The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.
Interpretation
True character is revealed by actions taken in secrecy.
This quote suggests that a person's true character is determined by their choices and actions when they believe there will be no consequences or scrutiny. It emphasizes the importance of integrity and moral values that guide an individual's behavior, irrespective of external validation or fear of exposure. In essence, it encourages us to reflect on our ethical standards and the innate principles that govern our actions, even when no one is watching.
In practice
This quote could be shared during a leadership workshop to discuss ethical decision-making.
None of the modes by which a magistrate is appointed, popular election, the accident of the lot, or the accident of birth, affords, as far as we can perceive, much security for his being wiser than any of his neighbours. The chance of his being wiser than all his neighbours together is still smaller.
Your Constitution is all sail and no anchor.
I wish I was as sure of anything as he is of everything.
To punish a man because he has committed a crime, or because he is believed, though unjustly, to have committed a crime, is not persecution. To punish a man, because we infer from the nature of some doctrine which he holds, or from the conduct of other persons who hold the same doctrines with him, that he will commit a crime, is persecution, and is, in every case, foolish and wicked.
Mere negation, mere Epicurean infidelity, as Lord Bacon most justly observes, has never disturbed the peace of the world. It furnishes no motive for action; it inspires no enthusiasm; it has no missionaries, no crusades, no martyrs.
What a blessing it is to love books as I love them;- to be able to converse with the dead, and to live amidst the unreal!
History gives you insight of the same quality of truth as poetry or philosophy or a novel.
Let me make no bones about it: I write from the standpoint of Christian orthodoxy. Nothing is more repulsive to me than the idea of myself setting up a little universe of my own choosing and propounding a little immoralistic message. I write with a solid belief in all the Christian dogmas.
The fragrance of flowers spreads only in the direction of the wind. But the goodness of a person spreads in all directions.
It is easy to see that when republican virtue fails, slavery ensues.
Watch out for people who call themselves religious; make sure you know what they mean - make sure they know what they mean!
The heights of popularity and patriotism are still the beaten road to power and tyranny; flattery to treachery; standing armies to arbitrary government; and the glory of God to the temporal interest of the clergy.
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