You are not now to think what's best to do, As in beginnings, but what must be done, Being thus enter'd; and slip no advantage That may secure you. Let them call it mischief; When it is past, and prosper'd , 'twill be virtue.
The promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present.
True patriotism sometimes requires of men to act exactly contrary, at one period, to that which it does at another.
Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied, And vice sometime's by action dignified
(A ruler) cannot and should not keep his word when to do so would go against his interests or when the reason he pledged it no longer holds.
Most relativists believe that relativism is absolutely true and that everyone should be a relativist. Therin lies the self-destructive nature of relativism. The relativist stands on the pinnacle of an absolute truth and wants to relativize everything else.
I don't know if I don't believe in monogamy. I think I do believe in it depending on the person or situation or something.
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.
The right thing at a wrong time is a wrong thing.
I can't fly a flag for monogamy or whatever the opposite is; it depends on the person and on the situation.
One must be very naïve or dishonest to imagine that men choose their beliefs independently of their situation.
So far as he is able, a prince should stick to the path of good but, if the necessity arises, he should know how to follow evil.
When we are confronted with extreme situations, we forget about moral issues; we simply act and must then accept the consequences.
Moral: It all depends.
Not men but measures"—a sort of charm by which many people get loose from every honorable engagement.
Nearly everyone will lie to you, given the right circumstances.
Change a virtue in its circumstances find it becomes a vice; change a vice in its circumstances, and it becomes a virtue. Regard the same quality from two sides; on one it is a fault, on the other a merit. The essential of a man is found concealed far below these moral badges.
But all morality is of necessity shaped by context. I'm not talking relativism, no. To ignore the context of a decision is in fact immoral.
It's much easier to cheat than it is to be loyal. Everyone goes through down times. You just don't put yourself in those situations, you know?
I share my personal experiences of what is right according to me in a particular situation.
What happens when good people are put into an evil place? Do they triumph or does the situation dominate their past history and morality?
Honesty is a virtue, but not the only one. If you're in a courtroom you need the whole truth and nothing but the truth; in the living room, sometimes you need anything but. Often.
They are each good when they are out, and each bad when they are in.
If by sticking to the moral principles you have followed all your life, you jeopardize your happiness and that of others, throw over your principles. Principles for principles' sake -that is not wisdom; that is obstinacy. Principles should be fluid because life is fluid.
One clings to principles for only as long as they are not put to the test. When that happens one throws them away as the peasant does his slippers.
