J. G. Ballard Quotes

Right is right, and wrong is wrong, and a body ain’t got no business doing wrong when he ain’t ignorant and knows better.

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

If you do not know the laws of right conduct, you cannot form your character.

Those ethical choices often are made every day at a time, minute by minute in ways that you may not even relate to ethics, so I'm going to walk them through the whole story from that perspective and hopefully they'll be able to walk away with something good from it.

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

Ordinary morality is only for ordinary people.

Morality is not just any old topic in psychology but close to our conception of the meaning of life. Moral goodness is what gives each of us the sense that we are worthy human beings.

I try not to do anything that's immoral.

Morality is a social necessity

I always felt like I was doing the right thing.

Basic moral values must therefore first be internalized in the hearts and minds of its people before we can hope to enforce legislation reflecting these values

Ethics are pre-determined and a matter of discovery, not a evolved concept.

I've still got my senses about me, and I know what's right and wrong, which is the main thing.

Conscience is a man's compass, and though the needle sometimes deviates, though one often perceives irregularities in directing one's course by it, still one must try to follow its direction.

You are wrong, sir, if you think that a man who is any good at all should take into account the risk of life or death; he should look to this only in his actions, whether what he does is right or wrong, whether he is acting like a good or a bad man.

Morality must relate, at some level, to the well-being of conscious creatures. If there are more and less effective ways for us to seek happiness and to avoid misery in this world - and there clearly are - then there are right and wrong answers to questions of morality.

I'm not any more moral than my neighbors.

In day-to-day life, you have stimulus to behave unethically, but in the long term, it always pays off to be ethical.

You're either a person with a conscience, or you're not. I think I've got quite a fine conscience.

The purpose of morality is to teach you, not to suffer and die, but to enjoy yourself and live.

Call me old-fashioned, but I believe that morality is not just a matter of opinion.

Right and wrong are not simply matters of evolutionary impacts and what is natural.

A moral being is one who is capable of reflecting on his past actions and their motives - of approving of some and disapproving of others.

Relationships do not preclude issues of morality.

Without ethics, man has no future. This is to say, mankind without them cannot be itself. Ethics determine choices and actions and suggest difficult priorities.