Many religious confessions share common values. They teach that we should do unto others as we would have them do unto us.

Virtue is like a rich stone, best plain set.

I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.

I have to live for others and not for myself: that’s middle-class morality.

We will never have true civilization until we have learned to recognize the rights of others.

Real living is living for others.

And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values, like you work hard for what you want in life. That your word is your bond; that you do what you say you’re going to do. That you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don’t know them and even if you don’t agree with them.

The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.

I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty.

A man is truly ethical only when he obeys the compulsion to help all life which he is able to assist, and shrinks from injuring anything that lives.

There are no moral phenomena at all, but only a moral interpretation of phenomena.

I think ‚Dirty Harry‘ was probably sensitive toward the victims of violent crime.

Better to die ten thousand deaths than wound my honor.

One who is injured ought not to return the injury, for on no account can it be right to do an injustice; and it is not right to return an injury, or to do evil to any man, however much we have suffered from him.

Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness.

Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well as think.

I have gained this from philosophy: that I do without being commanded what others do only from fear of the law.

Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.

If you must break the law, do it to seize power: in all other cases observe it.

It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that there are people who can’t or won’t see what Black Lives Matter is trying to accomplish.

It’s not a slam at you when people are rude, it’s a slam at the people they’ve met before.

Listen with the intent to understand, not the intent to reply.

The pursuit of truth does not permit violence on one’s opponent.

We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.

The Trump phenomenon is in large part a reaction of Middle America to attacks on its values by intellectual and academic communities. There are other reasons, but this is a significant one.

We need to have business leaders who live by deep, strong principles.

When so many are lonely as seem to be lonely, it would be inexcusably selfish to be lonely alone.

True wealth is not of the pocket, but of the heart and of the mind.

I believe it is universally understood and acknowledged that all men will ever act correctly, unless they have a motive to do otherwise.

Don’t create more enemies than you take out by some immoral act.

The spirit of America has nurtured responsibility and community unlike any other country.

The thing that alarms me is that there are so many clergymen who say that the so-called ‚new morality‘ is all right. They say we’re living in a new generation; let’s be relevant, let’s change God’s law. Let’s say that adultery is all right under certain circumstances; fornication’s all right under certain circumstances. If it’s ‚meaningful.‘

Everything I do, I hope, is that I represent something, and I represent the right things to my children and give them the right sense of what they’re capable of and the world as it should be seen.

If what you have done is unjust, you have not succeeded.

In matters of truth and justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.

Oh, my mama was awesome. Very strict, overreligious, loved the Lord, loved rules. But she had to be that way because of where we were growing up, the neighborhood I was from.

Sadly, of course, there is real evil in the world. You watch the news, and you see all of the people suffering and so much cruelty.

Whoever is spared personal pain must feel himself called to help in diminishing the pain of others. We must all carry our share of the misery which lies upon the world.

So when you are listening to somebody, completely, attentively, then you are listening not only to the words, but also to the feeling of what is being conveyed, to the whole of it, not part of it.

In each action we must look beyond the action at our past, present, and future state, and at others whom it affects, and see the relations of all those things. And then we shall be very cautious.

I realize that many elements of the Buddhist teaching can be found in Christianity, Judaism, Islam. I think if Buddhism can help, it is the concrete methods of practice.

The just is close to the people’s heart, but the merciful is close to the heart of God.

It is easy enough to be friendly to one’s friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business.

If you care about other people, you might try to organize to undermine power and authority. That’s not going to happen if you care only about yourself.

Positional leaders ignore the fact that every person has hopes, dreams, desires, and goals of his own. And leaders must bring their vision and the aspirations of the people they lead together in a way that benefits everyone.

Our diplomacy and development budget is not just about reducing spending and finding efficiencies. We need a frank conversation about what we stand for as that ‚shining city on a hill.‘ And that conversation begins by acknowledging that we can’t do it on the cheap.

We have to rediscover the eternal values and then live them out.

If co-operation is a duty, I hold that non-co-operation also under certain conditions is equally a duty.

May you live your life as if the maxim of your actions were to become universal law.

In the past there were people who were not rich but contented with their living style, laughing and happy all day. But when the new rich people appear, people look at them and ask, ‚why don’t I have a life like that too, a beautiful house, car and garden,‘ and they abandon their values.

If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.

When I was two, a dragonfly flew near me. A man knocked it to the ground and trod on it. I remember crying because I’d caused the dragonfly to be killed.

This way of life is worth defending.

There is no satisfaction in hanging a man who does not object to it.

To cut short the question of the law of retaliation, we must note that even in its primitive form it can operate only between two individuals of whom one is absolutely innocent, and the other absolutely guilty. The victim, to be sure, is innocent. But can the society that is supposed to represent the victim lay claim to innocence?

It’s that wonderful old-fashioned idea that others come first and you come second. This was the whole ethic by which I was brought up. Others matter more than you do, so ‚don’t fuss, dear; get on with it.‘

What men value in this world is not rights but privileges.

A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.

Family home evening is more for the purpose of teaching values and gospel principles, displaying talents and enjoying different kinds of family fun and activities.

If one has a good disposition, what other virtue is needed? If a man has fame, what is the value of other ornamentation?

We pity in others only the those evils which we ourselves have experienced.