John Brown Quotes

[Humans'] capacity to intervene, to compare, to judge, to decide, to choose, to desist makes them capable of acts of greatness, of dignity, and, at the same time, of the unthinkable in terms of indignity.

The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to the other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creatures that cannot.

Men do monstrous things but if you call a man a monster you have absolved yourself of blame. You don't have to think that you might ever do these things. I don't think that's true

...guilt leads to righteous action, but rarely is it the right action.

Those who really deserve praise are the people who, while human enough to enjoy power, nevertheless pay more attention to justice than they are compelled to do by their situation.

My work is to be honest. My work is to try to think clearly, then have the courage to make sure that what I say is the truth.

Honor was never taking the easy way when it was also the wrong one. Never telling a falsehood unless the truth was painful and unnecessary, or a lie was necessary to save others. Never manipulating the truth to serve only yourself. Protecting the weak and helpless; standing fast even when fear made you weak. Keeping your word.

T is the will that makes the action good or ill.

But they who are unconcerned about the consequences of their actions are not therefore unconcerned about their actions.

Our virtues are voluntary (and in fact we are in a sense ourselves partly the cause of our moral dispositions, and it is our having a certain character that makes us set up an end of a certain kind), it follows that our vices are voluntary also; they are voluntary in the same manner as our virtues.

Humans have more moral responsibility perhaps, because they are capable of reasoning.

A world without God cannot wait for us to choose the safe path. If we wait for someone else to take the risk, we risk that no one will ever act and that nothing will ever be accomplished.

Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment, and learn again to exercise his will - his personal responsibility in the realm of faith and morals.

What influences our behavior, and what our level of responsibility is, are very complex issues. And anytime we try to make this simplistic, we don't serve people well.

An act has no ethical quality whatever unless it be chosen out of several all equally possible.

I protest that if some great Power would agree to make me always think what is true and do what is right, on condition of being turned into a sort of clock and would up every morning before I got out of bed, I should instantly close with the offer.

The power of choosing good and evil is within the reach of all.

Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds.

To what extent is any given man morally responsible for any given act? We do not know.

What it lies in our power to do, it lies in our power not to do.

What you can do is a matter of what you will do.

In fact, it is a farce to call any being virtuous whose virtues do not result from the exercise of its own reason.

What is the purpose of our might if we do not use it for good.

Moral liberty is the power of following, in all circumstances, our sense of right and wrong, or of acting in conformity to our reflecting and moral principles, without being controlled by any contrary principles.

I'm not sure I understand how responsibility for our choices makes sense if they are not determined.