George Eliot Quotes

There is no such thing as good and bad in an absolute sense. There is only the good and bad- the harm in terms of happiness and suffering- that our thoughts and our actions do to ourselves and others.

The result justifies the deed.

Those who are ashamed of what they ought not to be ashamed; and are not ashamed of what they ought to be - such men, embracing erroneous views, enter the woeful path.

Men think they may justly do that for which they have a precedent.

The end justifies the means only when the means used are such as actually bring about the desired and desirable end.

the ends never justify the means because IT never ends.

An ethic isn't a fact you can look up. It's a way of thinking.

If it's anything that's going to result in suffering to animals or people, then I don't think [the end] justifies the means... Yeah; but then again if you could hurt ten people to save 100 people and there was no option, what would you do? I can't really address that.

Once we assuage our conscience by calling something a "necessary evil", it begins to look more and more necessary and less and less evil.

If the end is right, it justifies the beans!

The fault of the utilitarian doctrine is that it mistakes impersonality for impartiality.

The end justifies the means. But what if there never is an end? All we have is means.

I'm offended by the is-ought fallacy, which has been used to justify slavery, women not being allowed to vote, children working in factories.

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.

Absolute virtue is impossible and the republic of forgiveness leads, with implacable logic, to the republic of the guillotine.

Justification is a remarkable thing-takes all those solid lines and blurs them, so that honor becomes as supple as a willow, and ethics burst like soap bubbles.

Any humane and reasonable person must conclude that if the ends, however desireable, are uncertain and the means are horrible and certain, these means must not be employed.

Shall ignorance of good and ill Dare to direct the eternal will? Seek virtue, and of that possest, To Providence resign the rest.

I'll do what I can to promote the greater good. If you can harm one person to save 1,000, I'm gonna do it every f**king time.

Evil is a point of view.

There is only one justification for having sinned, and that is to be glad of it.

The commonest weakness of our race is our ability to rationalize our most selfish purposes.

With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.

Is not every action of Hamlet induced by a fanatical impulse, which tells him that duty consists in revenge alone? And dose it need superhuman efforts to recognize that revenge never can be duty? I say again that Hamlet thinks much, but that he is by no means wise.

Where two motives, neither of them perfectly justifiable, may be assigned, the worst has the chance of being preferred.