Jan E. quoted Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett (Discworld, #23)
'[...] sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That's what sin is.' 'It's a lot more complicated than that—' 'No. It ain't. When people say things are a lot more complicated than that, they means they're getting worried that they won't like the truth. People as things, that's where it starts.' 'Oh, I'm sure there are worse crimes—' 'But they starts with thinking about people as things...'
— Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett, Terry Pratchett (Discworld, #23) (Page 314)
I like Granny Weatherwax's code of ethics a lot.