hospital that it should do the sick no harm.”
Nightingale begins hospital design from the principle that an institution created to care for sick people must first avoid adding preventable harm through its own conditions.
Notes on Hospitals, third edition (1863), Preface / opening requirement. In the represented Google Books copy the sentence is exposed in the front matter as “It may seem a strange principle to enunciate as the very first requirement in a Hospital that it should do the sick no harm.” This remains Nightingale’s nineteenth-century hospital-reform argument and historical professional evidence, not current medical guidance.
“the terms good and evil are only applied relatively, so that the same thing may be called both good and bad according to the relations in view,”
Spinoza asks readers to examine evaluative terms in relation to purposes and comparisons instead of assuming that every judgment of good or bad names an absolute property.
On the Improvement of the Understanding, section 12, Project Gutenberg #1016 in R. H. M. Elwes's public-domain English translation. Spinoza says the terms good and evil are applied relatively while introducing his distinction between ordinary relative goods and the true/highest good sought by the unfinished treatise. It remains translation-mediated seventeenth-century methodological philosophy rather than a claim that all moral distinctions are meaningless.
“all you can rightly do, or honourably become, depends on the government of these two instincts of order and kindness, by this great Imaginative faculty”
Imagination is given an ethical role in Ruskin’s argument: creative conception should be governed together with order and kindness rather than treated as detached fantasy.
Lectures on Art, Lecture III, Project Gutenberg #19164. This is Ruskin’s moral-aesthetic framework and remains a historical normative claim.
“The terrorist and the policeman both come from the same basket. Revolution, legality—counter moves in the same game; forms of idleness at bottom identical.”
The Professor collapses revolutionary violence and state policing into one contemptuous theory of power, revealing his alienated and absolutist political outlook.
The Secret Agent, Project Gutenberg #974. This is fictional dialogue spoken by the Professor, an extremist character; the novel does not present his equivalence between terrorism and policing as neutral political fact.
“The equality of married persons before the law, is not only the sole mode in which that particular relation can be made consistent with justice to both sides.”
Mill applies equal legal standing to marriage, arguing that a just relationship cannot rest on one adult possessing a superior legal status over the other.
The Subjection of Women (1869), Chapter II, printed page 78, Project Gutenberg #27083. Mill argues that equality of married persons before the law is required for justice to both sides and for marriage to become a school of moral cultivation rather than legal subordination.
“I believe in the equality of man, and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavouring to make our fellow-creatures happy.”
Paine’s profession of faith combines deistic belief with an ethical emphasis on equality, justice, mercy, and the practical happiness of other people.
The Age of Reason, Part I, Chapter I, “The Author’s Profession of Faith”; Moncure Daniel Conway collected/edited text represented by Project Gutenberg #3743 and cross-checked against Wikisource. The retained catalog wording says “I believe in the equality of man,” while the Conway/Gutenberg and Wikisource witness reads “I believe the equality of man.” This collection keeps its frozen legacy wording and discloses the edition-level variant rather than silently rewriting it. The passage is Paine’s deist profession of faith joining equality, justice, mercy and the happiness of fellow-creatures.
“The rules of justice are accurate in the highest degree, and admit of no exceptions or modifications, but such as may be ascertained as accurately as the rules themselves.”
Smith contrasts justice with looser virtues by arguing that its external obligations require unusually precise rules if people are to rely on one another.
The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Part III discussion of the general rules of morality; Smith contrasts exact rules of justice with more flexible rules of prudence and generosity.
“Women, I allow, may have different duties to fulfil; but they are human duties, and the principles that should regulate the discharge of them, I sturdily maintain, must be the same.”
Different roles do not require different moral standards; Wollstonecraft argues for common principles of responsibility and virtue.
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman; the passage rejects a separate moral standard built around sex rather than shared human duties.
“The object of the inspection principle is directly the reverse: it is to make them not only suspect, but be assured, that whatever they do is known, even though that should not be the case.”
Bentham distinguishes inspection from secret eavesdropping: the proposed system is meant to shape behavior by making people believe their actions may always be observed.
Panopticon; or, The Inspection-House, represented by the Wikisource public-domain transcription of the 1791 publication containing letters written in 1787. This is Bentham’s historical institutional and penal-design argument, not a modern endorsement of surveillance or prison policy.
Philosophical quotations are useful when they open a question rather than close it. A short line about truth, freedom, time, or meaning usually belongs to a larger argument.
Treat each quotation as an entry point. Compare authors, inspect the named source, and notice where two memorable lines offer incompatible answers to the same question.
These routes are drawn from the quotations loaded on this page and are meant as starting points, not extra topic labels.
Concise lines for readers who want the core idea without a long passage.
Quotations connected with deeper interpretation, perspective, philosophy, or sustained thought.
Lines connected with action, discipline, effort, habits, work, or perseverance.
Older works represented in the collection, useful for comparing how the topic changes across time.
Short quotations can sound more absolute than the larger source argument. These prompts help preserve useful distinctions while browsing ethics.
Compression can make philosophy sound more certain than the source really is. The meaning notes therefore explain the immediate idea without pretending to summarize an entire philosophy.
Era totals use the complete source-backed topic, not only the quotations loaded in the browse grid.
Each example comes from that writer’s complete source-backed intersection with this topic, not only from the quotations loaded above.
“The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?”
An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation · 1789Read meaning & context →“No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are…”
The Wealth of Nations · 1776Read meaning & context →“the higher the individualism the more sterile the life of the community.”
The Country House · 1907Read meaning & context →“Let us have faith that right makes might.”
Cooper Union Address · 1860Read meaning & context →“But there is this terrible thing in evil thoughts, that evil minds soon grow familiar with them.”
The Black Tulip · 1850Read meaning & context →“A nation's greatness is not dependent upon the things it makes and uses. Things without thots are mere…”
The Ethics of the Negro Question · 1902Read meaning & context →