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Right & Wrong


Right & Wrong

64 quotesVisits: 17,418

Quotations

VoltaireIt is dangerous to be right in matters where established men are wrong.

—  Voltaire, 1694-1778, French philosopher & writer

28 likes
George Bernard ShawThe minority is sometimes right; the majority always wrong.

—  George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950, Irish writer, Nobel 1925

26 likes
Theodore RooseveltKnowing what's right doesn't mean much unless you do what's right.

—  Theodore Roosevelt, 1858-1919, American President [1901-1909]

22 likes
H.L. MenckenMorality is doing what is right regardless of what you are told. Obedience is doing what is told regardless of what is right.

—  H.L. Mencken, 1880-1956, American columnist & cultural critic

19 likes
Mahatma GandhiWhen you are right,you have no need to be angry. When you are wrong, you have no right to be angry.

—  Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948, Indian leader of independence

18 likes
Winston ChurchillPerhaps it is better to be irresponsible and right, than to be responsible and wrong.

—  Winston Churchill, 1874-1965, British Prime Minister, Nobel 1953

17 likes
Isaac AsimovNever let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right.

—  Isaac Asimov, 1920-1992, American Sci-Fi writer

17 likes
Eleanor RooseveltDo what you feel in your heart to be right — for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't.

—  Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884-1962, Wife of the 32nd USA president

13 likes
Bob MarleyNothing is wrong if it makes you happy.

—  Bob Marley, 1945-1981, Jamaican singer

12 likes
Fyodor DostoyevskyNothing is easier than to denounce the evildoer; nothing is more difficult than to understand him.

—  Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 1821-1881, Russian writer

12 likes
George Bernard ShawMy specialty is being right when other people are wrong.

—  George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950, Irish writer, Nobel 1925

7 likes
Peter DruckerManagement is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.

—  Peter Drucker, 1909–2005, Austrian management guru

7 likes
ConfuciusTo see what is right and not do it is the worst cowardice.

—  Confucius, 551-479 BC, Chinese teacher & philosopher

7 likes
Mahatma GandhiSeven social sins: politics without principles, wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice.

—  Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948, Indian leader of independence

7 likes
Ayn RandThere are two sides to every issue: one side is right and the other is wrong, but the middle is always evil.

—  Ayn Rand, 1905-1982, American writer & philosopher

6 likes
Lyndon JohnsonYou know, doing what is right is easy. The problem is knowing what is right.

—  Lyndon Johnson, 1908-1973, American President [1963-1969]

5 likes
Noam ChomskyIf it's wrong when they do it, it's wrong when we do it.

—  Noam Chomsky, 1928-, American linguist, philosopher, social activist

5 likes
ConfuciusThe superior man understands what is right; the inferior man understands what will sell.

—  Confucius, 551-479 BC, Chinese teacher & philosopher

4 likes
Ayn RandThere is no such dichotomy as “human rights” versus “property rights.” No human rights can exist without property rights.

—  Ayn Rand, 1905-1982, American writer & philosopher

4 likes
Stanislaw Jerzy LecWhen everything has to be right, something isn't.

—  Stanislaw Jerzy Lec, 1906-1966, Polish author of maxims

4 likes
André FrossardIn France, the first political principle is: everything you do is wrong and will remain wrong until it is me who does it.

—  André Frossard, 1915-1995, French politician & essayist

4 likes
Ayn RandThere is no such thing as duty. If you know that a thing is right, you want to do it. If you don't want to do it—it isn't right. If it's right and you don't want to do it—you don't know what right is and you're not a man.

—  Ayn Rand, 1905-1982, American writer & philosopher

4 likes
ConfuciusThe Superior Man is aware of righteousness, the inferior man is aware of advantage.

—  Confucius, 551-479 BC, Chinese teacher & philosopher

3 likes
Andy WarholI like to be the right thing in the wrong place and the wrong thing in the right place.

—  Andy Warhol, 1928-1987, American artist

3 likes
Martin Luther KingWhen you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative.

—  Martin Luther King, 1929-1968, American leader in the Civil Rights Movement

3 likes
RumiWisdom and knowledge exist so we can distinguish right from wrong.

—  Rumi, 1207-1273, Persian mystic & poet

3 likes
Thomas HobbesIn the state of nature profit is the measure of right.

—  Thomas Hobbes, 1588-1679, English philosopher

3 likes
MartialVice and virtue must look much the same
to one who calls the whole world “nice”.

—  Martial, 43-104 AD, Roman poet of epigrams

2 likes
G. K. ChestertonOne can sometimes do good by being the right person in the wrong place.

—  G. K. Chesterton, 1874-1936, English writer & critic

2 likes
Frank HerbertNature does not make mistakes. Right and wrong are human categories.

—  Frank Herbert, 1920-1986, American sci-fi writer

2 likes
Cesare PaveseWe commit two wrongs when we fail to right a wrong.

—  Cesare Pavese, 1908-1950, Italian writer

William Hazlitt We are not satisfied to be right, unless we can prove others to be quite wrong.

—  William Hazlitt , 1778-1830, English essayist & critic

Kin HubbardThe man who says “I may be wrong, but...” does not believe there can be any such possibility.

