Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quote Share via Email Print this Page [201-220] of 371 Virtue quotesVirtue QuotesVirtue Previous 20 quotes Next 20 quotes A man does what he must -- in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers -- and this is the basis of all human morality.~ John F. Kennedy The act of voting is one opportunity for us to remember that our whole way of life is predicated on the capacity of ordinary people to judge carefully and well.~ Alan Keyes ...[A] prohibition on moral judgments against various sexual behaviors is a violation of the freedom, even of the religious liberty, of those who view such behavior as wrong. If we don't have a right to act according to our religious belief by forming judgments according to those beliefs about human conduct and behavior, then, exactly what does the free exercise of religion mean? Can the free exercise of religion really mean simply that I have the right to believe that God has ordained certain things to be right or wrong but that I can't act accordingly? Surely free exercise means the freedom to act according to belief. And, yet, if we are not allowed to act according to belief when it comes to fundamental moral precepts, then what will be the moral implications of religion? None at all. But if we accept an understanding of religious liberty that doesn't permit us to discriminate the wheat from the chaff in our own actions and those of others, haven't we in fact permitted the government to dictate to us a uniform approach to religion? And, isn't that dictation of uniformity in religion exactly what the First Amendment intended to forbid?~ Alan Keyes We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.~ Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.~ Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.~ Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it... Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate.... Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.~ Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. ~ Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We must learn to distinguish morality from moralizing.~ Henry Kissinger Free inquiry entails recognition of civil liberties as integral to its pursuit, that is, a free press, freedom of communication, the right to organize opposition parties and to join voluntary associations, and freedom to cultivate and publish the fruits of scientific, philosophical, artistic, literary, moral and religious freedom.~ Paul Kurtz One stumble is enough to deface the character of an honorable life.~ Sir Roger L'Estrange The more prohibitions you have, the less virtuous people will be.~ Lao-Tzu With virtue and quietness one may conquer the world.~ Lao-Tzu Every State is known by the rights it maintains.~ Harold J. Laski I say that you cannot administer a wicked law impartially. You can only destroy. You can only punish. I warn you that a wicked law, like cholera, destroys everyone it touches — its upholders as well as its defiers.~ Jerome Lawrence Only the mediocre are always at their best.~ Alan Jay Lerner Not to be, but to seem, virtuous -- it is a formula whose utility we all discovered in the nursery.~ C. S. Lewis To live his life in his own way, to call his house his castle, to enjoy the fruits of his own labour, to educate his children as his conscience directs, to save for their prosperity after his death --- these are wishes deeply ingrained in civilised man. Their realization is almost as necessary to our virtues as to our happiness. From their total frustration disastrous results both moral and psychological might follow.~ C. S. Lewis It is easy to think the State has a lot of different objects -- military, political, economic, and what not. But in a way things are much simpler than that. The State exists simply to promote and to protect the ordinary happiness of human beings in this life. A husband and wife chatting over a fire, a couple of friends having a game of darts in a pub, a man reading a book in his own room or digging in his own garden -- that is what the State is there for. And unless they are helping to increase and prolong and protect such moments, all the laws, parliaments, armies, courts, police, economics, etc., are simply a waste of time.~ C. S. Lewis A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded.~ Abraham Lincoln Previous 20 quotes Next 20 quotes Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print