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Quotes about morality

501 quotes from 241 people

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Conscience is but a word that cowards use,
Devised at first to keep the strong in awe.
Our strong arms be our conscience, swords our law.
William Shakespeare1564–1616Richard III (c. 1593), Act V, Scene III, spoken by King RichardIn context
- Courage
- Power
Murder most foul, as in the best it is;
But this most foul, strange, and unnatural.
William Shakespeare1564–1616Hamlet (c. 1600), Act I, Scene V, spoken by GhostIn context
- Good & Evil
Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill.
William Shakespeare1564–1616Macbeth (c. 1606), Act III, Scene II, spoken by MacbethIn context
- Good & Evil
Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall.
William Shakespeare1564–1616Measure for Measure (c. 1604), Act II, Scene I, spoken by EscalusIn context
- Good & Evil
- Virtue
Hell is paved with good intentions, not with bad ones. All men mean well.
George Bernard Shaw1856–1950Man and Superman (1903), Maxims for Revolutionists, p. 239 Good Intentions
A Native American elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner: Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time. When asked which dog wins, he reflected.
George Bernard Shaw1856–1950
The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that’s the essence of inhumanity.
George Bernard Shaw1856–1950The Devil’s Disciple, Act II (1901)
- Good & Evil
The confusion of marriage with morality has done more to destroy the conscience of the human race than any other single error.
George Bernard Shaw1856–1950Man and Superman (1903), p. 121
- Marriage
Those who understand evil pardon it.
George Bernard Shaw1856–1950Maxims for Revolutionists (1903), #167
- Forgiveness
- Good & Evil
I have to live for others and not for myself; that’s middle-class morality.
George Bernard Shaw1856–1950Pygmalion (1912), Act VIn context
Do not do unto others as you would expect they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same.
George Bernard Shaw1856–1950Maxims for Revolutionists (1903), #1
- Comedy
The salvation of the world depends on the men who will not take evil good-humouredly, and whose laughter destroys the fool instead of encouraging him.
George Bernard Shaw1856–1950Quintessence Of Ibsenism (1891; 1913)
- Good & Evil
- Laughter
I ask you, what am I? I’m one of the undeserving poor: that’s what I am. Think of what that means to a man.
George Bernard Shaw1856–1950Pygmalion (1912), Act II, spoken by DoolittleIn context
- Money
Remember, that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam; but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed. Every where I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous.
Mary Shelley1797–1851Frankenstein (1818), Chapter XIn context
All, save I, were at rest or in enjoyment: I, like the arch-fiend, bore a hell within me; and, finding myself unsympathised with, wished to tear up the trees, spread havoc and destruction around me, and then to have sat down and enjoyed the ruin.
Mary Shelley1797–1851Frankenstein (1818), Chapter XVIIn context
- Anger
- Good & Evil