Quotes about Ethics

You can find justification for slavery in the Bible. Some say this is what the Bible says and that closes the argument.

Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good; and for this reason the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim.

The art of governing consists simply of being honest, exercising common sense, following principle, and doing what is right and just.

What thou meanest by seizing the whole earth; but because I do it with a petty ship, I am called a robber, whilst thou who dost it with a great fleet art styled emperor.

We must learn to help those who deserve it, not just those who need it. Life responds to deserve not need.

The point is that if there is no God, then objective right and wrong do not exist. As Dostoyevsky said, "All things are permitted.

So how do you find out what God thinks? The Christian says, you look in the Bible. And the Bible tells us that God forbids homosexual acts. Therefore, they are wrong. So basically the reasoning goes like this: (1) We are all obligated to do God's will. (2) God's will is expressed in the Bible. (3) The Bible forbids homosexual behavior. (4) Therefore, homosexual behavior is against God's will, or is wrong.

This means we do not ignore the particularity of biblical commands (and apply them to our own day as if they were timeless universals). Nor are we paralysed by their particularity (and thus unable to apply them to our day at all). We rejoice in their particularity because it shows us how the will of God was expressed in their context, and we take them as our paradigm for our own ethical construction.21

Righteousness can never be legislated. It is a matter of the heart.

Wickedness consists in the very hesitation about an act, even though it be not perpetrated.

Guilt is present in the very hesitation, even though the deed be not committed.

A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues.