110 Moral Superiority Quotes

Following is our list of moral superiority quotations and slogans full of insightful wisdom and perspective about intellectual superiority.

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Famous Moral Superiority Quotes

Morality is the best of all devices for leading mankind by the nose. — Friedrich Nietzsche

Moral courage is higher and a rarer virtue than physical courage. — William Slim

Moral courage is higher and a rarer virtue than physical courage. — William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim

Optimism is the true moral courage - Ernest Shackleton

Optimism is the true moral courage — Ernest Shackleton

A moral being is one who is capable of reflecting on his past actions and their motives - of approving of some and disapproving of others. — Charles Darwin

The most powerful moral influence is example. - Huston Smith

The most powerful moral influence is example. — Huston Smith

The superior man understands what is right; the inferior man understands what will sell. — Confucius

universal compassion is the only guarantee of morality. — Arthur Schopenhauer

The Superior Man is aware of Righteousness, the inferior man is aware of advantage. — Confucius

Morality is a private and costly luxury. - Henry Adams

Morality is a private and costly luxury. — Henry Adams

Physical bravery is an animal instinct; moral bravery is much higher and truer courage. — Wendell Phillips

As our own species is in the process of proving, one cannot have superior science and inferior morals. The combination is unstable and self-destroying. — Arthur C. Clarke

Moral cowardice and intellectual corruption are the natural concomitants of unchallenged privilege. — Noam Chomsky

The moral man is he who is opposed to injustice per se, opposed to injustice wherever he finds it; the moral man looks for injustice first of all in himself. — Bayard Rustin

When goodness is lost, it is replaced by morality. — Lao Tzu

Short Moral Superiority Quotes

  • Good morals lead to good laws. — Chuck Norris
  • The best companion and helper is admirable morals. — Ali ibn Abi Talib
  • Moral principle is the foundation of law. — Ronald Dworkin
  • High moral character is not a precondition for great moral accomplishments. — Christopher Hitchens
  • The most important attribute of man as a moral being is the faculty of self-control. — Herbert Spencer
  • Good moral character is the first essential in a man. — George Washington
  • Morality may consist solely in the courage of making a choice. — Leon Blum
  • Morality is the herd-instinct in the individual. — Friedrich Nietzsche
  • The essence of immorality is the tendency to make an exception of myself. — Jane Addams
  • The superior man thinks always of virtue; the common man thinks of comfort. — Confucius

Moral Superiority Image Quotes

Moral superiority quote Maturity is learning to walk away from people and situation that threaten your peace of mind, self r
Maturity is learning to walk away from people and situation that threaten your peace of mind, self respect, values, morals and self worth.

Moral Crisis Quotes

I agree with Dante, that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in a period of moral crisis maintain their neutrality. There comes a time when silence becomes betrayal. — Martin Luther King, Jr.

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality. [This miserable mode Maintain the melancholy souls of those Who lived withouten infamy or praise.] — Dante Alighieri

The hottest fires in hell are reserved for those who remain neutral in times of moral crisis. — Edmund Burke

Moral superiority quote Nobody is superior, nobody is inferior, but nobody is equal either. People are simply unique, uncomp
Nobody is superior, nobody is inferior, but nobody is equal either. People are simply unique, uncomparable. You are You, I am I.

Protest to be effective, must be followed by resolute action and at this crisis in world history when materialistic energy aims at overthrowing spiritual energy and moral values, action needs to develop into a world crusade for the Spiritual Humanity. — Vida Goldstein

The USA experiences the crisis of ideological and moral values. — Vladimir Zhirinovsky

The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis. — Dante Alighieri

Moral superiority quote A clear conscience is the sure sign of a bad memory.
A clear conscience is the sure sign of a bad memory.

The Founders warned that a free society depends on a virtuous and moral people. The current crisis reflects that their concerns were justified. — Ron Paul

Control thought-forms are the basis of our deepest moral crisis. — Bryant H. McGill

The ecological crisis is a moral issue. — Pope John Paul II

The moral angle to the foreclosure crisis - and, of course, in capitalism we're not supposed to be concerned with the moral stuff, but let's mention it anyway - shows a culture that is slowly giving in to a futuristic nightmare ideology of computerized greed and unchecked financial violence. — Matt Taibbi

Intellectual Superiority Quotes

Men have such a good opinion of themselves, of their mental superiority and intellectual depth; they believe themselves so skilled in discerning the true from the false, the path of safety from those of error, that they should be forbidden as much as possible the perusal of philosophic writings. — Al-Ghazali

Love and respect woman. Look to her not only for comfort, but for strength and inspiration and the doubling of your intellectual and moral powers. Blot out from your mind any idea of superiority; you have none. — Giuseppe Mazzini

Communism and fascism or nazism, although poles apart in their intellectual content, are similar in this, that both have emotional appeal to the type of personality that takes pleasure in being submerged in a mass movement and submitting to superior authority. — James A.C. Brown

Moral superiority quote Respect for the truth comes close to being the basis for all morality.
Respect for the truth comes close to being the basis for all morality.

The work environment is very important in determining how enjoyable work is. It is very important to work with smart guys who have a superior level of intellectual bandwidth and still have softer skills as well. — Kumar Mangalam Birla

What a revolting contrast exists in England between the slavery of women and the intellectual superiority of women writers. — Flora Tristan

The best lesson which we get from the tragedy of Karbala is that Husain and his companions were rigid believers in God. They illustrated that the numerical superiority does not count when it comes to the truth and the falsehood. The victory of Husain, despite his minority, marvels me! — Thomas Carlyle

Multiculturalism asserts that all cultures are equal and therefore none may criticize another; intellectuals and politicians are therefore reluctant to declare the obvious superiority of Western culture to Islamic culture. — Edwin A. Locke

Great minds are to make others great. Their superiority is to be used, not to break the multitude to intellectual vassalage, not to establish over them a spiritual tyranny, but to rouse them from lethargy, and to aid them to judge for themselves. — William Ellery Channing

Protocol may be defined as the code of etiquette which protects royalty from the competition of intellectual and social superiors. — Elsa Maxwell

In fact, there is clear evidence of black intellectual superiority: in 1984, 92 percent of blacks voted to retire Ronald Reagan, compared to only 36 percent of whites. — Barbara Ehrenreich

Moral High Ground Quotes

An e-mail from a reader says that liberals like to take the moral high ground, even though their own moral relativism means that there is no moral high ground. — Thomas Sowell

Looking back on 200 years of feminist agitation in this country, we've got to get it that the moral high ground doesn't get us anything. Pleading with powerful men never gets us what we need. Talking doesn't do it. Being right doesn't do it. Hardball politics does it ... and a political strategy. — Naomi Wolf

That's how hatred is created: two different groups, each insisting they're on the moral high ground — Neil Strauss

We have come to think of taking offence as a fundamental right. We value very little more highly than our rage, which gives us, in our opinion, the moral high ground. From there we can shoot down at our enemies and inflict heavy fatalities. — Salman Rushdie

And while I might not always agree with the viewpoint I have to portray, because I play a district attorney, as an actress I can always tell myself that my character is trying to take the moral high ground. — Lara Flynn Boyle

You know that things are not going well when you lose the moral high ground to a TMZ reporter. — John Oliver

You can take the high moral ground intellectually, but if it ever happens to you personally, I don't know that I could honestly say that I wouldn't want to kill someone who took someone away from me. So, it's a rich, fertile ground for great characters and great storytelling. That was the impetus. — Richard LaGravenese

Under the leadership of President Bush and Vice President Cheney, the United States has given up the moral high ground that we used to occupy as an international leader. — Marty Meehan

I don't regard the real and true and authentic as something to claim as a moral high ground. — Rachel Kushner

If we condone torture, we yield the moral high ground to our enemies and encourage anyone who hates us to stoop to using that subhuman level against us. We reap whatever we sow. — Rick Warren

Being Superior Quotes

So as a prelude whites must be made to realise that they are only human, not superior. Same with Blacks. They must be made to realise that they are also human, not inferior. — Steven Biko

Children are human beings to whom respect is due, superior to us by reason of their innocence and of the greater possibilities of their future. — Maria Montessori

Be calm and strong and patient. Meet failure and disappointment with courage. Rise superior to the trials of life, and never give in to hopelessness or despair. In danger, in adversity, cling to your principles and ideals. Aequanimitas! — William Osler

It certainly strikes the beholder with astonishment, to perceive what vast difficulties can be overcome by the pigmy arms of little mortal man, aided by science and directed by superior skill. — Henry Tudor

A wise man is superior to any insults which can be put upon him, and the best reply to unseemly behavior is patience and moderation. — Moli

The whole plan of extermination was nothing less than a cold blooded, calculated political measure, having for its object the annihilation of a superior element in the population, which might prove troublesome, and to this must be added the motive of greed. — Fridtjof Nansen

There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow men. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self. — Elijah Wood

The most important thing in our war preparations is to teach all our people to hate U.S. imperialism. Otherwise, we will not be able to defeat the U.S. imperialists who boast of their technological superiority. — Kim Il-sung

A sarcastic person has a superiority complex that can be cured only by the honesty of humility. — Lawrence G. Lovasik

Two things cause people to be destroyed: fear of poverty and seeking superiority through pride. — Ali ibn Abi Talib

People Writing About Moral Superiority

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Read quotes by Confucius

Confucius
quotes on life, aging and education

911 18025
Read quotes by Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche
quotes on god, love and morality

2473 32550
Read quotes by William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim

William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim

10 234
Read quotes by Ernest Shackleton

Ernest Shackleton
quotes on education, life and leadership

27 1663
Read quotes by Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin
quotes on change, evolution and natural selection

365 3940
Read quotes by Huston Smith

Huston Smith
quotes on leadership, education and religion

94 543

More Moral Superiority Quotes

The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. — John Kenneth Galbraith

People get addicted to feeling offended all the time because it gives them a high; being self-righteous and morally superior feels good. — Mark Manson

What is Moral Courage? It is the ability to distinguish right from wrong and having so distinguished it, be prepared to say so,irrespective of the views held by your superiors or subordinates and of consequences to yourself. — Sam Manekshaw

I don't hold animals superior or even equal to humans. The whole case for behaving decently to animals rests on the fact that we are the superior species. We are the species uniquely capable of imagination, rationality, and moral choice - and that is precisely why we are under an obligation to recognize and respect the rights of animals. — Brigid Brophy

Whoever wants to be a leader should educate himself before educating others. Before preaching to others he should first practice himself. Whoever educates himself and improves his own morals is superior to the man who tries to teach and train others. — Ali ibn Abi Talib

Gun control: The theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and strangled with her panty hose, is somehow morally superior to a woman explaining to police how her attacker got that fatal bullet wound. — L. Neil Smith

And that's when I first learned about evil. It is built in to the very nature of the universe. Every world spins in pain. If there is any kind of supreme being, I told myself, it is up to all of us to become his moral superior. — Terry Pratchett

Michael Vick may enjoy watching dogs fight. Someone else may find that repulsive but see nothing wrong with eating an animal who has had a life as full of pain and suffering as the lives of the fighting dogs. It's strange that we regard the latter as morally different from, and superior to, the former. — Gary L. Francione

Black! Black! Black! I am proud of being a Negro. Nor have I ever tried to beg tolerance from anyone. Superiority is not proved by color, but by the brain, by education, by willpower, by moral courage. — Jose Celso Barbosa

Honor is simply the morality of superior men. — H. L. Mencken

A new educational system in which all children born shall have the same advantage of physical, industrial, mental and moral culture, and thus be equally prepared at maturity to enter upon active, responsible and useful lives. . . . In so doing, it strikes a fatal blow at . . . the most demoralizing of all monopolies. . . educational superiority. — Victoria Woodhull

If we compare a severely defective human infant with a nonhuman animal, a dog or a pig, for example, we will often find the nonhuman to have superior capacities, both actual and potential, for rationality, self-consciousness, communication and anything else that can plausibly be considered morally significant. — Peter Singer

Whenever I see a photograph of some sportsman grinning over his kill, I am always impressed by the striking moral and esthetic superiority of the dead animal to the live one. — Edward Abbey

All political movements are like this - we are in the right, everyone else is in the wrong. The people on our own side who disagree with us are heretics, and they start becoming enemies. With it comes an absolute conviction of your own moral superiority. There's oversimplification in everything, and a terror of flexibility. — Doris Lessing

Men rarely if ever dream up a god superior to themselves. Most gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child. — Robert A. Heinlein

There are few things more disturbing than to find, in somebody we detest, a moral quality which seems to us demonstrably superior to anything we ourselves possess. It augurs not merely an unfairness on the part of creation, but a lack of artistic judgment. Sainthood is acceptable only in saints. — Pamela Hansford Johnson

When moral superiority combines with billowing ignorance, they fill up a hot-air balloon that's awfully hard not to poke. — Barbara Kingsolver

In a free government the demand for moral qualities should be made superior to that of talents. — Andrew Jackson

The greatest threat to compassion is the temptation to succumb to fantasies of moral superiority. — Stephen Batchelor

Smiley Bone: You can't feel safe unless there's something to be safe against! Phoney Bone: Exactly! People like to be victims! There's a certain unassailable moral superiority about it. — Jeff Smith

Pretensions to moral superiority are devastatingly destructive. — Mary Douglas

Optimism is not inherently a superior way of viewing the world. Certainly doctors will say it might be better for one's physical health to be an optimist. But, morally speaking it may not be appropriate in certain circumstances. — Todd Solondz

Peace is only possible if men cease to place their happiness in the possession of things "which cannot be shared," and if they raise themselves to a point where they adopt an abstract principle superior to their egotisms. In other words, it can only be obtained by a betterment of human morality. — Julien Benda

I would rather be the author of one original thought than conqueror of a hundred battles. Yet moral excellence is so much superior to intellectual, that I ought to esteem one virtue more valuable than a hundred original thoughts. — William Benton Clulow

To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man's injustice to woman. If by strength is meant brute strength, then, indeed, is woman less brute than man. If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man's superior. — Mahatma Gandhi

We are wrong to fear superiority of mind and soul; this superiority is very moral, for understanding everything makes a person tolerant and the capacity to feel deeply inspires great goodness. — Bill Vaughan

Consequently, the truth of God lives in our souls more by the power of superior moral courage than by the light of an eminent intelligence. Indeed, spiritual intelligence itself depends on the fortitude and patience with which we sacrifice ourselves for the truth, as it is communicated to our lives concretely in the providential will of God — Thomas Merton

The vanity of men, a constant insult to women, is also the ground for the implicit feminine claim of superior sensitivity and morality. — Patricia Ann Meyer Spacks

If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man's superior — Mahatma Gandhi

Scandal is great entertainment because it allows people to feel contempt, a moral emotion that gives feeling of moral superiority while asking nothing in return. — Jonathan Haidt

Possessed of courage but devoid of morality, a superior man will make trouble while a small man will be a brigand. — Confucius

Woman is the companion of man, gifted with equal mental capacity...If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man's superior...If non-violence is the law of our being, the future is with women. — Mahatma Gandhi

Those who rise first are morally superior. It's a universal law. — O.R. Melling

Resentment is not morally superior to earning money. — Paul Singer

Individuals bearing witness do not change history; only movements that understand their social world can do that. Movements encourage solidarity; the moral individual is likely, all unwittingly, to do the opposite, for bearing witness is lonely: it breeds feelings of superiority and moralistic anger against those who are not doing the same. — Ellen Willis

Thus the State never intentionally confronts a man's sense, intellectual or moral, but only his body, his senses. It is not armed with superior wit or honesty, but with superior physical strength. I was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion. — Henry David Thoreau

[priests are] the pretenders to power and dominion, and to a superior sanctity of character, distinct from virtue and good morals. — David Hume

We hold the moral obligation of providing for old age, helpless infancy, and poverty is far superior to that of supplying the invented wants of courtly extravagance. — Thomas Paine

As ages roll on there is doubtless a progression in human nature. The intellectual comes to rule the physical, and the moral claims to subordinate both. It is no longer strength of body that prevails, but strength of mind; while the law of God proclaims itself superior to both. — James McCosh

Everybody Moral courage is a virtue of higher cast and nobler origin than physical. It springs from a consciousness of virtue and renders a man, in the pursuit or defense of right, superior to the fear of reproach, opposition, or contempt. — Samuel Griswold Goodrich

Charles Darwin, who had witnessed the atrocities perpetrated against Argentina’s native Indians by Juan Manuel de Rosas, had predicted that “the country will be in the hands of white Gaucho savages instead of copper-coloured Indians. The former being a little superior in education, as they are inferior in every moral virtue. — Jon Lee Anderson

I normally can't stand vice-free people. They conflate a narcissistic instinct for self-preservation with moral superiority. Plus, they suck the life right out of a party. — Dennis Lehane

Where beauty is worshipped for beauty's sake as a goddess, independent of and superior to morality and philosophy, the most horrible putrefaction is apt to set in. The lives of the aesthetes are the far from edifying commentary on the religion of beauty. — Aldous Huxley

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