Byron Katie Quotes

I am an atheist, and if an atheist and a pope think the same things, there must be something true. There must be some human truth that is beyond religion.

Either what we hold to be right and good and true IS right and good and true, for all mankind, or we're just another robber tribe.

People are either good or they're not. Religion doesn't make anybody good, I don't think.

For many people, morality means a set of rules governing the disposition on one's genital organs; or a set of injunctions against lying, stealing, or killing except when such acts are sanctioned by church or state.

Well, I believe in the idea of 'normal' in the way that I believe in the idea of logic. Or the idea of character. All of these ethical constructs are just that: constructs.

You can't legislate morality.

Each of us has a vision of good and of evil. We have to encourage people to move towards what they think is Good.

Morality is always derivative. It stems from one's worldview.

If "Thou shalt not covet," and "Thou shalt not steal," were not commandments of Heaven, they must be made inviolable precepts in every society, before it can be civilized or made free.

A different vision of ethics is that of a collection of resources people can use to act better. The resources might be firm rules that could always be relied on. Or they might be ideals that could often be followed without thinking but that sometimes conflicted with one another.

Our system here of creating value for others and having people do the right thing, exchange information, and so on only works if people have the right values.

We believe there should be a huge area between everything you should do and everything you can do without getting into legal trouble. I don't think you should come anywhere near that line. We don't deserve much credit for this. It helps us make more money. I'd like to believe that we'd behave well even if it didn't work. But more often, we've made extra money from doing the right thing. Ben Franklin said I'm not moral because of it's the right thing to do - but because it's the best policy.

Without commonly shared and widely entrenched moral values and obligations, neither the law, nor democratic government, nor even the market economy will function properly.

Virtue and decency are so nearly related that it is difficult to separate them from each other but in our imagination.

Do you know what morals are? Morals are an obedience to rules that people laid down to help you live among them.

Integrity is hard work. I do think the internet makes it harder because of the temptations of performance. You can perform and have integrity, but it's easier just to perform. So the temptations of social media lead to some dissonance.

The best laws cannot make a constitution work in spite of morals; morals can turn the worst laws to advantage.

Plunder is morally wrong. It ruins your credibility.

Progressives should recognize common morality with religion.

There is only one morality, as there is only one geometry.

Don't compromise your principles.

Integrity is hard work. I do think the Internet makes it harder because of the temptations of performance. You can perform and have integrity, but it's easier just to perform.

Morality, it could be argued, represents the way that people would like the world to work, wheareas economics represents how it actually does work.

I think that ethical behaviour is another feature of the kind of inner discipline that leads to a happier existence.

What is morality but immemorial custom? Conscience is the chief of conservatives.