--- title: "8 Ethical Quotes By Sam Harris" description: "8 Ethical quotes by Sam Harris. Plus more from Sam Harris and more Ethical sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/898/sam-harris-457_ethical_i-am-one-of-the-few-people-i-know-of-who_298902.jpg" --- > [I am one of the few people I know of who has argued in print that torture may be an ethical necessity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/i-am-one-of-the-few-people-i-know-of-who-has-argued-in-print-that/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/898/sam-harris-457_ethical_i-am-one-of-the-few-people-i-know-of-who_298902.jpg) > [A kernel of truth lurks at the heart of religion, because spiritual experience, ethical behavior, and strong communities are essential for human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/a-kernel-of-truth-lurks-at-the-heart-of-religion-because-spiritual/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb5/sam-harris-457_behavior_a-kernel-of-truth-lurks-at-the-heart-of_322803.jpg) > [“Some propositions are so dangerous that it may even be ethical to kill people for believing them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/some-propositions-are-so-dangerous-that-it-may-even-be-ethical-to/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/804/sam-harris-457_belief_some-propositions-are-so-dangerous-that_870862.jpg) > [We read the Golden Rule and judge it to be a brilliant distillation of many of our ethical impulses. And then we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/we-read-the-golden-rule-and-judge-it-to-be-a-brilliant-distillation/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd5/sam-harris-457_brides_we-read-the-golden-rule-and-judge-it-to_948510.jpg) > [“If we are in a position to affect the happiness or suffering of others, we have ethical responsibilities toward them2—and many of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/if-we-are-in-a-position-to-affect-the-happiness-or-suffering-of/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c0/sam-harris-457_criminal-law_if-we-are-in-a-position-to-affect-the-ha_1732273.jpg) > [“Some pleasures are intrinsically ethical—feelings like love, gratitude, devotion, and compassion. To inhabit these states of mind is, by definition, to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/some-pleasures-are-intrinsically-ethical-feelings-like-love-gratitude/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f4/sam-harris-457_compassion_some-pleasures-are-intrinsically-ethical_1949437.jpg) > [“Nothing in Chomsky's account acknowledges the difference between intending to kill a child, because of the effect you hope to produce on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/nothing-in-chomsky-s-account-acknowledges-the-difference-between/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eea/sam-harris-457_accounts_nothing-in-chomsky-s-account-acknowledge_2448252.jpg) > [What I'm asking you to entertain is that there is nothing we need to believe on insufficient evidence in order to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/what-i-m-asking-you-to-entertain-is-that-there-is-nothing-we-need-to/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c7/sam-harris-457_asking_what-i-m-asking-you-to-entertain-is-that_3112789.jpg) ## Other authors on Ethical ## More by Sam Harris > [“Moderates in every faith are obliged to loosely interpret (or simply ignore) much of their canons in the interests of living in the modern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/moderates-in-every-faith-are-obliged-to-loosely-interpret-or-simply/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [There is no question but that nominally religious scientists like Francis Collins and Kenneth R. Miller are doing lasting harm to our discourse by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/there-is-no-question-but-that-nominally-religious-scientists-like/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [We have Christians against Muslims against Jews, and no matter how liberal your theology, merely identifying yourself as a Christian or a Jew lends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/we-have-christians-against-muslims-against-jews-and-no-matter-how/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“Your principal concern appears to be that the Creator of the universe will take offense at something people do while naked. This prudery of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/your-principal-concern-appears-to-be-that-the-creator-of-the-universe/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“As manuals for contemplative understanding, the Bible and the Koran are worse than useless. Whatever wisdom can be found in their pages is never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/as-manuals-for-contemplative-understanding-the-bible-and-the-koran/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [About 120 million of us place the big bang 2,500 years after the Babylonians and Sumerians learned to brew beer. If our polls are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/about-120-million-of-us-place-the-big-bang-2-500-years-after-the/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“If your golf instructor were to insist that you shave your head, sleep no more than four hours each night, renounce sex, and subsist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/if-your-golf-instructor-were-to-insist-that-you-shave-your-head-sleep/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [The fact that one can lose one's sense of self in an ocean of tranquility does not mean that one's consciousness is immaterial or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/the-fact-that-one-can-lose-one-s-sense-of-self-in-an-ocean-of/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [The second commandment is "Thou shall not construct any graven images." Is this really the pinnacle of what we can achieve morally? The second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/the-second-commandment-is-thou-shall-not-construct-any-graven-images/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“But the reality of consciousness appears irreducible. Only consciousness can know itself—and directly, through first-person experience.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/but-the-reality-of-consciousness-appears-irreducible-only/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“Whether or not one likes Huntington's formulation, one thing is clear: the evil that has finally reached our shores is not merely the evil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/whether-or-not-one-likes-huntington-s-formulation-one-thing-is-clear/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [The problem is that religion tends to give people bad reasons to be good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/the-problem-is-that-religion-tends-to-give-people-bad-reasons-to-be/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [Muslim moderates, wherever they are, must be given every tool necessary to win a war of ideas with their co-religionists. Otherwise, we will have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/muslim-moderates-wherever-they-are-must-be-given-every-tool-necessary/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [The idea that any one of our religions represents the infallible word of the One True God requires an encyclopedic ignorance of history, mythology,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/the-idea-that-any-one-of-our-religions-represents-the-infallible-word/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“What could possibly cause billions of human beings to reconsider their religious beliefs? And yet, it is obvious that an utter revolution in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/what-could-possibly-cause-billions-of-human-beings-to-reconsider/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethical/sam-harris/#itemlist", "name": "8 Ethical Quotes By Sam Harris", "numberOfItems": 8, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I am one of the few people I know of who has argued in print that torture may be an ethical necessity in our war on terror.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sam Harris" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/i-am-one-of-the-few-people-i-know-of-who-has-argued-in-print-that/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/898/sam-harris-457_ethical_i-am-one-of-the-few-people-i-know-of-who_298902.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/898/sam-harris-457_ethical_i-am-one-of-the-few-people-i-know-of-who_298902.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/898/sam-harris-457_ethical_i-am-one-of-the-few-people-i-know-of-who_298902.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I am one of the few people I know of who has argued in print that torture may be an ethical necessity in our…” — Sam Harris", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A kernel of truth lurks at the heart of religion, because spiritual experience, ethical behavior, and strong communities are essential for human happiness. 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