--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The moral law commands us to make the…" description: "\"The moral law commands us to make the highest possible good in a world the final object of all our conduct.\" — Paul Ricoeur" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/898/paul-ricoeur-16430_character_the-moral-law-commands-us-to-make-the-hi_2841311.jpg" --- # The moral law commands us to make the highest possible… ![“The moral law commands us to make the highest possible good in a world the final object of all our conduct.” quote by Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/898/paul-ricoeur-16430_character_the-moral-law-commands-us-to-make-the-hi_2841311.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/898/paul-ricoeur-16430_character_the-moral-law-commands-us-to-make-the-hi_2841311.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/898/paul-ricoeur-16430_character_the-moral-law-commands-us-to-make-the-hi_2841311.jpg) > “The moral law commands us to make the highest possible good in a world the final object of all our conduct.” [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Moral law urges us to aim for the greatest good, guiding all actions toward a higher purpose. **In simple terms:** Moral law seeks highest good. Key Takeaway Align actions with universal ethical aims. Themes morality purpose ethics Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - personal decision‑making - public policy - community service Key Concepts Deontological ethics teleology Questions to Reflect On - What defines the highest good for you? - How do you resolve moral dilemmas? A Different Perspective Conflicting duties can obscure the highest good. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Command](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/command/) [Conduct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conduct/) [Final Object](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/final-object-3726615/) [Finals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finals/) [Highest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/highest/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Make Highest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-highest-3726616/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Moral law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral-law/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Never make your highest purpose, or the most important thing in your life something that is outside of your control.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-crawford/never-make-your-highest-purpose-or-the-most-important-thing-in-your/) [Bill Crawford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-crawford/) > [We should refrain from anything that seems to be a final judgment of any person...the Lord alone has the capacity to judge...And, in all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallin-h-oaks/we-should-refrain-from-anything-that-seems-to-be-a-final-judgment-of/) [Dallin H. Oaks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallin-h-oaks/) > [Kant, as we all know, compared moral law to the starry heavens, and found them both sublime. On the naturalistic hypothesis we should rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-balfour/kant-as-we-all-know-compared-moral-law-to-the-starry-heavens-and/) [Arthur Balfour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-balfour/) > [Evolution may explain some features of the moral law, but it can't explain why it should have any real significance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/evolution-may-explain-some-features-of-the-moral-law-but-it-can-t/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“Parrhesia is a kind of verbal activity where the speaker has a specific relation to truth through frankness, a certain relationship to his own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foucault-michel-2/parrhesia-is-a-kind-of-verbal-activity-where-the-speaker-has-a/) [Foucault, Michel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foucault-michel-2/) > [ The true fountains of evidence \[are\] the head and heart of every rational and honest man. It is there nature has written her moral… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-true-fountains-of-evidence-are-the-head-and-heart-of-every/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing wonder and awe, the more often and the more seriously reflection concentrates upon them:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/two-things-fill-the-mind-with-ever-new-and-increasing-wonder-and-awe/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [The dogma of the mystic offices of Christ being dropped, and he standing on his genius as a moral teacher, 'tis impossible to maintain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-dogma-of-the-mystic-offices-of-christ-being-dropped-and-he/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“not because the moral law enjoins unselfishness, but because, given the society in which they live, it is the way in which their impulses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/not-because-the-moral-law-enjoins-unselfishness-but-because-given-the/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [“But each one of us is guilty insofar as he remained inactive. The guilt of passivity is different. Impotence excuses; no moral law demands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-jaspers/but-each-one-of-us-is-guilty-insofar-as-he-remained-inactive-the/) [Karl Jaspers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-jaspers/) > [“Moral law is an invention of mankind for the disenfranchisement of the powerful in favor of the weak.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/moral-law-is-an-invention-of-mankind-for-the-disenfranchisement-of/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“There is a twofold liberty, natural (I mean as our nature is now corrupt) and civil or federal. The first is common to man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/there-is-a-twofold-liberty-natural-i-mean-as-our-nature-is-now/) [Alexis De Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [“In his own way each man must struggle, lest the moral law become a far-off abstraction utterly separated from his active life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/in-his-own-way-each-man-must-struggle-lest-the-moral-law-become-a-far/) [Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/) > [Music is moral law. It is the essence of order and leads to all that is good, true and beautiful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/music-is-moral-law-it-is-the-essence-of-order-and-leads-to-all-that/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [“Against Hume, Kant has found a more proper ground for humility: “True humility follows unavoidably from our sincere and exact comparison of ourselves with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanine-grenberg/against-hume-kant-has-found-a-more-proper-ground-for-humility-true/) [Jeanine Grenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanine-grenberg/) ## More by Paul Ricoeur > [If it is true that there is always more than one way of construing a text, it is not true that all interpretations are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/if-it-is-true-that-there-is-always-more-than-one-way-of-construing-a/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [What must be the nature of the world... if human beings are able to introduce changes into it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/what-must-be-the-nature-of-the-world-if-human-beings-are-able-to/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [Although there has always been a hermeneutic problem in