I have never looked upon ease and happiness as ends in themselves — such an ethical basis I call more proper for a herd of swine. The ideals which have lighted me on my way and time after time given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. – Albert Einstein, “What I Believe,” Forum and Century, 1930

If everyone were clothed with integrity, if every heart were just, frank, kindly, the other virtues would be well-nigh useless, since their chief purpose is to make us bear with patience the injustice of our fellows. РJean Baptiste Moli̬re, Le Misanthrope

Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking. – Quoted in P.S. I Love You, compiled by H. Jackson Brown

There is no man so good that if he placed all his actions and thought under the scrutiny of the laws, he would not deserve hanging ten times in his life. – Michel de Montaigne, Essays, 1595