“We are much beholden to Machiavel and others, that write what men do, and not what they ought to do.”

“We do not what we ought,
What we ought not, we do,
And lean upon the thought
That chance will bring us through.”

“Notice that much of what men do is also done by single mothers so appreciating what men do also helps us appreciate what single moms do.”

“Too much is written by the men who can't write about the men who do write.”

“The effect of liberty to individuals is, that they may do what they please: we ought to see what it will please them to do, before we risk congratulations.”

“Do not even think of doing what ought not to be done.”

“Sometimes life is not about what u want to do but what u ought to do”

“It is not so much what we know that is important, as what we are and what we do.”

“Now I don't know where you come from if you think that you deserve a trophy, or a parade or are even guaranteed a thank-you for doing what's good and what's right to others, and being kind to them and respectful — but in life, you probably will not get these things. But that's not why we ought to do good — we ought to do good, not because it's special or extra, but because it's the minimum of what we owe to one another.”

“Nothing that we despise in other men is inherently absent from ourselves. We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or don't do, and more in light of what they suffer.”