“Do not do to others what you would not like for yourself.”
– Confucius, Analects, C 500 BCE

“Just as the sun does not wait for prayers and incantations to persuade it to rise, but shines anyway and is universally loved, so you should not wait for applause and praise in order to do good; but be a voluntary benefactor and you will be beloved like the sun.”      –   Epictetus, 1st Century CE

“A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence.”
–  David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, 1748

“Of moral purpose I see no trace in Nature.  That is an article of exclusively human manufacture – and very much to our credit.”  –  T H Huxley (1825-1895)

“I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed.  I want the cultures of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. . . . But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.” –  Mahatma Gandhi, (1869 -1948)

“The only possible basis for a sound morality is mutual tolerance and respect: tolerance of one another’s customs and opinions; respect for one another’s rights and feelings; awareness of one another’s needs.”
–  A J Ayer, The Humanist Outlook, 1968

“The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent; but if we can come to terms with this indifference and accept the challenges of life within the boundaries of death — however mutable man may be able to make them — our existence as a species can have genuine meaning and fulfilment. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.”     –  Stanley Kubrick (Film Director)