Quotes about Ethics
Through our scientific and technological genius we've made of this world a neighborhood. And now through our moral and ethical commitment we must make of it a brotherhood. We must all learn to live together as brothers—or we will all perish together as fools.
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty.
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and think critically. Intelligence plus character; that is the goal of a true education.
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
noncooperation with evil is just as much a moral duty as is cooperation with good.
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight.
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
The greatest blasphemy of the whole ugly process was that the white man ended up making God his partner in the exploitation of the Negro. What greater heresy has religion known? Ethical Christianity vanished and the moral nerve of religion was atrophied. This terrible distortion sullied the essential nature of Christianity.
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
Ik raakte ervan overtuigd dat niet meewerken aan een slechte zaak net zo goed een morele verplichting inhoudt als meewerken aan iets goeds.
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but... groups tend to be more immoral than individuals.
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself This is difference made legal. By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal.
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
The time is always right to do what's right.
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.
— Martin Luther King, Jr.