Moral Cowardice Quotes

Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most, that has made it possible for evil to triumph.

Humor is not an unconditional virtue; its moral character depends on its object. To laugh at the contemptible, is a virtue; to laugh at the good, is a hideous vice. Too often, humor is used as the camouflage of moral cowardice.

I often feel that worse than the most fiendish Nazis were those Germans who went along with the persecution of the Jews not because they really disliked them but because it was the thing.

The worst crimes were dared by a few, willed by more and tolerated by all.

Those who don't fight evil hate those who do; and those who don't fight real evils make up little evils

Humanitarianism is the expression of stupidity and cowardice.

There is in the clergy of all Christian denominations a time-serving, cringing, subservient morality, as wide from the spirit of the gospel as it is from the intrepid assertion and vindication of truth.

Charity conceals a stupid cruelty, because it is not courageous enough to face unpleasant facts.

In his over-anxiety not to offend the powerful who have done wrong, President Wilson scrupulously refrains from saying one word on behalf of the weak who have suffered wrong.

We're constantly getting these messages to mind our own business and look the other way if we want to be well liked, to not tell the truth or speak our mind or say anything too intense. Well, I'm telling you here that this approach not only makes you party to other people's crimes against themselves but is a prescription for mediocrity and delusion

While President Bush likes to project an image of strength and courage, the real truth is that in the presence of his large financial contributors, he is a moral coward.

The most baleful mischiefs may be expected from the unmanly conduct of not daring to face truth because it is unpleasing.

I contend that the ethos of perpetual non-judgment is intellectually dishonest if not outright cowardly.

A cowardly act! What do I care about that? You may be sure that I should never fear to commit one if it were to my advantage.

It takes no courage to make war, particularly if you're not going to go and your children are not going to go.

The people who are opposing the policy of apartheid have not the courage of their convictions. They do not marry non-Europeans.

What is reprehensible is that while leading good lives themselves and abhorring those of wicked men, some, fearing to offend, shut their eyes to evil deeds instead of condemning them and pointing out their malice.

Cynicism is the intellectual cripple's substitute for intelligence. It is the dishonest businessman's substitute for conscience. It is the communicator's substitute, whether he is advertising man or editor or writer, for self-respect.

Cynicism is what passes for insight when courage is lacking

There is such a thing as a hatred of lies and dissimulation, which is the outcome of a delicate sense of humor; there is also the selfsame hatred but as the result of cowardice, in so far as falsehood is forbidden by Divine law. Too cowardly to lie.

One may sin by greed and the desire for power, but one may also sin in these matters through fear, indecision, and cowardice!

If I could do just one thing, it would be to dissociate faith from virtue, now and for good, and to expose it for what it is, a servile weakness, a refuge in cowardice, and a willingness to follow, with credulity, people who are in the highest degree unscrupulous.

(J)ust to clarify: If you go into every situation saying there's absolutely nothing worth fighting over, you will inevitably end up on a cot sleeping next to a guy named Tiny, bringing him breakfast in his cell every morning, and spending your afternoons ironing his boxers. Or, in the case of the French, you might spend your afternoon rounding up Jews to send to Germany, but you get the point.

...the smallest minds and the selfishest souls and the cowardliest hearts that God makes.

When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty.