No moral system can rest solely1 on authority.
A. J. Ayer (1910 - 1989), Humanist Outlook
Ethics2, too, are nothing but reverence3 for life. That is what gives me the fundamental principle of morality, namely, that good consists in maintaining, promoting, and enhancing life, and that destroying, injuring, and limiting life are evil.
Albert Schweitzer (1875 - 1965), Civilization and Ethics, Preface
Good laws have their origins in bad morals.
Ambrosius Macrobius
Compassion4 is the basis of all morality.
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 - 1860)
The people who are regarded as moral luminaries5 are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering6 with the pleasures of others.
Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970)
We have, in fact, two kinds of morality side by side: one which we preach but do not practice, and another which we practice but seldom preach.
Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970), Sceptical Essays (1928), "Eastern and Western Ideals of Happiness"
There is no moral precept7 that does not have something inconvenient8 about it.
Denis Diderot (1713 - 1784)
Morality is herd9 instinct in the individual.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900), The Gay Science, section 116
I say that a man must be certain of his morality for the simple reason that he has to suffer for it.
G. K. Chesterton (1874 - 1936)
An Englishman thinks he is moral when he is only uncomfortable.
George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950), Man and Superman (1903) act 3
The difference between a moral man and a man of honor is that the latter regrets a discreditable act, even when it has worked and he has not been caught.
H. L. Mencken (1880 - 1956), 'Prejudices: Fourth Series,' 1924
Truth is the secret of eloquence10 and of virtue11, the basis of moral authority; it is the highest summit of art and life.
Henri-Frédéric Amiel
Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something.
Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862), Walden, 1854
Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something.
Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862)
Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right.
Isaac Asimov (1920 - 1992)
History is a voice forever sounding across the centuries the laws of right and wrong. Opinions alter, manners change, creeds12 rise and fall, but the moral law is written on the tablets of eternity13.
James A. Forude
Taste is not only a part and index of morality, it is the only morality. The first, and last, and closest trial question to any living creature is "What do you like?" Tell me what you like, I'll tell you what you are.
John Ruskin (1819 - 1900)
Scandal is great entertainment because it allows people to feel contempt, a moral emotion that gives feeling of moral superiority while asking nothing in return.
Jonathan Haidt, The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom, 2005
The higher the buildings, the lower the morals.
Noel Coward (1899 - 1973)
Morality, like art, means drawing a line someplace.
Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)
Scandal is gossip made tedious by morality.
Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), Lady Windermere's Fan, 1892, Act III
The ability to see beauty is the beginning of our moral sensibility. What we believe is beautiful we will not wantonly destroy.
Reverend Sean Parker Dennison, Ministrare, 2-10-05
I believe that in this generation those with the courage to enter the conflict will find themselves with companions in every corner of the world.
Robert F. Kennedy (1925 - 1968), Day of affirmation, address delivered at the University of Capetown, South Africa, June 6, 1966
If your morals make you dreary14, depend on it , they are wrong.
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894)
Perfection of moral virtue does not wholly take away the passions, but regulates them.
Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225 - 1274)
The soul is the captain and ruler of the life of morals.
Sallust (86 BC - 34 BC)
'Wrong' is one of those concepts that depends on witnesses.
Scott Adams (1957 - ), Dilbert, 11-05-09
I have never believed there was one code of morality for a public and another for a private man.
Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826)
All sects15 are different, because they come from men; morality is everywhere the same, because it comes from God.
Voltaire (1694 - 1778)
