103 Morality Quotes To Help You Explore Your Moral Compass

Do you think that you have a strong sense of morality that is guiding you through life, like the compass that guides the sailors at bay? 

Then, I’ve gathered for you these morality quotes to guide you in exploring relationship you have with your own moral compass. 

The moral compass of a person is very important. It can guide the person to make the right decisions or the wrong ones. 

Of course, you can say that right and wrong are subjective concepts, dependent upon the culture you grew up in and values that were transmitted to you through education.

However, deep in our hearts, we always know what is right and what is wrong for us because our intuition – the voice of our soul always guides us. 

Even if a person has grown up in a culture where violence is encouraged, for example, or cheating on your spouse is tolerated, deep in their heart, they feel that what they are doing is wrong. 

Living a life guided by a strong moral compass is crucial in everyone’s personal and spiritual evolution. 

Making a choice that is beneficial to yourself and to others can improve your karma. 

Meanwhile, making a choice through which you are harming yourself and others will definitely cause more negative karma that will come back to being paid. 

Thus, always remember that following a moral compass is very important. Let’s have a look together at the following morality quotes! 

Morality Quotes To Help You Make the Right Choices

1. “Do not be too moral. You might cheat yourself out of much of life. Aim high above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something.” – Henry David Thoreau

2. “True beauty is not related to what color your hair is or what color your eyes are. True beauty is about who you are as a human being, your principles, your moral compass.” – Ellen DeGeneres

3. “I do listen to myself sometimes and think, ‘Is my moral compass so easily swayed by the characters I play, or is it me growing as a human being?” – Andy Serkis

4. “Truth is not a mathematical concept that needs to be proved with equations. Its singleness demands an intact moral compass, with certainties about what is good and bad.” – Ece Temelkuran

5. “We need to elect leaders who have a strong moral compass. Leaders who are honest, straightforward, and tough – with a love of justice and fair play.” – Ed O'Neill

6. “Everybody is grappling with their own moral compass, and that needle, like any needle, can't just stick. It's always floating a little bit, and depending on where you're standing, it's hard to read.” – Rhea Seehorn

7. “The so-called moral compass is a part of the human cognition, and when that compass comes into action through human behavior, it turns an ordinary biological creature into a unique moral being of conscience.” – Abhijit Naskar

8. “A lot of the time, a moral compass is all that separates a hero from being a villain; otherwise, the two are very much the same. Both are generally the richest and most complex characters, and they get to have all the fun. I guess it's those types of roles that I ultimately gravitate towards.” – Ian Anthony Dale

9. “The self is just our operation center, our consciousness, and our moral compass. So, if we want to act more effectively in the world, we must get to know ourselves better.” – Gary Wolf

10. “All I can hope to do is instill great morality in my son and trust him along the way. The music he listens to or how he chooses to wear his hair doesn't define his moral compass, and if he wants to listen to country music and wear a cowboy hat, too, that's fine” – Mark Hoppus

11. “Never jeopardize who you are for a role. Now, I'm not saying you should never change for a role because the fun of being different characters is adapting different nuances and different parts of the character, but never jeopardize your moral compass or anything like that to have a role.” – Yara Shahidi

12. “Don’t assume that your personal moral compass, however admirable it may be, will always give you the right answer to complicated questions that require in-depth analysis.” – Joseph Badaracco

13. “Every society rests in the last resort on the recognition of common principles and common ideals, and if it makes no moral or spiritual appeal to the loyalty of its members, it must inevitably fall to pieces.” – Christopher Dawson

14. “My relationship with God is what gives me a moral compass on what decisions to make and that stuff. I'm thankful that I have the people around me that I do, and they remind me each day of who I am and what I stand for.” – Alyson Stoner

15. “As the pleasure principle is unconstrained by a moral compass based on a respect for others, it is increasingly shaped by the need for intense excitement and a never-ending flood of heightened sensations.” –  Henry Giroux

16. “Many of these Americans who are struggling to survive are Americans of color. Their cries for assistance confront America with a test of our moral compass as a nation.” – Elijah Cummings

