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551 BCE
Confucius - "What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others"
This ethical philosophy, also known as "The Golden Rule", is a moral principle which dictates that you should treat others the way you want to be treated yourself. For example, if you would like to receive respect, then you must give respect as well. -
500 BCE
Lao Tzu - "When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you."
This ethical philosophy suggests that you should bee yourself and be comfortable in who you are, don’t try to change for someone else by comparing yourselves or your lives with them or theirs. Don’t compete because you’re only going to lose something beautiful. When you are yourself, you will notice the difference- the way people view you and that will be with respect. -
470 BCE
Socrates - "True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing"
This ethical philosophy suggests that instead of lecturing on what you know, you should ask questions instead. This quote from Socrates states that even if you know nothing, that's knowing something. It conveys that you are learning something every second, everywhere you go, and that life is just one big lesson or a medium of learning. And there is still a lot to be known. -
428 BCE
Plato - "Knowledge is virtue"
This ethical philosophy speaks that one can be taught a virtue or qualities every person should have. Education teaches the appropriate virtues and brings forth morality. If virtue is knowledge, virtue is teachable and vice is a form of ignorance. At the same time, however, the dialogues also suggest that virtue cannot be taught and that, in fact, vice results as much from out-of-control passions as from a lack of knowledge. -
348 BCE
Aristotle - "We are not studying in order to know what virtue is, but to become good, for otherwise there would be no profit in it."
This ethical philosophy concludes that knowing is not enough. You must be able to do what you know. Otherwise, the knowledge you've obtained or possess is useless. If you learned what is virtue, you must be able to apply it to yourself and to others. Become good instead of just knowing what is good. -
Immanuel Kant - "In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so."
This ethical philosophy dictates that ethics deals with morality in actions and morality comes from within. Thus the thought process before taking an action is what that determines the ethics of a person. Laws are externally enforced upon a society and deter potential crime. Ethics, on the other hand, serve to guide individual conscience by enabling people to separate right from wrong. In ethics the perpetrator himself is the judge of his own thinking/behaviour. -
Leo Tolstoy - "When you love someone, you love the person as they are, and not as you’d like them to be."
This ethical philosophy is saying that when you love someone, you mustn't love them only because of who you want them to be or who they will become of, but because of who they really are as a person. This depicts having nothing but pure intentions and fondness. -
Mahatma Gandhi - "Be the change that you wish to see in the world."
This ethical philosophy states that we but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. Changing ourselves without attempting to make the world a better place is just a form of selfishness
