The Moral Path To Success

It is a grand mistake to think of being great without goodness and I pronounce it as certain that there was never a truly great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous. Benjamin Franklin

To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society. Theodore Roosevelt

"God... has formed us moral agents... that we may promote the happiness of those with whom He has placed us in society, by acting honestly towards all, benevolently to those who fall within our way, respecting sacredly their rights, bodily and mental, and cherishing especially their freedom of conscience, as we value our own." -- Thomas Jefferson to Miles King, 1814. ME 14:197

"Peace, prosperity, liberty and morals have an intimate connection." Thomas Jefferson to George Logan, 1813. ME 13:384

"The order of nature [is] that individual happiness shall be inseparable from the practice of virtue." Thomas Jefferson to M. Correa de Serra, 1814. ME 19:210

"Without virtue, happiness cannot be." Thomas Jefferson to Amos J. Cook, 1816. ME 14:405

"Truth is certainly a branch of morality, and a very important one to society." Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Law, 1814. ME 14:139

"Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom." Thomas Jefferson to Nathaniel Macon, 1819. ME 15:180

"Honesty, disinterestedness and good nature are indispensable to procure the esteem and confidence of those with whom we live, and on whose esteem our happiness depends." Thomas Jefferson to Francis Eppes, 1816. ME 19:241

"The moral sense [is] the first excellence of well-organized man." Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, 1823. ME 15:418