17. “Homeless shelters, child hunger, and child suffering have become normalized in the richest nation on earth. It’s time to reset our moral compass and redefine how we measure success.” – Marian Wright Edelman

18. “As we consider the fast pace of scientific and technological progress in our modern world, we must not lose our moral compass and give way to ’free-market eugenics’.” – Sam Brownback

19. “I could feel my moral compass as a soldier in danger of – I could feel the squeeze, the pressure of frustration and anger and fear combining on me… I felt the danger; I felt the squeeze of it.” – Tim O'Brien

20. “For science, the end of the evolutionary struggle is simply represented by ‘survival.' As for the means to that end, apparently, anything goes. Darwinism leaves humanity without a moral compass.” – Bruce Lipton

21. “Today, we are engaged in a deadly global struggle against those who would intimidate, torture, and murder people for exercising the most basic freedoms. If we are to win this struggle and spread those freedoms, we must keep our own moral compass pointed in a true direction.”– Barack Obama

22. “I don't think anybody is anybody else's moral compass. Maybe listening to my music is not the best idea if you live a very constricted life. Or maybe it is.” – Lou Reed

23. “Denouncing Nazis is the easiest thing in the world: All it requires is a modicum of historical perspective and a working moral compass.” – Charlie Sykes

24. “When you're going into an employment environment that looks pretty scary, it is easy to lose your moral compass, your decency, your sense of civility, and your sense of community.” – Henry Rollins

25. “We have become so addicted to our greed-driven habits that we have lost our moral compass and don’t know what is right and wrong.” – Sharon Gannon

26. “With integrity, you have nothing to fear since you have nothing to hide. With integrity, you will do the right thing so that you will have no guilt.” – Zig Ziglar

27. “It’s really fun working on this Marvel movie, Spiderman. The essentials of Aunt May are that she’s helped raise Spiderman, and she’s his moral compass.” – Marisa Tomei

28. “I try to have the right thing happen at the end of the case, try to have the case have a moral compass to it, try to do a little teaching while I'm at it because that's the, you know, that's the preacher in me.” – Judy Sheindlin

29. “You come before me this morning with clean hands and clean collars. I want you to have clean tongues, clean manners, clean morals, and clean characters.” –  John E. Burns

30. “We have, in fact, two kinds of morality side by side: one which we preach but do not practice, and another which we practice but seldom preach.” – Bertrand Russell

31. “When you look at all of the male characters on television and in film, it's not like every one of them is the person doing the right thing that you can point to as your own moral compass. We need to have all kinds of characters represented.” – Ari Graynor

32. “There’s a morality… I think there’s a moral compass, but whether that comes from religion or just from being a good person, and where one starts, and the other begins… I’m a good person, I hope. But I’m never as good as I want to be, never as nice as I want to be, never as generous as I want to be.” – David Tennant

33. “The President of the United State is the leader of the free world, and the world has to be able to rely on his or her word to feel that they have a good moral compass.” – Judy Sheindlin

34. “The foundation of leadership is your own moral compass. I think the best quality leaders really know where their moral compass is. They get it out when they are making decisions. It’s their guide. But not only do you have to have a moral compass and take it out of your pocket, but it also has to have a true north.” – Les Wexner

35. “The world has lost a visionary leader, a courageous voice for justice, and a clear moral compass. By showing us that the path to freedom and human dignity lies in love, wisdom, and compassion for one another, Nelson Mandela stands as an inspiration to us all.” – Kofi Annan

Follow Your Moral Compass Quotes 

36. “I have learned that as long as I hold fast to my beliefs and values – and follow my own moral compass – then the only expectations I need to live up to are my own.” – Michelle Obama

37. “Sometimes, in order to follow our moral compass and/or our hearts, we have to make unpopular decisions or stand up for what we believe in.” – Tabatha Coffey

38. “You have to follow your moral compass: it’s a good guide of telling you what is right and wrong.” –  Cailee Spaeny

39. “Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity.” – W. Clement Stone

