Each one of us guides our behavior based on values acquired and assumed throughout our lives . It is a set of principles, beliefs and deep convictions regarding how we should act, establishing a basis that serves us to value reality and what we should or should not do.

Acting out of harmony with them will generate a certain sense of anguish and discomfort, more accentuated the more important the value to us, while acting consistently with them produces satisfaction and the feeling of having done things well.

Being so important for us throughout history, numerous personalities have made different reflections on them, from which we have chosen a brief collection of phrases.

70 sentences on ethical values

Here are seventy of some of the best value phrases that exist, dealing with the subject directly or referring to what it means to act on a certain value.

1. Try not to be a successful man, but a man with values

Einstein reflects the need to act according to values, in what we believe to be right, rather than just pursuing success and wealth.

2. Every time a value is born, existence acquires a new meaning; every time one dies, a part of that meaning vanishes

Joseph Wood Krutch uttered this phrase which reflects the importance of following what we believe to be right and not allowing that value to be crushed and ignored by our behavior.

3. Duty is a god that does not consent to atheists

In this sentence, Victor Hugo reflects the value of responsibility and the need to act accordingly.

4. Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; but it is also what it takes to sit down and listen

Churchill pointed out that courage is not just acting but daring not to act and reflecting when necessary.

5. When I do good, I feel good. When I do wrong, I feel bad. And that is my religion

This phrase from Abraham Lincoln reflects at a general level the feelings that are generated by acting according to our values or against them.

6. Values are not just words, values are what we live by. They are the causes we defend and what people fight for

John Kerry teaches us in this sentence how important values are for everyone, even if they are not shared.

7. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values

Flexibility is highly valued today, but as the Dalai Lama points out in this sentence, it does not mean that we have to let go of what makes us who we are or what we believe.

8. We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools

The value of cooperation, communication and mutual respect is essential to enable us to develop in society, as Martin Luther King reminds us.

9. Loyalty cannot be printed. It cannot be produced on an assembly line, because its origin is in the human heart, the centre of self-respect and human dignity. It is a force that exists only when the exact conditions are right and it is a force that is very sensitive to betrayal

Maurice Franks says that loyalty is a complex value that cannot be generated by force.

10. Never think you know everything. However high you value yourself, always have the courage to say to yourself: I am ignorant

This phrase by Ivan Pavlov refers to the value of humility.

11. Above talent are common values: discipline, love, good luck, but above all tenacity

James Baldwin’s phrase regarding some of the most well-known and relevant values.

12. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny

It was Mahatma Gandhi who uttered this phrase, indicating that the pursuit and maintenance of our values will guide our path in life in their direction.

13. I would rather suffer an injustice than cause it, because if I cause it I will become an unjust person

This phrase from Socrates indicates the preference to be authentic and act according to what is believed to be just even though it may cause others to take advantage or attack us for it.

14. Courage is not having the strength to move forward; it is moving forward when you don’t have the strength

Theodore Roosevelt’s phrase about perseverance and courage.

15. Hope is the pillar that sustains the world. Hope is the dream of an awake man

Pliny the Elder talks about the value of hope as one of the main elements that allow us to fight against difficulties and continue living.

16. Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a garden is sunshine when the flowers are dead

Love is also an important value that directs our behavior being in fact one of the most powerful, as Oscar Wilde manifests in this sentence.

17. I just know that I don’t know anything

The value of humility and honesty is what we find in this well-known phrase of Socrates.

18. Anonymity is the most genuine expression of altruism

Whoever is truly altruistic does not require recognition from others, as Eric Gibson points out.

19. If it were not a fact of experience that the supreme values reside in the Soul, Psychology would not interest me in the least, since the soul would then be nothing but a miserable vapour

Carl Gustav Jung reflected the importance of our values as an element that explains much of our behavior and even our way of perceiving reality.

20. It doesn’t matter how slowly you go as long as you don’t stop

Andy Warhol indicates in this sentence the importance of the value of perseverance

21. I do what you can’t and you do what I can’t. Together we can do great things

Maria Teresa of Calcutta indicated with this phrase the importance of the value of cooperation.