—  Kin Hubbard, 1868-1930, American cartoonist

John SteinbeckThere ain’t no sin and there ain’t no virtue. There’s just stuff people do.

—  John Steinbeck, 1902-1968, American writer, Nobel 1962

Rainer Maria RilkeDon’t take my demons away, because my angels may flee too.

—  Rainer Maria Rilke, 1875-1926, Czech-German poet

Bertolt BrechtYou may proclaim, good sirs, your fine philosophy
But till you feed us, right and wrong can wait!

—  Bertolt Brecht, 1898-1956, German writer

William Hazlitt The seat of knowledge is in the head; of wisdom, in the heart. We are sure to judge wrong, if we do not feel right.

—  William Hazlitt , 1778-1830, English essayist & critic

William Hazlitt If mankind had wished for what is right, they might have had it long ago.

—  William Hazlitt , 1778-1830, English essayist & critic

Anatole FranceIf fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.

—  Anatole France, 1844-1924, French writer, Nobel 1921

Theodore AdornoWrong life cannot be lived rightly.

—  Theodore Adorno, 1903-1969, German philosopher

ChanakyaConsider again and again the following: the right time, the right friends, the right place, the right means of income, the right ways of spending, and from whom you derive your power.

—  Chanakya, 370-280 π.X., Indian teacher & philosopher

John Kenneth GalbraithIn any great organization it is far, far safer to be wrong with the majority than to be right alone.

—  John Kenneth Galbraith, 1908-2006, American-Canadian economist

Jerry SeinfeldIf every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right.

—  Jerry Seinfeld, 1954-, American comedian

Ashleigh BrilliantThe majority is never right, unless it includes me.

—  Ashleigh Brilliant, 1933-, British cartoonist & epigrammatist

P.J. O’ RourkeSome people are worried about the difference between right and wrong. I'm worried about the difference between wrong and fun.

—  P.J. O’ Rourke, 1947-2022, American columnist & writer

Milan KunderaNo action is good or bad in itself. Only its place in the order of things makes it good or bad.

—  Milan Kundera, 1929-2023, Czech writer

Marguerite YourcenarTo benefit from avoiding a wrong is a way of being guilty.

—  Marguerite Yourcenar, 1903-1987, French writer

Personal Stories

Charles de GaulleWhen I am right, I get angry. Churchill gets angry when he is wrong. We are angry at each other much of the time.

—  Charles de Gaulle, 1890-1970, French President

7 likes

Latin Quotes

OvidI see what is better, and approve it, but I follow the worse.

Video meliora, proboque, deteriora sequor.

—  Ovid, 43 BC-17 AD, Roman poet

41 likes
Latin proverbThe king can do no wrong.

Rex non potest peccare.

—  Latin proverb

34 likes
Latin phraseAbuse does not cancel use.

Abusus non tollit usum.

—  Latin phrase

     (misuse of something is no argument against its proper use)

23 likes

Quotes in Verse

T. S. EliotThe last temptation is the greatest treason:
To do the right deed for the wrong reason.

—  T. S. Eliot, 1888-1965, British poet, Nobel 1948

4 likes
Robert FrostOne luminary clock against the sky
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.

—  Robert Frost, 1874-1963, American poet

3 likes

Funny Quotes

Laurence J PeterIf two wrongs don't make a right, try three.

—  Laurence J Peter, 1919-1990, Canadian writer & educator

7 likes
Sam GoldwynI'm willing to admit that I may not always be right, but I am never wrong.

—  Sam Goldwyn, 1879-1974, American film producer

6 likes
Dave LettermanThe worst-tempered people I have ever met were those who knew that they were wrong.

—  Dave Letterman, 1947-, American TV talk show host

6 likes
Mae WestShe's the kind of girl who climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong.

—  Mae West, 1893-1980, American actress

3 likes

Ancient Greek

Marcus AureliusIf it’s not right, don’t do it; if it’s not true, don’t say it.

Ει μη καθήκει, μη πράξης· ει μη αληθές εστι, μη είπης.

—  Marcus Aurelius, 121-180 AD, Roman Emperor

45 likes
DemocritusRefrain from evil not out of fear, but because it is right.

Μη δια φόβον, αλλά δια το δέον απέχεσθε αμαρτημάτων.

—  Democritus, 470-370 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher

28 likes
PlatoThe “right” is nothing more than what benefits the powerful.

Το δίκαιον ουκ άλλο τι ή του κρείττονος ξυμφέρον.

—  Plato, 427-347 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher

25 likes
Marcus AureliusA wrongdoer is often a man who has left something undone, not always one who has done something.

Αδικεί πολλάκις ο μη ποιών τι, ου μόνον ο ποιών τι.

—  Marcus Aurelius, 121-180 AD, Roman Emperor ‐ Meditations IX, 5

14 likes
PlatoOne who thinks right is better than myriads who think wrong.

Εις ευ φρονών μυρίων μη φρονούντων κρείττων εστί.

—  Plato, 427-347 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher

13 likes

Proverbs

Polish ProverbEven a clock that does not work is right twice a day.

—  Polish Proverb

6 likes
English proverbTwo wrongs don't make a right.

—  English proverb

6 likes



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