Christianity, the hermeneutic question today seems to us a new one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/although-there-has-always-been-a-hermeneutic-problem-in-christianity/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [But myth is something else than an explanation of the world, of history, and of destiny. Myth expresses in terms of the world -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/but-myth-is-something-else-than-an-explanation-of-the-world-of/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [But myth is something else than an explanation of the world, of history, and of destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/but-myth-is-something-else-than-an-explanation-of-the-world-of-2/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [Man is this plural and collective unity in which the unity of destination and the differences of destinies are to be understood through each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/man-is-this-plural-and-collective-unity-in-which-the-unity-of/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [There was a wise old owl who sat in a tree The less he spoke the more he heard The more he heard the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/there-was-a-wise-old-owl-who-sat-in-a-tree-the-less-he-spoke-the-more/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [Wisdom finds its literary expression in wisdom literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/wisdom-finds-its-literary-expression-in-wisdom-literature/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [There has always been a hermeneutic problem in Christianity because Christianity proceeds from a proclamation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/there-has-always-been-a-hermeneutic-problem-in-christianity-because/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [It is always possible to argue against an interpretation, to confront interpretations, to arbitrate between them and to seek for an agreement, even if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/it-is-always-possible-to-argue-against-an-interpretation-to-confront/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [Hope, insofar as it is hope of resurrection, is the living contradiction of what it proceeds from and what is placed under the sign…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/hope-insofar-as-it-is-hope-of-resurrection-is-the-living/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [Testimony should be a philosophical problem and not limited to legal or historical contexts where it refers to the account of a witness who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/testimony-should-be-a-philosophical-problem-and-not-limited-to-legal/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [The narrative constructs the identity of the character, what can be called his or her narrative identity, in constructing that of the story told.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/the-narrative-constructs-the-identity-of-the-character-what-can-be/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [Narrative identity takes part in the story's movement, in the dialectic between order and disorder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/narrative-identity-takes-part-in-the-story-s-movement-in-the/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [“The dictionary contains no metaphors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/the-dictionary-contains-no-metaphors/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) [Explore all 39 Paul Ricoeur quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) ## More Character quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I'm often moved by the circumstances around some of my characters, but I don't think I've actually cried watching myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-winslet/i-m-often-moved-by-the-circumstances-around-some-of-my-characters-but/) [Kate Winslet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-winslet/) > [When you're on a daytime drama you get one page, you better damn well know your character. You better know what she would do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hudgins/when-you-re-on-a-daytime-drama-you-get-one-page-you-better-damn-well/) [David Hudgins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hudgins/) > [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [If you are well-mannered towards those whose views are similar to yours, you may be said to exhibit a fairly good character. But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [In the fight between biology and morality, biology has commonly won in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/semir-zeki/in-the-fight-between-biology-and-morality-biology-has-commonly-won-in/) [Semir Zeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/semir-zeki/) > [Your looks don't make you pretty, it's the person inside who makes you pretty!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-chan/your-looks-don-t-make-you-pretty-it-s-the-person-inside-who-makes-you/) [Aaron Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-chan/) > [I'm not a huge social media kind of guy, so I don't really know, I don't really ever get... at least in real life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddie-stroma/i-m-not-a-huge-social-media-kind-of-guy-so-i-don-t-really-know-i-don/) [Freddie Stroma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddie-stroma/) > [If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warwick-davis/if-you-stood-me-in-a-costume-next-to-a-computer-graphic-of-the-same/) [Warwick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warwick-davis/) > [Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/courage-the-most-important-of-all-the-virtues-because-without-courage/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I'm a character actor - always have been, always will be - and historically, character actors don't come into their own until later in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-potts/i-m-a-character-actor-always-have-been-always-will-be-and/) [Annie Potts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-potts/) [Browse all 32,707 Character quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The moral law commands us to make the highest possible good in a world the final object of all our conduct.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul Ricoeur" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/the-moral-law-commands-us-to-make-the-highest-possible-good-in-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Character" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/the-moral-law-commands-us-to-make-the-highest-possible-good-in-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/898/paul-ricoeur-16430_character_the-moral-law-commands-us-to-make-the-hi_2841311.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/898/paul-ricoeur-16430_character_the-moral-law-commands-us-to-make-the-hi_2841311.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/898/paul-ricoeur-16430_character_the-moral-law-commands-us-to-make-the-hi_2841311.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The moral law commands us to make the highest possible good in a world the final object of all our conduct.” — Paul Ricoeur", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Paul Ricoeur", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The moral law commands us to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/the-moral-law-commands-us-to-make-the-highest-possible-good-in-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/the-moral-law-commands-us-to-make-the-highest-possible-good-in-a/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```