Quotes about Morality

St. Thomas is as practical and plain and reasonable in ethics as Aristotle, or Confucius, or your uncle.

There is no such thing as an involuntary sin.

Furthermore, the most popular modern answer to the question of what it means to be a good person is to be kind. Do not make other people suffer. If it doesn't hurt anyone, it's O.K. By this standard, God is not good it he lets us suffer. But by ancient standards, God might be good even though he lets us suffer, if he does it for the sake of the greater end of happiness, perfection of life and character and soul, that is, self.

Right Response to Reality—the Three R's—is the fundamental principle of morality, of sanctity, and of sanity.

Truth is unchanging. The principles of morality are unchanging. The human essence is unchanging. Therefore there is no hope of a New Man, Heaven on Earth, Babel Rebuilt, a Brave New World, or Superman.

it is possible to love one's friend for another reason than God, whereas God is the only reason for loving one's enemy.

Disbelief is a sin, but honest unbelief is not.

Sociologists and anthropologists tell us that religion has three dimensions: creed, code, and cult; or words, works, and worship; or theology, morality, and liturgy.

But to observe our neighbor's faults with the intention of looking down upon them or of detracting them . . . is sinful.

F]or a thing to be evil, one single defect suffices, whereas for it to be good . . . it is not enough for it to be good in one point only, it must be good in every respect. . . .

of all the natural virtues these four are "cardinal," i.e., the hinges ("cardes") on which all other virtues turn, the foundations on which all the other virtues are built.

Murder and adultery are great crimes.