Decency Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old decency quotes, decency sayings, and decency proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.

The test of one's decency is how much of a fight one can put up after one has stopped caring, and after one has found out that one can never please the people they wanted to please. Willa Cather
Virtue and decency are so nearly related that it is difficult to separate them from each other but in our imagination. Marcus Tullius Cicero
When the norm is decency, other virtues can thrive: integrity, honesty, compassion, kindness, and trust. Raja Krishnamoorthi
Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it. Christopher Hitchens
Decency is the least of all laws, but yet it is the law which is most strictly observed. Francois de la Rochefoucauld
Ethics, decency and morality are the real soldiers. Kiran Bedi
Decency is judged by our actions not by our words. Abdulazeez Henry Musa
Decency cannot be discussed without indecency! George Bernard Shaw
Decency requires that when a programme is approved by the majority, all should carry it out faithfully. Mahatma Gandhi
There are those without decency who must be fought without hesitation, without pity. Henri
There's a sort of decency among the dead, a remarkable discretion: you never find them making any complaint against the doctor who killed them! Moliere
Decency renders all things tolerable. Joseph Marie
Small acts of decency ripple in ways we could never imagine. Cory Booker
One must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being. May Sarton
Decency is not news. It is buried in the obituaries, but it is a force stronger than crime. Robert A. Heinlein
Justice consists of doing no one injury, decency in giving no one offense. Cicero
In some ways, 'decency' is a hazy concept; we know it when we see it.  Raja Krishnamoorthi
Decency must be an even more exhausting state to maintain than its opposite. Those who succeed seem to need a stupefying amount of sleep. Quentin Crisp
Want of decency is want of sense. Wentworth Dillon
Silence is not weakness and decency is not pride. Arthur Machen
Decency and tolerance, to be of any value, must be capable of withstanding the severest strain. Mahatma Gandhi
The thin and precarious crust of decency is all that separates any civilization, however impressive, from the hell of anarchy or systematic tyranny which lie in wait beneath the surface . Aldous Huxley
There is a sense of decency that's like a barometer to a man's or a country's health. Samuel R. Delany
God's most lordly gift to man is decency of mind. Aeschylus
Decency, not to dare to do that in public which it is decent enough to do in private. Michel de Montaigne
Decency is not defined, by statute, but the laws of instinct are stronger. Charles Pinot Duclos
Morals are private. Decency is public. Rita Mae Brown
Decency is such a rare thing in this world, and it can only be repaid with loyalty. Mike Klepper
Acts of sacrifice and decency without regard to what's in it for you create ripple effects. Ones that lift up families and communities, that spread opportunity and boost our economy. Barack Obama
Common decency is a core part of who people are. E. J. Dionne
Morals are a matter of private agreement; decency is of public concern. Marguerite Yourcenar
The measure of a decent human being is how he or she treats the defenseless. Bill O'Reilly
The laws of decency enforce themselves. Louise Colet
Decency is indecency's conspiracy of silence. George Bernard Shaw
Don't overestimate the decency of the human race. Henry Louis Mencken
Breaking of norms and disregard for decency have huge, long-term costs. Tom Steyer
If you can't say anything nice, at least have the decency to be vague. Susan Andersen