James Q. Wilson Quotes

It is the essence of responsibility to put the public good ahead of personal gain.

Liberty without virtue would be no blessing to us.

An uplifting sense of purpose is more than an impetus for individual accomplishment, it is also a necessary insurance policy against expediency and impropriety.

My public life is before you; and I know you will believe me when I say, that when I sit down in solitude to the labours of my profession, the only questions I ask myself are, What is right? What is just? What is for the public good?

Everyone tries to define this thing called Character. It's not hard. Character is doing what's right when nobody's looking.

The ages of greatest public spirit are not always eminent for private virtue.

I'm not a politician. I don't want to be a politician, because politicians do what is politically expedient. I want to do what's right.

Without a moral framework, there is nothing left but immediate self-indulgence by some and the path of least resistance by others. Neither can sustain a free society.

Good government is the outcome of private virtue.

What the statesman is most anxious to produce is a certain moral character in his fellow citizens, namely a disposition to virtue and the performance of virtuous actions.

Laws control the lesser man... Right conduct controls the greater one.

It is possible for one never to transgress a single law and still be a bastard.

Wherefore for the public interest and benefit of human society it is requisite that the highest obligations possible should be laid upon the consciences of men.

Men are more accountable for their motives, than for anything else; and primarily, morality consists in the motives, that is in the affections.

Freedom is not the liberty do anything whatsoever. It is the freedom to do good

The best citizens were supposed to desire honest men in office, men who would not take bribes, men who would appoint high-minded men as their subordinates, men who would look after the public interest, see that public charities were well supported.

Politics is not the nicest business, but there are still times when people do the right thing.

I try to act as a man of character if no one is watching or if the world is watching.

Throughout my life, I have always tried to do what is right.

There are two freedoms - the false, where a man is free to do what he likes; the true, where he is free to do what he ought.

Morality is a private and costly luxury.

Every night I go over what I did in the day, in ethical or moral terms. Have I treated people properly? Did I tell the truth?

A man should be upright, not be kept upright.

I learned one thing in Watergate: I was well-intentioned but rationalized illegal behavior. You cannot live your life other than walking in the truth. Your means are as important as your ends.