Benjamin Franklin Quotes

Moral truth, resting entirely upon the ascertained consequences of actions, supposes a process of observation and reasoning.

The end never justifies the means because there is no end; there are only means.

An action is the perfection and publication of thought. A right action seems to fill the eye, and to be related to all nature.

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

It is better to will the good than to know the truth.

But the nature of the universe is such that ends can never justify means. On the contrary, the means always determine the end.

I read these words which are the sum of all moral philosophy, and which cut short all the disputes of the casuists: When in doubt if an action is good or bad, refrain.

The foundation of morality should not be made dependent on myth nor tied to any authority lest doubt about the myth or about the legitimacy of the authority imperil the foundation of sound judgment and action.

Morality is either a social contract or you have to pay cash.

Fools measure actions, after they are done, by the event; wise men beforehand, by the rules of reason and right. The former look to the end, to judge of the act. Let me look to the act, and leave the end with God.

I conceive ethics as a branch of psychology.

I am not advocating a morality based on evolution.

I do not believe that a man should be restrained in his daily actions by being afraid of punishment after death or that he should do things only because in this way he will be rewarded after he dies. This does not make sense. The proper guidance during the life of a man should be the weight that he puts upon ethics and the amount of consideration that he has for others.

You can't slice up morals.

Morals - all correct moral laws - derive from the instinct to survive. Moral behavior is survival behavior above the individual level.

Ethical inquiry has always been motivated by the aim of improving human conduct. It doesn't follow from that that the goal is to produce a complete rule book that would be applicable to all cases.

...virtue is not merely a state in conformity with the right principle, but one that implies the right principle; and the right principle in moral conduct is prudence.

What is morality, she asked. Judgement to distinguish right and wrong, vision to see the truth, and courage to act upon it, dedication to that which is good, integrity to stand by the good at any price.

Science, by itself cannot, supply us with an ethic.

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

I doubt not, but from self-evident Propositions, by necessary Consequences, as incontestable as those in Mathematics, the measures of right and wrong might be made out.

Morals were restrictive, but they were grounded on human experience.

Conscience is merely our own judgment of the right or wrong of our actions, and so can never be a safe guide unless enlightened by the word of God.

No one will dare maintain that it is better to do injustice than to bear it.