Morality may consist solely in the courage of making a choice. — Leon Blum
High moral character is not a precondition for great moral accomplishments. — Christopher Hitchens
History and experience tell us that moral progress comes not in comfortable and complacent times, but out of trial and confusion. — Gerald R. Ford
More often there's a compromise between ethics and expediency. — Peter Singer
In argument about moral problems, relativism is the first refuge of the scoundrel. — Roger Scruton
Sanity lies somewhere between the inhibitions of conventional morality and the looseness of extreme impulse, but the area in-between is very fuzzy. — Chogyam Trungpa
Society is constantly recalibrating, redefining what it considers to be moral and immoral. — John Hurt
Morality and expediency coincide more than the cynics allow. — Roy Hattersley
With a great moral issue involved, neutrality does not serve righteousness; for to be neutral between right and wrong is to serve wrong. — Theodore Roosevelt
Moral authority has been laid to rest, world opinion is no more than a game show and the difference between good and evil is about as relevant as changing channels. — Ralph Steadman
Morality is a private and costly luxury. — Henry Adams
Surely if we have learned anything from the history of morals it is that the thing to do with a moral quandary is not to hide it. — H. L. A. Hart
Ambiguity Quotes
A blur of great magic is still just a blur. — Ken Weber
Neurosis is the inability to tolerate ambiguity. — Sigmund Freud
What one commonly takes as 'the reality,' including the reality of one's own individual person, by no means signifies something fixed, but rather something that is ambiguous - that there is not only one, but that there are many realities, each comprising also a different consciousness of the ego. — Albert Hofmann
Maturity is learning to walk away from people and situation that threaten your peace of mind, self respect, values, morals and self worth.
There is no greater impediment to the advancement of knowledge than the ambiguity of words. — Thomas Reid
On the road from the City of Skepticism, I had to pass through the Valley of Ambiguity. — Adam Smith
I have always felt that a woman has the right to treat the subject of her age with ambiguity until, perhaps, she passes into the realm of over ninety. Then it is better she be candid with herself and with the world. — Carl Sandburg
I look for ambiguity when I'm writing because life is ambiguous. — Keith Richards
The use of the polygraph has done little more than create confusion, ambiguity and mistakes. — Aldrich Ames
I am interested in a political art, that is to say an art of ambiguity, contradiction, uncompleted gestures and uncertain ending - an art (and a politics) in which optimism is kept in check, and nihilism at bay. — William Kentridge
How ever sugarcoated and ambiguous, every form of authoritarianism must start with a belief in some group's greater right to power, whether that right is justified by sex, race, religion or all four. — Gloria Steinem
Whenever I allow anything but tenderness and compassion to dictate my response to life--be it self-righteous anger, moralizing, defensiveness, the pressing need to change others...I am alienated from my true self. My identity as Abba's child [a child of God] becomes ambiguous, tentative and confused — Brennan Manning
Understand the causes of terror? Yes, we should try, but let there be no moral ambiguity about this: nothing could ever justify the events of September 11 and it is to turn justice on its head to pretend it could — Tony Blair
All men are naturally included to obscure the morally ambiguous element in their political cause by investing it with religious sanctity. — Reinhold Niebuhr
A clear conscience is the sure sign of a bad memory.
To believe that will has power over potentiality, that the passage to actuality is the result of a decision that puts an end to the ambiguity of potentiality (which is always potentiality to do and not to do) — this is the perpetual illusion of morality. — Giorgio Agamben
We live in times that are in many ways ambiguous. Maybe that's why kids want precision in what they read - they don't like that moral ambiguity. — Lois Lowry
Perhaps the moral ambiguity of money is most plainly evidenced in the popular belief that money itself has value and that the worth of other things or of men is somehow measured in monetary terms, rather than the other way around. — William Stringfellow
Respect for the truth comes close to being the basis for all morality.
Whether it's movies or television that I've directed, or characters that I've played, I'm just always fascinated by the moral ambiguity inherent in life. — Tony Goldwyn
We all hate moral ambiguity in some sense, and yet it is also absolutely necessary. In writing a story, it is the place where I begin. — Amy Tan
Nobody is ever just a straight up protagonist or antagonist - everybody's morally ambiguous. — Cheyenne Jackson
Were our State a pure democracy, in which all its inhabitants should meet together to transact all their business, there would yet be excluded from their deliberations, 1. infants, until arrived at years of discretion. 2. Women, who, to prevent depravation of morals and ambiguity of issue, could not mix promiscuously in the public meetings of men. 3. Slaves, from whom the unfortunate state of things with us takes away the right of will and of property. Those then who have no will could be permitted to exercise none in the popular assembly; and of course, could delegate none to an agent in a representative assembly. The business, in the first case, would be done by qualified citizens only. — Thomas Jefferson
You know, people who almost - yeah, there's a slight reluctance there - but there's also an ambiguity. What are their morals? What is their code of living. What are they really doing here. And it is just interesting because it is never black or white. — Matt Robinson
We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all America stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity. — Paul Ryan
The problem with American cinema is that because you're making films with huge amounts of money you need to hit the lowest common denominator in order to make it back and so therefore you're not allowed to play with moral ambiguities or ask questions. — David Mackenzie
That's one thing about Dave Filoni. He doesn't call me up unless there's something to think about or there's something that we have to work out on a philosophical or moral or a mythological riddle that we need to solve. Some sort of moral conundrum that we need to place our feet on one side or the other. It's fun when we can ambiguously put those feet into the sand and let the fans discover for itself what it all means. — Samuel Witwer
It may be that there is so much ambiguity and ideology attached to the term 'terrorism' that it is best to avoid its use altogether, as it is likely to be twisted in public discourse to demonise the enemies of the established order, while exempting state violence from legal and moral scrutiny. — Richard A. Falk
When I first auditioned for Dexter... Well, I was sent the script, and I read it and loved it, and I knew right away that it was going to be a hit because it's the type of programming that I like to watch. It's that very morally ambiguous thing where you find yourself rooting for someone who's really an awful person, but... is he doing good? You're constantly calling into question your own moral code. I love that as an audience member. — Julie Benz
I'm very, very attracted to morally ambiguous characters, not just pure bad guys or pure good guys. — Jonah Hill
I never held Negroes to be inherently inferior. The statement in Marriage and Morals refers to environmental conditioning. I have had it withdrawn from subsequent editions because it is clearly ambiguous. — Bertrand Russell
I've yet to meet a person in my life who doesn't have some moral ambiguity. — Jason Beghe
I always end up taking people that are morally ambiguous. — Billy Crudup
Satire's nature is to be one-sided, contemptuous of ambiguity, and so unfairly selective as to find in the purity of ridicule an inarguable moral truth. — E. L. Doctorow
Real politics is messy and morally ambiguous and doesn't make for a compelling thriller. — James Surowiecki
In Conclusion
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