GS4 Quotes/Ethics Quotes

Part 2

Social changes arises out of conlifct between morals vs ethics

a debate should refrain from simply attacking the government on the issue
and should instead lead to systemic/institutional changes to reform the
country’s intelligence apparatus.
A civils servant has to move from the mentality of Mera kya (What is there in it
for me)andMujhe Kya (Why should I be bothered) are ruining the country
P4 - People Private Public Partnership for good governance
Antyodaya - Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya’s concept of serving the last man in
the queue
P2G2 - Pro-People Good Governance, which the government claims to be its
focus.
Aim of the government is tog generate HOPE - harmony, opportunity, people's
particpation and equality
Reforming institutions is not easy. If institutions are the vehicles in which we
are travelling, then we must ‘redesign the aircrafts while we are flying in
them’.
what we now see among our politicians ‘is a strong consensus for weak reforms.” -
Montek singh Alhuwalia (In context of Indian politics)
"Leave your footprints on the sand of time by your good work” - Vivekanada
Neither IndiaN, nor civil, nor service - JN said for ICS in 1932
Civil admin have become inflexible, inward looking and self perpetuating - 2nd
ARC
Only a man who knows his job can stand take a stand
respect for liberty of others is not a natural impulse for most men. - russell
ABCD - Avoid, Bypass, Confuse, Delay (Comment on the culture within the
Indian bureaucracy)
" more inclusive and more sustainable growth” - 12th plan
India needs a strong liberal state with three core elements: the authority to take
quick and decisive action, a transparent rule of law to ensure that such action
is legitimate, and accountability to the people.
It is high time we inverted the dictum of Darwin and worked for a society which
would ensure survival of the weakest and perhaps the sickest too
Employees in private as well as public organizations are expected not only to do
the things right but also do the right things. Here, conscience comes to play a role
in identification of right things.
The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours
is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. (GOLD!)
Public interest should be the yardstick for deciding the correctness of the decsions
Everywhere, power is becoming easier to acquire, harder to wield, and easier to
lose.
Discretion+Monopoly-Accountability = Corruption
Discretion+Values = Public interest
theory that ‘development’ entails ‘costs’ and that this is a ‘sacrifice’ that some must
accept in order that others might benefit must be recognised to be not sincere; it
must be firmly abandoned.
 Pain and hardship imposed by some on others cannot be described as a
sacrifice by the latter
It was Buddha who conquered the world, not Alexander - Tagore
mantra of “Reform to Perform to Transform” by Modi
RTI Act has been considered by many as the second most important legal docume
nt after the Constitution.
weapon of the weak
“Hum janege, hum jiyenge"
“Hamra paisa, hamara hisaab"
the task of a statesman is to construct a balance of fear between great power
to create a orderly system - it won’t be just and fair but it would be legitimate
eg - ceasefire line converted to LoC after shimla agreement. during argil war
US ask paksitan to withdraw
Aristotle - A government is good when it aims at good of the whole community and
bad when it aims at good of itself
Colonial govt in India was of the second type which always aimed at self
preservation
eg - Parliamentarian paying themsleves high salary
Those who run the system should not benefit from the system

