“Morality is seldom a safe guide for human conduct.”

“[T]he Old Testament, [...] if considered as a general rule of conduct, would lead to consequences destructive of all principles of humanity and morality.”

“Respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners”

“A psychological explanation of our feelings is not a moral explanation of our conduct.”

“The Moral Law isn't any one instinct or any set of instincts: it is something which makes a kind of tune (the tune we call goodness or right conduct) by directing the instincts. (...) The most dangerous thing you can do is to take any one impulse of your own nature and set it up as the thing you ought to follow at all costs. There's not one of them which won't make us into devils if we set it up as an absolute guide. You might think love of humanity in general was safe, but it isn't. If you leave out justice you'll find yourself breaking agreements and faking evidence in trials 'for the sake of humanity,' and become in the end a cruel and treacherous man.”

“...it was a misfortune of poetry, to be seldom safely enjoyed by those who enjoyed it completely.”