Everybody must be managed. Queens must be managed. Kings must be managed, for men want managing almost as much as women, and that's saying a good deal.
Do not do an immoral thing for moral reasons.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that immoral actions should not be justified by claiming moral intentions.
Thomas Hardy's quote highlights the complex relationship between morality and ethics. It cautions against the notion that one can commit immoral acts, even if the motivation behind those acts seems to be morally sound. This challenges the reader to think critically about the means by which we pursue what we believe to be morally right and to consider the consequences of our actions, ultimately urging a deeper reflection on the true nature of morality and ethical conduct.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about ethical practices in business, one could use this quote to illustrate the dangers of justifying unethical decisions.
More from Thomas Hardy
All quotes βBecause what's the use of learning that I am one of a long row only - finding out that there is set down in some old book somebody just like me, and to know that I shall only act her part; making me sad, that's all. The best is not to remember your nature and your past doings have been just like thousands' and thousands', and that your coming life and doings'll be like thousands' and thousands'.
But nothing is more insidious than the evolution of wishes from mere fancies, and of wants from mere wishes.
I wish I had never been born--there or anywhere else.
Her affection for him was now the breath and life of Tess's being; it enveloped her as a photosphere, irradiated her into forgetfulness of her past sorrows, keeping back the gloomy spectres that would persist in their attempts to touch herβdoubt, fear, moodiness, care, shame. She knew that they were waiting like wolves just outside the circumscribing light, but she had long spells of power to keep them in hungry subjection there.
The trees have inquisitive eyes, haven't they? -that is, seem as if they had. And the river says,-'Why do ye trouble me with your looks?' And you seem to see numbers of to-morrows just all in a line, the first of them the biggest and clearest, the others getting smaller and smaller as they stand further away; but they all seem very fierce and cruel and as if they said, 'I'm coming! Beware of me! Beware of me!
Similar quotes
Nobody could stand an eternity of Heaven.
I'm more than willing to go to places and talk to people who believe that I am an illegal alien who deserves to be jailed. I want to look them in the eye and say, 'What makes you think I'm any different from you?' I think for our generation, immigration rights is a civil rights issue.
Any emotion, if it is sincere, is involuntary.
What cities, as great as this, have... promised themselves immortality! Posterity can hardly trace the situation of some. The sorrowful traveller wanders over the awful ruins of others... Here stood their citadel, but now grown over with weeds; there their senate-house, but now the haunt of every noxious reptile; temples and theatres stood here, now only an undistinguished heap of ruins.
How can a doctor judge a woman's sanity by merely bidding her good morning and refusing to hear her pleas for release? Even the sick ones know it is useless to say anything, for the answer will be that it is their imagination.
Laughter does not deny pain. Laughter - like a wail - acknowledges and replies to pain.