Scruples Quotes

• When a thing has been said and well, have no scruple. Take it and copy it.

  Anatole France

  Inspirational, Book, Beer

  68 Copy quote

• We live in a world where people don't all have the same scruples, where all blows can be given, and where, in order to down somebody, all means can be used. Nothing will lead me astray from the path that I have chosen.

  Nicolas Sarkozy

  Mean, Blow, Order

  Le Monde, 2005.

  29 Copy quote

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• There is nothing to winning, really. That is, if you happen to be blessed with a keen eye, an agile mind, and no scruples whatsoever.

  Alfred Hitchcock

  Blessed, Eye, Winning

  28 Copy quote

• Quarreling over food and drink, having neither scruples nor shame, not knowing right from wrong, not trying to avoid death or injury, not fearful of greater strength or of greater numbers, greedily aware only of food and drink - such is the bravery of the dog and boar.

  Xunzi

  Dog, Numbers, Knowing

  93 Copy quote

• My wit is sharper then the finest mustache, and when I walk among men I make truths ring like spurs.

  Edmond Rostand

  Men, Mustache, Spurs

  25 Copy quote

• I have the knack of easing scruples.

  Moliere

  Knack

  24 Copy quote

• One person can take papers, photograph them without getting excited, return them, and give them away without any scruples; while someone else has to overcome an enormous obstacle.

  Markus Wolf

  Giving, Overcoming, Paper

  23 Copy quote

• The revolutionary spirit is mighty convenient in this, that it frees one from all scruples as regards ideas. Its hard absolute optimism is repulsive to my mind by the menace of fanaticism and intolerance it contains. No doubt one should smile at these things; but, imperfect Esthete, I am no better Philosopher. All claim to special righteousness awakens in me that scorn and anger from which a philosophical mind should be free.

  Joseph Conrad

  Philosophical, Ideas, Optimism

  Joseph Conrad (2015). “A Personal Record”, p.9, Booklassic

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• The revolutionary spirit is mighty convenient in this, that it frees one from all scruples as regards ideas.

  Joseph Conrad

  Ideas, Revolution, Spirit

  Joseph Conrad (2013). “Some Reminicscences”, p.8, Simon and Schuster

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• The architecture profession has lost a lot of its integrity, especially in the USA. The general architect here has no scruples, no ambitions.

  Helmut Jahn

  Integrity, Ambition, Usa

  21 Copy quote

• In both cases, weakness and scruples had defeated strength and ruthlessness.

  Ken Follett

  Weakness, Ruthlessness, Defeated

  Ken Follett (2011). “Ken Follett EPIC HISTORICAL COLLECTION”, p.1448, Penguin

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• I've often thought that my scruples about stealing books were the only thing that stood in the way of my being a really great scholar.

  Malcolm Bradbury

  Book, Way, Stealing

  Malcolm Bradbury (1978). “Eating people is wrong”, Vintage

  19 Copy quote

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• We live in a wondrous time in which the strong is weak because of his moral scruples and the weak grows strong because of his audacity.

  Otto von Bismarck

  Strong, Audacity, Moral

  215 Copy quote

• Writing is conscience, scruple, and the farming of our ancestors.

  Edward Dahlberg

  Writing, Agriculture, Farming

  Edward Dahlberg (1964). “Alms for oblivion: essays”

  20 Copy quote

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• I would rather have as my patron a host of anonymous citizens digging into their own pockets for the price of a book or a magazine than a small body of enlightened and responsible men administering public funds. I would rather chance my personal vision of truth striking home here and there in the chaos of publication that exists than attempt to filter it through a few sets of official, honorably public-spirited scruples.

  John Updike

  Art, Book, Home

  John Updike's tstimony given before the Subcommittee on Select Education of the House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor in Boston, Massachusetts, January 30, 1978.

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• If there be anything that can render the soul calm, dissipate its scruples and dispel its fears, sweeten its sufferings by the anointing of love, impart strength to all its actions, and spread abroad the joy of the Holy Spirit in its countenance and words, it is this simple and childlike repose in the arms of God.

  S. D Gordon

  Prayer, Simple, Joy

  19 Copy quote

• Gold is a wonderful clearer of the understanding; it dissipates every doubt and scruple in an instant.

  Joseph Addison

  Understanding, Doubt, Gold

  Joseph Addison (1868). “The Works of Joseph Addison: Including the Whole Contents of Bp. Hurd's Edition, with Letters and Other Pieces Not Found in Any Previous Collection; and Macaulay's Essay on His Life and Works”, p.563

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• He'll cheat without scruple, who can without fear.

  Benjamin Franklin

  Cheating, Cheat

  Benjamin Franklin (2006). “Wisdom and Wit from Poor Richard's Almanack”, p.16, Peter Pauper Press, Inc.

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• He without benefit of scruples - His fun and money soon quadruples.

  Ogden Nash

  Money, Fun, Business

  6 Copy quote

• It is much easier to ruin a man of principle than a man of none, for he may be ruined through his scruples. Knavery is supple and can bend; but honesty is firm and upright, and yields not.

  Charles Caleb Colton

  Honesty, Men, Yield

  Charles Caleb Colton (1823). “Remarks on the Talents of Lord Byron and the Tendencies of Don Juan”

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• He who has once deviated from the truth, usually commits perjury with as little scruple as he would tell a lie.

  Marcus Tullius Cicero

  Truth, Lying, Littles

  "Oratio Pro Quinto Roscio Comœdo" by Cicero, XX,

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• Love has this in common with scruples, that it becomes embittered by the reflections and the thoughts that beset us to free ourselves.

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Reflection, Common

  10 Copy quote

• Take care to make things turn out well. Some people scruple more over pointing things in the right direction than over successfully reaching their goals. The disgrace of failure outweighs the diligence they showed. A winner is never asked for explanations.

  Baltasar Gracian

  Success, Goal, People

  13 Copy quote

• Too rigid scruples are concealed pride.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Pride, Concealed

  "Iphigenia in Tauris". Play by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, IV. 4. 120, April 6, 1779.

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• I never say anything of a man that I have the smallest scruple of saying to him.

  George Washington

  Men, Say Anything, Smallest

  George Washington, Stephen Lucas (1999). “The Quotable George Washington: The Wisdom of an American Patriot”, p.89, Rowman & Littlefield

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