Okay, maybe it might eventually be wittled down to that one simple, yet humanistic, thought but as an intermediary step I think we're gonna need a little more direction.

Why? All of your examples have loopholes. What about a little white lie to save someone from suffering? Surely that has some good in it, right? Or what if I am just taking my neighbor's lawn mower because I mowed his lawn for a whole summer and he never paid me for it? Or maybe my neighbor's wife came on to me first, and my neighbor was cheating on her anyway so he didn't really deserve her...

I think my way is much simpler and way more effective. No loopholes, either.