40. “There’s harmony and inner peace to be found in following a moral compass that points in the same direction regardless of fashion or trend.” –  Ted Koppel

41. “A compass, I learned when I was surveying, it’ll point you True North from where you are standing, but it’s got no advice about the swamps and deserts and chasms you’ll encounter along the way.”– Abraham Lincoln

Short Quotes on Morals That Pack a Punch 

42. “I always try to follow my moral compass.”- Jared Polis

43. “I believe in the teachings of Christ. I think that's a good way to set your moral compass.” – Margo MacDonald

44. “So I'm just waiting until one party or the other actually gets a moral compass and a backbone.” – John Perry Barlow

45. “The moral compass was only ever a means to an end, and the end is survival of the individuals who use it most creatively.” – Derek Robertson

46. “The Holocaust teaches us that nature, even in its cruelest moments, is benign in comparison with a man when he loses his moral compass and his reason.” – Samuel Pisar

47. “The men can have a moral compass that is just unshakeable; they can have ethics that run to the core.” – Lupe Fiasco

48. “You must follow your moral compass: it's a good guide for telling you what is right and wrong.” – Cailee Spaeny

49. “Morality makes you a better human being, and everything is better when you live your life morally.” – Dr. T. P. Chia

50. “It is time to reclaim our nation's moral compass.” – Paul Gosar

51. “The integrity of men is to be measured by their conduct, not by their professions.” – Junius

52. “If everyone got a divorce and looked for a second wife, the Coptic family would lose its moral compass.” – Pope Shenouda III

53. “Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.” – Oprah Winfrey

54. “In the worst of times, the best among us never lose their moral compass, and that is how they emerge relatively unscathed.” – Henry Rollins

55. “I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after, and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.” – Ernest Hemingway

56. “Setting sail using different moral compasses causes a relationship to go in circles.” – Khang Kijarro Nguyen 

57. “Moral authority comes from following universal and timeless principles like honesty, integrity, and treating people with respect.” – Stephen Covey

58. “Morality which is based on ideas, or on an ideal, is an unmitigated evil.” – D.H. Lawrence

59. “I lost my moral compass, and I have done terrible things that I very much regret.” – Andrew Fastow

60. “The biggest challenge, I think, is always maintaining your moral compass.” – Barack Obama

61. “If people use common sense and their own guiding moral compass, I think they'll generally stay out of trouble.” – Steve Chabot

62. “I feel like young people, more than anyone in the country, always have their moral compass on perfectly straight.” – Pramila Jayapal

63. “Human’s moral compass doesn’t work yet in worlds where the instinct navigates life.” – Toba Beta

64. “The right moral compass is trying hard to think about what customers want.” – Sundar Pichai

65. “If you have a moral compass, and you stay with it, people will always gravitate towards you.” – Carol Alt

66. “A nation cannot be truly great without a moral compass.” – Marcia Fudge

67. “A Brexit Britain that will navigate its way in the world without a moral compass.” – Gina Miller

68.“It's the community that helps form our moral compass. It's those attitudes that I've remembered throughout my entire lifetime.” – John Morgridge

69. “That's what theatre does to you. It teaches you a lot about what a moral compass really is.” – Sargun Mehta

70. “Democracy needs a moral compass.” – Jill Stein

71. “Hold onto power, and you lose your moral compass.” – Dustin Lance Black

72. “Never let society determine the direction of your moral compass.”

73. “My moral compass swings far to the left, but when it comes to gratuitous violence, I have trouble.” – Michael Biehn

74. “A sense of shame is not a bad moral compass.” – Colin Powell

75. “Without a moral compass, the human mind will justify anything.” – Mehrnaz Bassari

76. “Kids who evolve into creative adults tend to have a strong moral compass.” – Adam Grant

77. “The more cashless our society becomes, the more our moral compass slips.” – Dan Ariely

78. “Wisdom is light, but a wise man without morals is a well without a rope.” – ‎Ronald E. Pepin

