50+ Quotes About Doing the Right Thing to Boost One’s Integrity

These quotes about doing the right thing help one get in tune with one's sense of integrity, honesty, and personal values, especially when stuck in a dilemma.

Anubhuti Mishra
Written by Anubhuti Mishra , Relationship Expert
Updated on Jul 18, 2024 | 01:43 PM IST | 215.7K
 Quotes About Doing the Right Thing
Quotes About Doing the Right Thing

There hasn’t been a single person on this planet who has never been at the crossroads between doing the right thing and the easy thing. But if you’re a good person, then doing the “easy thing” would only be easy temporarily as feelings of guilt or regret associated with it would eat you from the inside out. Only through righteous actions and decisions can one truly find inner peace, and the following quotes about doing the right thing exemplify its essence. 

Now, doing the right thing can be something as small as choosing to read a book or work on that project instead of scrolling mindlessly, or it can be something more intense as speaking the truth where it counts, especially when no one else in the situation runs the risk of doing so. Doing the right thing could also mean refraining from doing the wrong thing, such as indulging in nasty gossip, hate speech, gambling, bullying, stealing, etc. 

The following list of our favorite quotes entails some powerful sayings by personalities such as Mark Twain, Mahatma Gandhi, J.K. Rowling, Nicholas Sparks, Oprah Winfrey, Abraham Lincoln, Princess Diana, and many others. Scroll away to read!

 

50+ Quotes About Doing the Right Thing

1. “Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” — Mark Twain 

 

2. “Civilization rests on the fact that most people do the right thing most of the time.” — Dean Koontz 

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3. “Stay focused on your mission, remain steadfast in your pursuit of excellence, and always do the right thing.” — Mark Esper 

 

4. “... what you think is right isn't the same as knowing what is right.” ― E.A. Bucchianeri, Brushstrokes of a Gadfly

 

5. “Better to fail at doing the right thing than to succeed at doing the wrong thing.” — Guy Kawasaki

Quotes About Doing the Right Thing

6. “It's the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there'll be any fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.” — Mahatma Gandhi

 

7. “With a lot of things in life, it's hard to do the right thing.” — Cat Zingano

 

8. “Doing the right thing isn't always easy - in fact, sometimes it's real hard - but just remember that doing the right thing is always right.” — David Cottrell

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9. “I want to make sure I do the right thing for society.” — Eric Yuan  

 

10. “Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you did it or not.” — Oprah Winfrey 

Quotes About Doing the Right Thing

11. “Let us do the right thing, there are those who will understand.” ― Anthony Ejefoh

 

12. “Forgiveness is not a matter of who is right or wrong. It is a matter of doing the right thing.” — Choa Kok Sui

 

13. “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” — Peter Drucker

 

14. “Challenging yourself to always do the right thing is the greatest challenge.” ― Ojingiri Hannah

 

15. “Being good is not a state of mind, it is a constant struggle.” ― Lamine Pearlheart, Awakening

Read More: Being Used Quotes That’ll Help You Stand Up for Yourself

16. “Sometimes it is better to lose and do the right thing than to win and do the wrong thing.” — Tony Blair

 

17. “It's the most righteous, which of course is not the same thing as the most profitable.” — Nikolai Gogol 

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18. “People must have righteous principals in the first, and then they will not fail to perform virtuous actions.” — Martin Luther 

 

19. “Doing the right thing daily, compounds over time.” — John C. Maxwell

 

20. “We are not disqualified or bad people trying to be good. We are holy, righteous, and redeemed. Sometimes, we spend more time on what we used to be and not who we are now. Bart Millard Righteous is the one who was able to demonstrate compassion in face of human suffering.” — Aleksander Kwasniewski 

Quotes About Doing the Right Thing

21. “The power of one man or one woman doing the right thing for the right reason, and at the right time, is the greatest influence in our society.” — Jack Kemp

 

22. “Taking a shortcut isn't always profitable, doing the right thing may take longer but just trust the process, your reward is sure!” ― Hopal Green

Read More: Quotes About Trust in Relationships That Strengthen Bonds

23. “I think for me the job always has to be the right thing at the right time.” — Emily Blunt 

 

24. “Initiative is doing the right thing without being told.” — Victor Hugo

 

25. “Don't be righteous and a liar at the same time — I have a problem with that.” — Nick Viall 

 

26. “All men's souls are immortal, but the souls of the righteous are immortal and divine.” — Socrates 

