Joseph Hall Quotes

The act of willing this or that, of choosing among various courses of conduct, is central in the realm of ethics.

An act has no ethical quality whatever unless it be chosen out of several all equally possible.

The world, the wise world, that never is wrong itself, judges always by events. And if he should use me ill, then I shall be blamed for trusting him: if well, O then I did right, to be sure!--But how would my censurers act in my case, before the event justifies or condemns the action, is the question.

When we judge, we create negative karma. When we say of an action: 'This is right,' or, 'That is wrong,' we create negative karma.

[R]eason is... given to us as a practical faculty, that is, as one that influences the will.

Each decision - to kill, to sign a petition, to write a letter, to make a speech, to attack, to lie, to surrender - was made at some point in somebody's day.

Moral truth, resting entirely upon the ascertained consequences of actions, supposes a process of observation and reasoning.

It would be most right, and most wise, and, therefore must involve least suffering.

The rules of morality are not the conclusion of our reason.

In matters of conscience, first thoughts are best. In matters of prudence, last thoughts are best.

Our moral traditions developed concurrently with our reason, not as its product.

The light of lights looks always on the motive, not the deed, the shadow of shadows on the deed alone.

Discretion is the perfection of reason, and a guide to us in all the duties of life.

I would like us to think about it more explicitly, and not take our intuitions as the given of ethics, but rather to reflect on it, and be more open about the fact that something is an ethical issues and think what we ought to do about it.

All my books deal with the effect of intent upon action, how our understanding of good and evil depends heavily on context.

I would not hold that we must judge by the favorable or adverse result alone whether an undertaking was just or unjust.

What is permitted is not always wise.

My only fear is doing something contrary to human nature - the wrong thing, the wrong way, or at the wrong time.

It is very questionable, in my mind, how far we have the right to judge one of another, since there is born within every man the germs of both virtue and vice. The development of one or the other is contingent upon circumstances.

Science, by itself, cannot supply us with an ethic. It can show us how to achieve a given end, and it may show us that some ends cannot be achieved. But among ends that can be achieved our choice must be decided by other than purely scientific considerations. If a man were to say, "I hate the human race, and I think it would be a good thing if it were exterminated," we could say, "Well, my dear sir, let us begin the process with you." But this is hardly argument, and no amount of science could prove such a man mistaken.

Conscience serves us especially to judge of the actions of others.

One’s concern with the ethics of means and ends varies inversely with one’s personal interest in the issue.

Zoroaster said, when in doubt abstain; but this does not always apply. At cards, when in doubt take the trick.

Wise is what you want to be. Smart is easy compared to wise.

Common sense doesn't have the last word in ethics or anywhere else, but it has, as J. L. Austin said about ordinary language, the first word: it should be examined before it is discarded.