Selim M. Franklin

“ Hence, to commit murder is a greater wrong than to tell a lie, and a man would be perfectly justified in telling a lie in order to escape either becoming a murderer or being himself murdered. In this manner we can test the relative importance of moral laws. ”

“ The confusion that would arise were every one to tell nine falsehoods to one truth is inconceivable. The man who had been placed on sentinel duty, when asked whether he had seen the enemy, would answer no, although he knew the enemy to be within the hearing of his voice. ”

“ In the physical sciences we explain any particular phenomenon by laws already established. We explain the reason why any particular candle burns and gives off light, by laws already discovered of oxidation and incandescence. ”

“ Already, long, ages ago, it was discovered by experience that a tribe or nation, and every member thereof, would better serve his own prosperity and success by generally telling the truth than by telling falsehoods ”

“ In the presence of great danger we lose our reason, and yet, though volition is powerless, reflex action makes us struggle for safety. Why we want to live, why we were ever endowed with life, is more than man can know ”