22. Instead of censoring people, let’s try to understand them. Let’s try to imagine why they do what they do. That is much more profitable and more interesting than criticism, and from that comes sympathy, tolerance and kindness

Dale Carnegie’s phrase indicating the importance of being tolerant by trying to understand and accept what they do and why.

23. A true friend is one who enters when the rest leave

Walter Winchell reflects what true friendship is, when it is an important value for the person.

24. Being honest may not get you friends, but it will always get you the right ones

John Lennon talks about the value of honesty and the importance of maintaining it even though it may have consequences.

25. Let’s be grateful to the people who make us happy, they are the lovely gardeners who make our souls bloom

Marcel Proust makes us see the need to be grateful, gratitude being also a value to be taken into account in our daily life.

26. When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen

Hemingway indicated the need to take into account as a value the consideration towards the other.

27. Look with the eyes of another, listen with the ears of another, and feel with the heart of another

This sentence by Alfred Adler expresses to a great extent what empathy implies, which should also be an element to take into account when dealing with others

28. Only those who rise up and seek circumstances and create them if they do not find them succeed in the world

An important value in our society today is proactivity, as George Bernard Shaw reminds us.

29. When you are true to yourself in what you do, fascinating things happen

Deborah Norville reflects the importance of being authentic.

30. If you tell the truth you won’t have to remember anything

Mark Twain reflects in this phrase the value of authenticity and honesty.

31. Patience and perseverance have a magical effect where difficulties and obstacles disappear

John Quincy Adams tells us that these aspects help us to face difficult situations and solve them.

32. Whatever you can or dream of doing, begin it. Boldness contains in itself genius, power and magic.

Goethe expresses the benefits of acting boldly, expressing the value of proactivity and courage.

33. The one who is slowest to make a promise is the most faithful in keeping it

Rousseau reflects on the value of fidelity and commitment.

34. Those who want to sing always find a song

Joy can be considered a value, and keeping it present in our lives will make us see our life and act positively.

35. Strength and wisdom are not opposite values

Sometimes it has been considered that being strong implies being rigid and not being wise, and the same thing in reverse, but in reality these are complementary values since being wise provides us with strength. This phrase is from Winston Churchill.

36. Your values define who you really are. Your real identity is the sum total of your values

This sentence by Assegid Habtewold reflects that values shape not only how we act but also our self-concept: who we are.

37. Men are rich only in terms of what they give. He who gives great service receives great reward

Elbert Hubbard elicits in this sentence the value of generosity and solidarity, which makes us give to others with the intention of improving their lives.

38. Education without values seems to make man a more intelligent devil

Lewis indicates that it is essential to educate the population in values, so that they can direct their behavior.

39. Love establishes the basis of all human values

As Milan Hollister says, it is love and affection that causes us to adhere to certain values and beliefs and to feel some of them closer to us than others.

40. Values provide perspective on the best and worst of times

Values offer us, as Charles Garfield indicates in this sentence, a guide to act at any time and in any situation, allowing us to know how to act even in our worst moments.

41. Sometimes impatience bears more fruit than the deepest calculations

Bernard Shaw, although he names the value of patience, at the bottom of this sentence he defends the value of spontaneity.

42. Passion is a feeling that tells you: this is what you have to do. Nothing can stand in my way

Wayne Dyer expresses in this sentence the value of passion and perseverance to achieve our goals.

43. If you are looking for different results, don’t always do the same thing

Einstein’s phrase expressing the value of flexibility in order to adapt, learn and generate changes in our lives.

44. It is wrong and immoral to try to escape the consequences of one’s actions

Our actions have consequences. Being able to accept our involvement and face those consequences is what makes responsibility a value, as this sentence of Mahatma Gandhi indicates.

45. A man sooner or later discovers that he is the master gardener of his soul, the director of his life

James Allen urges us to take responsibility for our own lives, for ultimately the decisions we make will be made by us and no one else. The values of responsibility and autonomy are expressed.