Germaine de Staël Quotes

There is no man more dangerous, in a position of power, than he who refuses to accept as a working truth the idea that all a man does should make for rightness and soundness, that even the fixing of a tariff rate must be moral.

All too often arrogance accompanies strength, and we must never assume that justice is on the side of the strong. The use of power must always be accompanied by moral choice.

Doing the right thing has power.

Justice is conscience, not a personal conscience but the conscience of the whole of humanity. Those who clearly recognize the voice of their own conscience usually recognize also the voice of justice.

If we weren't born with anti-social passions - narcissism, envy, lust, meanness, greed, hunger for power, just to name the more obvious - why the need for so many laws, whether religious or secular, that govern behavior?

Power is dangerous unless you have humility.

My doctrine is this, that if we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt.

Human and moral factors must always be considered. They must never be missing from policies and from public discussion.

It is indeed hard for the strong to be just to the weak, but acting justly always has its rewards.

Immoral is choosing not to act when you hold in your hands the power to create perfection.

What I'm doing is writing stories about women who care about justice. They are women who think about the difference between right and wrong, what's legal and illegal, ethical and unethical, moral and immoral.

My parents taught me to approach the world critically, but also to approach it with a sense of responsibility.

All Americans want our government to have a moral compass.

People shouldn't be punished for their wisdom.

There are no good and bad peoples; there are only leaderships that behave responsibly or insanely.

I support the higher moral standard that this country has decided to hold itself to.

It takes us many years to learn that the passion for justice and the welfare of all, once it has been aroused, is the deepest one in moral life.

Ethics is in its unqualified form extended responsibility with regard to everything that has life.

The oppressed must never allow the conscience of the oppressor to slumber. Religion reminds every man that he is his brother's keeper.

Every generation is confronted anew with the task not to look the other way when injustice occurs. ... Everyone is responsible for what he does and co-responsible for what he lets happen.

The moral and spiritual aspects of both personal and international relationships have a practical bearing which so-called practical men deny.

There are two freedoms - the false, where a man is free to do what he likes; the true, where he is free to do what he ought.

Believing a person deserves a defence is not the same as doing anything in your power to get him off scot-free.

A child, from the time he can think, should think about all he sees, should suffer for all who cannot live with honesty, should work so that all men can be honest, and should be honest himself.

Next to power without honor, the most dangerous thing in the world is power without humor.