David Durenburger Quotes

That which is morally wrong will never be politically right.

Ethical is 'I'll wait and do what's right even in the hardest times and even if I have to give up gains to do it.'

Relationships do not preclude issues of morality.

I'm just doing what my conscience asks me to do.

There is no right in acting.

The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right.

Conscience is a judge in every man's breast, which none can cheat or corrupt, and perhaps the only incorrupt thing about him; yet, inflexible and honest as this judge is (however polluted the bench on which he sits), no man can, in my opinion, enjoy any applause which is not there adjudged to be his due.

Reason often makes mistakes, but conscience never does.

At the end of the day, if there are truly ethical considerations, those have to override scientific considerations.

It may not have the virtuous ring of the golden rule, but the maxim 'never say never' is one of the most important in ethics.

Ethics are not necessarily to do with being law-abiding. I am very interested in the moral path, doing the right thing.

Action indeed is the sole medium of expression for ethics.

Every judgement of conscience, be it right or wrong, be it about things evil in themselves or morally indifferent, is obligatory, in such wise that he who acts against his conscience always sins.

The ethic of conviction and the ethic of responsibility are not opposites. They are complementary to one another.

Conscience? Great souls do not worry themselves with such little details

It's easy to get into the grey zone [of ethics].

There’s nothing more important than people’s conscience and there’s nothing that needs more protection.

All a man can betray is his conscience.

Conscience is the highest of all Courts.

All politics is an extension of ethics ... We cannot leave out conscience at the caucus room door.

Conscience is known to be adequate in individuals; in large numbers little is to be expected of it.

The ends do not justify the means. The means are the ends.

If the Soviet Government orders me to act against my conscience, I do not obey …. Conscience is above the law. No law which is against the conscience can bind.

One's concern with the ethics of means and ends varies inversely with one's personal interest in the issue ... Any effective means is automatically judged by the opposition as being unethical.

Obviously everybody is accountable for their own actions, and everybody has to make judgments based on their own conscience as to whether or not they believe what they were doing is right or wrong.