Susan Minot Quotes

To be ashamed of one's immorality: that is a step on the staircase at whose end one is also ashamed of one's morality.

Wrong is for other people.

Would that the simple maxim, that honesty is the best policy, might be laid to heart; that a sense of the true aim of life might elevate the tone of politics and trade till public and private honor become identical.

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 woman of honor should never suspect another of things she would not do herself.

I find that people... very few people think that what they're doing is bad, and usually the people who think what they're doing is bad it has more to do with guilt.

Men are more moral than they think and far more immoral than they can imagine.

Actions will be judged according to intentions.

A good man with a good conscience doesn't walk so fast.

I thank God that I left office the same way I came in: with integrity.

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.

Character is much easier kept than recovered.

Conscience is the sentinel of virtue.

Live so that you can at least get the benefit of the doubt.

Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us.

Regardless of what society says, we can't go on much longer in the sea of immorality without judgment coming.

Success is the sole earthly judge of right and wrong.

What is moral is what you feel good after, and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.

About morals, I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.

A life in politics is for people who know themselves and know where their own line is between loyalty and honesty.

If principles don't determine what you are going to pass or do, then power will.

Consider what you think justice requires, and decide accordingly. But never give your reasons; for your judgment will probably be right, but your reasons will certainly be wrong.

Law is not self-executing. Unfortunately, at times its execution rests in the hands of those who are faithless to it. And even when its enforcement is committed to those who revere it, law merely deters some human beings from offending, and punishes other human beings for offending. This does not make men good. This task can be performed only by ethics or religion or morality.

That which is morally wrong will never be politically right.

People should be judged by the principles they espouse and the principles they betray.