Quotes from George Lakoff

Any couple willing to fight for a public recognition of their love and a lifetime commitment has sanctity on their side.

It is a meritocracy. It is hierarchical, and the hierarchy is moral. In this hierarchy, some people have authority over others and their authority is legitimate. Moreover

But there are only four really important ones: Show respect Respond by reframing Think and talk at the level of values Say what you believe

Regardless of whether you are progressive, conservative, or biconceptual, though, your morality—your sense of what a person should be and do—is deeply connected to the way your brain triggers emotions and determines whether you feel good or bad in certain situations and about certain ideas. It is worth understanding why.

One of the great discoveries of neuroscience is the mirror neuron system.

For example, when there is a discussion in your office, church, or other group, there is a simple response for someone who says, "I don't think gays should be able to marry. Do you?" The response is: "I believe in equal rights, period. I don't think the state should be in the business of telling people who they can or can't marry.

It was Luntz who persuaded conservatives to stop talking about "global warming" because it sounded too scary and suggested human agency. Instead, he brought "climate change" into our public discourse on the grounds that "climate" sounded kind of nice (think palm trees) and change just happens, with no human agency.

Morally based framing is everybody's job. Especially reporters'.

It could not be said by the media at the time, but it was true. No taxes from the wealthy were raised to pay for the war. Indeed, they were cut!

We can now see clearly why liberal arguments for social programs can make no sense at all to conservatives, whether they are arguments on the basis of compassion, fairness, wise investment, financial responsibility, or outright self-interest.

Progressives are suffering from massive hypocognition.

To be accepted, the truth must fit people's frames. If the facts do not fit a frame, the frame stays and the facts bounce off. Why?

That makes the federal government a thief. Hence, a common conservative attitude toward the government: You can't trust it, since, like a thief, it's always trying to find ways to take your money. Liberals

There is an accelerating gap—not just widening but accelerating—between the ultra rich and everyone else. Why? What are the systemic causes and the systemic effects? And is there anything wrong with some people getting that rich and progressively richer over time?

They often think that theirs is the only way to be a true progressive. That is sad. It keeps people who share progressive values from coming together. We

The differences are not about efficiency, or practicality, or economics, and they cannot be settled by rational argument about effective administration. They are ethical opinions about what makes good people and a good nation. What

What is punishment and theft to conservatives is civic duty and fairness to liberals. There

Wealth correlates with certain forms of freedom, like the freedom to acquire goods, or to travel, or freedom of access to certain cultural events, and so on.

there are two fundamentally different kinds of wealth:

Concepts are not things that can be changed just by someone telling us a fact. We may be presented with facts, but for us to make sense of them, they have to fit what is already in the synapses of the brain. Otherwise facts go in and then they go right back out.

But to conservatives whose value system gives priority to Moral Strength, the problem of drugs is the personal lack of the moral strength to just say no. It is a problem of personal values, not of social change or drug treatment centers.

up until 1913, most wealth was reinvestment wealth.

The Strict Father (or "authoritarian") model is supposed to make a child strong and better able to function socially. It is supposed to make children into effective leaders. But, in fact, it has the opposite effect.

Strict Father morality requires that there are natural, strict, uniform, unchanging standards of behavior that must be followed if society is to function. Another