79. “Your ethics and morals are a part of your authenticity, as are your likes and dislikes.” – L.K. Elliott

80. “A person without morals is a danger to himself.” – Hjalmar Bergman

81. “Stick to your morals and principles, your beliefs!” – O.Y. ven Ghaydle

82. “Act like some adhesive tape and stick to your morals. Be persistent in your goodness and in your knowledge and in your self-control.” – Bonita G. King

83. “Do not be afraid to speak up for yourself and to stick to your morals, but also try to maintain an open mind and a safe communication space where a solution that everyone can agree upon can be found.” – Ruffin, Ingrid, ‎Powell, Charissa

84. “Stick to your morals; you know that man is not worthy of holding you or even claiming you; the hardest thing to do is what walk away from him and tell the truth.” – Lizenda LiceaDiaz

85. “Even though times may get rough, and sometimes you feel like giving up, stick to your morals and believe in yourself.” – Frances A. Karnes

86. “At least I have MY OWN morals and standards of living. By being yourself, it's impossible to be wrong.” – Richard Cranium

87. “Don't profess your morality. Don't preach how great and perfect you are.” – David Meltzer

88. “Moral values are both individual and universal.” – SS Dara 

89. “If women have morals, dreams, and goals, they are now in the minority, and men see them as a challenge.” – D.H. REID

90. “Our morality must be self-supporting, dependent on issues that are already part of human nature to constrain what individuals do.” – Robert Hinde

Not Having A Moral Compass Quotes

91. “Human's moral compass doesn't work yet in worlds where the instinct navigates life.” –Toba Beta

92. “I was always an unusual girl. My mother told me I had a chameleon soul, no moral compass pointing due north, no fixed personality, just an inner indecisiveness that was as wide and as wavering as the ocean.” – Lana Del Rey

93. “Much of the world's moral compass is broken. The moral north reads south, and the moral south reads north.” – Dennis Prager

94. “There is a minimum requirement of morality, of moral compass, of decency, of moral empathy. And if you are incapable of meeting that minimum requirement, you can't even talk to me about policy.” – Ana Navarro

95. “A tyrant has an uncommon moral compass.” – Toba Beta

96. “The very idea that we get a moral compass from religion is horrible. Not only should we not get our moral compass from religion, as a matter of fact, but we also don't.” Richard Dawkins

97. “I'm very disappointed in my country right now because I think we've kind of lost our moral compass.” – Billy Corgan

98. “I think if you look at people, whether in business or government, who haven't had any moral compass, who've just changed to say whatever they thought the popular thing was, in the end, they're losers.” – Michael Bloomberg

99. “Most governments do have inbuilt biases in favor of the rich and powerful, and most do contain plenty of manipulators who love intrigue, who have lost whatever moral compass they may once have had, and who protect themselves with steely cynicism.” – Geoff Mulgan

100. “The problem is that Americans use the state as a moral compass. For libertarians, it is often frustrating to explain that advocating the decriminalization of x is not synonymous with endorsing x.” – David Harsanyi

101. “Morality’s not practical. Morality’s a gesture. A complicated gesture learned from books.” – Robert Bolt

102. “I think we need to be human. Nobody is objective. We need to go in and be human – especially today, especially given everything that’s happening around us, especially given the divides between populations that are growing and what’s at stake in terms of our collective humanity, and the fact that our moral compass is broken.” – Arwa Damon

103. “The downside, of course, is that over time religions become encrusted with precepts and ideas that are the antithesis of the soul, as each faith tries to protect its doctrines and institution instead of nurturing the evolution of consciousness. If one is not careful to distinguish the genuine insights of a religion from its irrelevant accretions, one can go through life following an inappropriate moral compass.” – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

What Inspires You? Which Morality Quote Was Your Favorite?

Following your moral compass in life is very important, as it can make the difference between going in the right direction and going in the wrong direction. 

We would love to hear from you in the comment section below, which is why I invite you to share which morality quote was your favorite and why.

Also, if you can remember a situation when a good moral compass has helped you avoid an unpleasant situation, we would also love to read that story!