Ed Markey Quotes

Evil acts of the past are never rectified by evil acts of the present.

Two wrongs don't make a right, but they make a good excuse.

I consider myself a fairly ethical individual while I do have a lot of dichotomies within me. We're all victims of our own hypocrisy at times.

Greatness is not manifested by unlimited pragmatism, which places such a high premium on the end justifying any means and any methods.

A man is usually more careful of his money than he is of his principles.

Virtue cannot separate itself from reality without becoming a principle of evil.

I cannot grasp the difference between killing people with drones or rifles and knives. The objective in war is to kill the enemy before he kills you. I can't fathom the almost religious zeal with which the use of drones is being opposed.

I don't want to have to compromise my morals in order to make a living.

But rarely have I made choices that made me feel I was really compromising what I believe.

Enhanced interrogation is not to be considered lightly, but the use of enhanced interrogation techniques does not require moral people to abandon their beliefs. Rather, it is precisely during these difficult times that one's beliefs about life, justice and mercy become indispensible.

Don’t put yourself in a situation where you will not be able to achieve your ideals without violating them.

No information that we could ever obtain by torture and inhumane methods could ever balance the damage that such practices would cause us.

There’s nothing more important than people’s conscience and there’s nothing that needs more protection.

To put one's trust in violent means in the hope of restoring more justice is to become the victim of a fatal illusion: violence begets violence and degrades man. It mocks the dignity of man in the person of the victims and it debases that same dignity among those who practice it.

One who becomes compassionate to the cruel will ultimately become cruel to the compassionate

This question [torture] is not about our enemies; it is about us. We need not risk our national honor to prevail in any war.

Seeking justice is always our goal, but we see many too willing to circumvent that.

Hypocrisy is an homage that vice renders to virtue.

Nature has placed the need to see justice done in some souls, and the need to flout and affront it in others.

My Lawyer being practiced almost from his Cradle in defending Falsehood; is quite out of his Element when he would be an Advocate for Justice, which as an Office unnatural, he always attempts with great Awkwardness if not with Ill-will.

... the moral equal of our Founding Fathers.

You need a high degree of corruption or a very big heart to love absolutely everything

If we condone torture, we yield the moral high ground to our enemies and encourage anyone who hates us to stoop to using that subhuman level against us. We reap whatever we sow.

Temporary deviations from fundamental principles are always more or less dangerous. When the first pretext fails, those who become interested in prolonging the evil will rarely be at a loss for other pretexts.

I believe the United States of America must remain a standard bearer in the conduct of war. That is what makes us different from those whom we fight. That is a source of our strength. That is why I prohibited torture. That is why I ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed. And that is why I have reaffirmed America's commitment to abide by the Geneva conventions. We lose ourselves when we compromise the very ideals that we fight to defend.