How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Rear Window.
Quote #1
STELLA: We've become a race of peeping Toms. What people ought to do is get outside their own house and look in for a change. Yes, sir. How's that for a bit of homespun philosophy?
The plainspoken and practical Stella knows something bad when she sees it and has no qualms about letting Jeff know it. Jeff knows that it's not okay to spy on the neighbors, but he does it anyway—likely because he sees it as a largely harmless vice.
Quote #2
JEFF: She's like a queen bee with her pick of the drones.
LISA: I'd say she's doing a woman's hardest job: juggling wolves.
Jeff is pretty happy to condemn Miss Torso for her perceived sins, even taking a kind of sardonic glee in it. Lisa brings a woman's perspective to the equation, and suddenly the moral burden shifts from Miss Torso to her suitors.
Quote #3
JEFF: I wonder if it is ethical to watch a man with binoculars and a long-focus lens. Do you, do you suppose it's ethical even if you prove that he didn't commit a crime?
LISA: I'm not much on rear-window ethics.
JEFF: Of course, they can do the same thing to me. Watch me like a bug under a glass if they want to.
It's not ethical—though it's not as bad as murder—but Jeff is also aware that it's a two-way street. Does that make it right?