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27. “He who gives away shall have real gain. He who subdues himself shall be free; he shall cease to be a slave of passions. The righteous man casts off evil, and by rooting out lust, bitterness, and illusion do we reach Nirvana.” — Buddha 

 

28. “Every day, I get closer to God. Every day, my will to do the right thing gets stronger.” — DMX 

 

29. “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” — Colin Powell

 

30. “Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.” — Benjamin Franklin 

 

31. “I follow three rules: Do the right thing, do the best you can, and always show people you care.” — Lou Holtz 

 

32. “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.” — Calvin Coolidge

 

33. “Doing the right thing is a decision, which in many cases means you stand alone.” — Sebastian Kurz 

 

34. “Pissing people off doesn't mean you're doing the right things, but doing the right things will almost inevitably piss people off.” — Colin Powell

 

35. “Doing the right thing doesn't always bring success. But compromising ethics almost always leads to failure.” — Vivek Wadhwa

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36. “Leading with integrity and empathy requires vision and a connection to your deepest self.” — Karla McLaren

Quotes About Doing the Right Thing

37. “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.” — Theodore Roosevelt

 

38. “People say, ‘What is the sense of our small effort?’ They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time.” — Dorothy Day

 

39. “Character is not only doing the right thing when no one is looking, it's doing the right thing when everyone is looking. It's being willing to do the right thing even when it costs more than you want to pay.” — Michael Josephson

 

40. “Don't count the days. Make the days count. Don't think ‘I've got this many days to achieve this’, but instead ‘How much can I do in each of these days?’ — Muhammad Ali

 

41. “Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity.” — W. Clement Stone

 

42. “Over the long run, the unglamorous habit of frequency fosters both productivity and creativity.” — Gretchen Rubin

Quotes About Doing the Right Thing

43. “When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion.” — Abraham Lincoln

 

44. “Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.” — Diana Spencer, Princess Of Wales

 

45. “Creating a culture of integrity and accountability not only improves effectiveness, it also generates a respectful, enjoyable and life-giving setting in which to work.” — Tom Hanson

 

46. “It’s easy to have principles when you’re rich. The important thing is to have principles when you’re poor.” — Ray Kroc

 

47. “If you just make every effort to do the right thing, you'll come out ok. It comes down to priorities and making good decisions.” — Archie Manning 

 

48. “The more you do, the more experience you have and the next time it will be easier to choose the right thing.” — Andy Lau 

 

49. “To me, if you love it enough to devote your life to it, then you're doing the right thing.” — Kris Kristofferson 

Quotes About Doing the Right Thing

50. “Show interest in all people, not just those from whom you want something. Making people feel important and good about themselves is just the right thing to do.” — Bo Bennett 

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51. “We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles.” — Jimmy Carter

 

52. “In the end you should always do the right thing even if it’s hard.” — Nicholas Sparks

 

53. “Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort.” — J.K. Rowling

 

54. “Life is mostly froth and bubble; Two things stand like stone: Kindness in another’s trouble, Courage in our own.” — Adam Lindsay [Lionel Gordon] Gordon

 

55. “Don't worry about being a star, worry about doing good work, and all that will come to you.” — Ice Cube 

If you ever face a dilemma in your life, which is quite likely, these quotes about doing the right thing can help you make a better choice and prevent any feelings of guilt or remorse. Sometimes in life, we’re unable to recognize whether doing the right thing is doing the “ethical thing” or the seemingly “practical thing”. These quotes will also help you gain more perspective on what is right and what is wrong. We really hope you liked these quotes and gained solace from them during tough times.

ALSO READ: 62 Standing up for Yourself Quotes: Words That Ignite Confidence

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FAQ's

How can quotes about doing the right thing inspire people?
Yes. In situations when people are confused about what to do, quotes about doing the right thing can inspire them to make a decision they won’t regret.

What’s a quote about “doing the right thing” that’s related to leadership?
Here’s one quote about doing the right thing that is related to leadership: “Next to doing the right thing, the most important thing is to let people know you are doing the right thing.” — John D. Rockefeller

Are there any quotes about doing the right thing from religious texts or leaders?
Here’s one: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” — Ephesians 4:32 (Christianity)

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About The Author
Anubhuti Mishra
Anubhuti Mishra
Relationship Expert

A marked inclination toward understanding human emotions and relationships led Anubhuti to become a certified Relationship Expert. With dual

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