ethics Quotes

At his best, a human is the noblest animal; without laws and justice, he is the worst.

If the poor, for example, because they are more in number, divide among themselves the property of the rich,- is not this unjust? . . this law of confiscation clearly cannot be just.

Temperance and bravery, then, are ruined by excess and deficiency, but preserved by the mean.

Indeed, we may go further and assert that anyone who does not delight in fine actions is not even a good man.

Happiness, then, is found to be something perfect and self-sufficient, being the end to which our actions are directed.

The truly good and wise man will bear all kinds of fortune in a seemly way, and will always act in the noblest manner that the circumstances allow.

Virtue also depends on ourselves. And so also does vice. For where we are free to act we are also free to refrain from acting, and where we are able to say No we are also able to say Yes;... ...

Happiness is an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue

Of cases where a man is truthful both in speech and conduct when no considerations of honesty come in, from an habitual sincerity of disposition. Such sincerity may be esteemed a moral excellence; for the lover of truth, who is... ...

The moral virtues, then, are produced in us neither by nature nor against nature. Nature, indeed, prepares in us the ground for their reception, but their complete formation is the product of habit.