Part 1

Our senses provide us only data, while our knowledge comes from judgements.
Descartes claimed that the only way to find objective truth is by attempting to
doubt absolutely every judgement.
I think. Therefore, I exist.
"Your right to wing your arm stops at my nose"
Love thy neighbour as thyself - Holy bible
Neighbour’s envy, Owners pride - Today’s mantra
Any virtue in its extreme form becomes a vice
Indian philosophy is Based on the idea of ‘Love thy negihbour and all beings ar
your negihbour"
Goals must take precedence over means where questions of human life are
involved. - Amartya sen, An Idea of justice
Knowledge without integrity is dangerous. Ex- Osama Bin Laden
Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars- Les Brown
we don’t not have rights to the rewards to our actions
actions are our sphere, fruits ar not our concern
Morality -in both public and private spaces is a premium in our society
While in the west as a person goes higher up in position of authority, he
develops respect for law , the opposite is true for our country.
while the measures of effectiveness keep continuously changing, accountability is a
universal and perpetual virtue in governance.
Political equality results ultimately in social equality
Negative emotions dominate our life more than positive
most beautiful things in life can be measured. they are immeasurable. e.g. -
love, truth
sound ethics makes good economics
eg- if companies follow CSR, in the long run, it will get the clientele due to
the goodwill it gnerate
relativity applies to physics and not to ethics - Einstein
 ethicals standards are universal
ethics is not a matter of convenience
means to end are equally important
ethics are practiced in absolutist terms acc to him
we can still forgive children when they are afraid of darkness, real tragedy when
men fear light
misplaced emotions only stifle growth
life is all about emotions
emotions should become our strength
child has irrationally made darkness a monster he is afraid of - irrational fear
when a adult don’t accept the truth, society can’t progress
Moral core of the universe bends at arc of justice - Martin luther king
We are taught to have a positive outlook all our life but we came to the world crying
Ethics being self regulation
true swaraj is achieved
In law we are guilty when we violate the rights of others, in ethics we are guilty
when we thinking of harming others - Kant
Ethics ensure validity and integrity ensure reliability
What cannot be cured must be endured
hate the crime and not the criminals. - gandhi
One mans courage makes a majority
Great leadership is about to know when to be in front and when to be back
providing space to others to prove their leadership
morality is an attitude we adopt towards the people whom we personally
dislike - oscar wilde
sound ethics makes good economics
life is all about what you hold valuable - service to parents, money, power
A man who doesn’t know swimming can’t save a drawing man
You don’t need to be a gardenr to enjoy the blooming flower
Teacher should not just be provider of knowledge but also igniter of ideas
Gandhi Ji – “Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong”.
Haruki Murakami’s “pain is inevitable, suffering is optional” is the best mantra to
opt for.
“Every saint has a past and every sinner a future”. - Oscar Wilde
Performance = Ability*Motivation or =Drive*Direction
Every citizen of the country adds to the human resource basket.
As long as humankind has existed, misery has been its companion.
Let us remember the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do
unto you” - Pope
Goals must take precedence over means where questions of human life are
involved. - Amartya sen, An Idea of justice
Manasa, Vacha, Karmana — “ when what you think, what you say, and what
you do are in harmony.” - this is my happiness
"Battles are not won on morals alone"
Conduct of a man is the expression of his character
duty are obligatory actions
“Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those
who are” -Benjamin Franklin
Human propensity for cruelty is as boundless as that for kindness. And as vast for
empathy.
For an idealist: Mahatma Gandhi represented his "dream", Nehru his 'desire" and
Subhash Bose his "deed".
dropping the weapon in case of difficult situation
“They are forever free who renounce all selfish desire and break away from ego
