Jonathan Sacks Quotes

Morality without religion is only a kind of dead reckoning - an endeavor to find our place on a cloudy sea by measuring the distance we have run, but without any observation of the heavenly bodies.

Churches come and go, but there has ever been but one religion. The only religion is conscience in action.

Tis certain that Morality is an indispensable Requisite of true Religion, and there can be none without it. But it would become the Pride and Ignorance of Pagans only, to magnify it, as the Whole of what is necessary.

Morality must always precede and accompany religion, and yet religion is much more than morality.

If your morals make you dreary, depend on it, they are wrong.

Morals are built on religious faith. Virtue is built on morality and influences a culture.

What are the values that give meaning? What is the line that you will never cross, because on this side you're good, and on this side you're evil.

Ye must leave righteous ways behind, not to speak of unrighteous ways.

Morality may exist in an atheist without any religion, and in a theist with a religion quite unspiritual.

I would teach my child to respect what is right - the word right is a difficult word to use - I would teach him to respect the intrinsic value of things. Do you see what I mean? The true proportion of things.

There is no true and abiding morality that is not founded in religion.

All true religion must stand on true morality.

No man's religion ever survives his morals.

Religion and morality are the essential pillars of civil society.

There is no real excellence in all of this world which can be separated from right living.

There has to be some kind of order and some moral code. I don't know how people can function without a belief in a deity.

Integrity is the core of our character. Without integrity, we have a weak foundation upon which to build other Christlike characteristics.

I don't want to do anything that violates my own personal code of ethics and morals.

Everything I do has a moral to it.

Mankind is not likely to salvage civilization unless he can evolve a system of good and evil which is independent of heaven and hell.

His faith perhaps in some nice tenets might be wrong; his life, I'm sure, was always in the right.

Faith is part of who I am, yes. I was raised Christian Scientist. The most important thing I saw every single week on the wall at Sunday school was the Golden Rule.

I'll never go against my morals.

If you don't believe in God, all you have to believe in is decency. Decency is very good. Better decent than indecent. But I don't think it's enough.

Religion can be both good and bad - it is spirituality that counts.