"In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so."
— Immanuel Kant
In Law A Man Is Guilty
In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so.
About this quote
This distinction comes from Kant's Lectures on Ethics, a collection compiled from student notes of lectures he delivered at the University of Königsberg over several decades. Kant is distinguishing between the external standard of legality — conforming outwardly to rules — and the internal standard of morality, which requires that the motive itself be good. The lectures were not published by Kant himself; the principal compilation, edited by Paul Menzer, appeared posthumously in 1924.
Source
Lectures on Ethics