cafe of I, me and mine - Bhagavad Gita
Abraham Lincoln said "you can fool some people all the time and all of the people
some time but you can't fool all the people all the time."
“All my best ideas were born of anger,” says children’s rights- activist and Nobel
Peace prize winner Kailash Satyarthi
If you judge people you’ll have no time to love them - Mother Teresa
Peace begins with a smile - Mother teresa
Freedom and power brings responsibility
Men will not look at things as they really are, but as they wish them to be—and are
ruined. - Machiavelli
Truth is tied with responsibility
Truth always triumphs and Truth alone triumphs.
Facts do not cease to exist if they are ignored - Aldous Huxley
Australian philosopher Peter Singer says that where world poverty is concerned
'giving to charity' is neither charitable nor generous; it is no more than our duty and
not giving would be wrong.
both by ehtical point of view and economic prudence one must see charity
as a duty rather than a 'help'
Defanged generals seldom win wars
While complacency is never warranted, over-anxiety should also be kept at bay.
The man who tried his best and failed is superior to the man who never tried.- Bud
Wilkinson
John F Kennedy in mind - "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you
can do for your country"
The views I submit to you are those I have adopted. They are not original.- Gandhi
I came into this world, not chiefly to make this a good place to live in, but to live in
it, be it good or bad.- Thoreau
I have learnt to use the word ‘impossible’ with the greatest caution. —Wernher Von
Braun
I refuse to live in one room. My home has many rooms. My home is a palace; it is
Earth.
People with high self esteem think they’re as good as others whereas narcissists
think they are better than others.
If you tremble with indignation at every injustice, then you are a comrade of mine.
To believe in something and not live it is intellectual dishonesty - Gandhi
The essence of philosophy is that it is not a closed thought, while ideology is a
closed one.
Tagore often quoted - "Change needs to begin with one".
One must care for the world one will not see - Gandhi
If we value India we must not only make in India but also defend the idea of India
I'm the voice of voiceless - Ambedkar
The purpose of life is life of purpose
Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep balance you must keep moving
You have to dream before your dreams can come true. - Kalam
To succeed in your mission, you must have single-minded devotion to your goal. -
Kalam
We should not give up and we should not allow the problem to defeat us. - Kalam
 Real kindness seeks no return; What return can the world make to rain clouds?
- thiruvalluvar
Even the ignorant may appear very worthy, If they keep silent before the
learned.- thiruvalluvar
Pen is mightier than the sword
If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link
Necessity is the mother of invention
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer
Fortune favours the bold
When the going gets tough, the tough gets going
Two wrongs don’t make a right
To err is human, to forgive devine
Health is wealth
Heights by great man reached and kept, were not obtained by sudden flight; while
you slept, they were toiling in the night
Honesty is the best policy
Problem shared is problem halved
We are what we think All that we are arises With our thoughts With our thoughts We
make our world. — The Buddha
“Those who seek glory should be careless of public opinion - Sun Tzu
The three characteristics part of the authentic self of an individual are: autonomy,
integrity and harmony.
1. Autonomy means using one’s own mind in making choices whether they
are personal or public. This is possible only with a robust understanding
of the world and one’s situation in it. It also demands a level of self-
confidence and self-respect without being conceited or indulgent.
2. Integrity is more than just autonomy as it involves a coherence in the
results of one’s intellectual deliberations and taking them seriously while
putting them in action and thus imparts an overall stability to one’s
personality.
3. Harmony, metaphorically, may be termed as a state of internal peace.
More precisely, it means an alignment between one’s emotional states,
intellectual understanding and actions

