Ethical behavior is doing the right thing when no one else is watching — even when doing the wrong thing is legal.

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Notes from Wikiquote

(Unlikely to be by Leopold, who knew that ethics involves not only doing the right thing, but also determining the right thing in the face of competing desirable criteria.)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Aldo Leopold (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.