NOT FOR MAINS

Others

“A hen lays one egg, the whole village hears her cackles; a turtle lays eggs by the
hundred, not a sound is heard.”
Happiness is never grand - Huxley, Brave New World
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” - Franklin roosevelt during Great
depression highlighting that problem was in people’s mind
Socrates said that a knowledge of our ignorance is the first step toward true
knowledge
Persian proverb says: "He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a
fool; shun him. He who knows not, and knows that he knows not, is a child; teach
him. He who knows, and knows not that he knows, is asleep; wake him. He who
knows, and knows that he knows, is wise; follow him.”
 "A wise man knows an ignorant one, because he has been ignorant himself, but
the ignorant cannot recognize the wise, because he has never been wise."—
Persian Proverb.
Thoughts become words; words become actions; actions become habits; habits
become character:; and character becomes your destiny
Success is getting what you want; while happiness is wanting what you get.
Harmony is when both are in sync

Kings and their swords are inferior to the sword of ethics - Gandhi
The wounds made by fire will heal, But the wound made by tongue will never heal.
- thiruvalluvar
Before badgering a weak person, imagine yourself before a more powerful man.
- thiruvalluvar
Determined efforts result in prosperity; Idleness brings nothing. - thiruvalluvar
Learning is the true imperishable wealth.- thiruvalluvar
Let thoughts be always great and grant. - thiruvalluvar
We should build a new social contract in new and rapidly growing India that we
seek a country and world in which no child will sleep hungry, no child will sleep
under the open sky, no child will be sent to work instead of a school no person will
be subjected to discrimination or violence because of her identity, no person will be
denied free, good-quality healthcare, and no old person will have to work or beg to
live with dignity
He who holds back rising anger like a rolling chariot, him I call a real driver; other
people are but holding the reins. - Buddha
1.Bodily pleasures comes before godly pleasures as god is inside the body - HH
Mukul pathak
2. It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that’s important. You have to do the
right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there’ll be any
fruit. But that doesn’t mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know
what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.
3. Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good.
4. Consciously or unconsciously, everyone of us does render some service or
another. If we cultivate the habit of doing this service deliberately, our desire for
service will steadily grow stronger, and it will make not only for our own happiness,
but that of the world at large.
5. A person who is worried about the outcome of his work does not see his goal; he
sees only his opposition and the obstacles before him.
6. Service that is rendered without joy helps neither the servant nor the served. But
all other pleasures as possessions pale into nothingness before service which is
rendered in a spirit of joy.
7. An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does
truth become error because nobody sees it.
8. Truth quenches untruth, love quenches anger, self-suffering quenches violence.
This eternal rule is a rule not for saints only but for all.
9. In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.
10. I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only
temporary; the evil it does is permanent.
11. Non-violence, which is the quality of the heart, cannot come by an appeal to
the brain.
12. Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.
13. Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true
democratic spirit.
14. To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being.
The more helpless the creature, the more that it is entitled to protection by man
from the cruelty of man.
15. Non-violence and cowardice are contradictory terms. Non-violence is the
greatest virtue, cowardice the greatest vice. Non-violence springs from love,
cowardice from hate. Non-violence always suffers, cowardice would always inflict
suffering. Perfect non-violence is the highest bravery. Non-violent conduct is never
demoralising; cowardice always is.
16. A “No “ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a Yes merely uttered
to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.
17. The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
18. A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes.
19. Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in
harmony.
20. My work will be finished if I succeed in carrying conviction to the human family
that every man or woman, however weak in body, is the guardian of his or her self-
respect and liberty, and that this defence prevails though the world be against the
individual resister.
21. There are times when you have to obey a call which is the highest of all, i.e. the
voice of conscience even though such obedience may cost many a bitter tear, and
even more, separation from friends, from family, from the state, to which you may
belong, from all that you have held as dear as life itself. For this obedience is the
law of our being.
22. The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within.
23. Morality which depends upon the helplessness of a man or woman has not
much to recommend it. Morality is rooted in the purity of our hearts. ( in respect to
freedom)
24. The moment there is suspicion about a person’s motives, everything he does
becomes tainted.
25. It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves honoured by
the humiliation of their fellow beings.
26. Gentleness, self-sacrifice and generosity are the exclusive possession of no
one race or religion.
27. Hatred ever kills, Love never dies, such is the vast difference between the two.
What is obtained by love is retained for all time. What is obtained by hatred proves
a burden in reality, for it increases hatred.
28. The test of friendship is assistance in adversity, and that too, unconditional
assistance, Co-operation which needs consideration is as a commercial contract
and not friendship. Conditional co-operation is like adulterated cement which does
not bind.
29. Capital as such is not evil; it is its wrong use that is evil. Capital in some form or
other will always be needed.
30. When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love
has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem
invincible but in the end, they always fall — think of it, always.
31. First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
32. Public opinion alone can keep a society pure and healthy.
33. Adaptability is not imitation. It means power of resistance and assimilation.
34. The only virtue I want to claim is truth and non-violence. I lay no claim to super-
human powers. I want none. I wear the same corruptible flesh that the weakest of
my fellow beings wears, and am therefore as liable to err as any. My services have
many limitations, but God has up to now blessed them in spite of the
imperfections.
35. Literary education is of no value, if it is not able to build up a sound character.
36. I worship God as Truth only. I have not yet found Him, but I am seeking after
Him. I am prepared to sacrifice the things dearest to me in pursuit of this quest.
Even if the sacrifice demanded by very life, I hope I may be prepared to give it.
37. Non-violence requires a double faith, faith in God and also faith in man.
38. Excel in your work, produce wealth, take the minimum which you need, leave
the rest to the welfare of the community.