Quotes About Values

Just imagine how difficult it would've been to create churches, states or laws, if we could only speak about things that really exist, like lions or rivers

When religions advertise themselves, they tend to emphasise their beautiful values. But God often hides in the small print of factual statements.

To say that a social order is maintained by military force immediately raises the question: what maintains the military order? It is impossible to organise an army solely by coercion. At least some of the commanders and soldiers must truly believe in something, be it God, honour, motherland, manhood or money.

The writing is on the wall: equality is out – immortality is in.

What I feel to be good – is good. What I feel to be bad – is bad.

Even if the market offers a good price, certain things just aren't done. Parents mustn't sell their children into slavery; a devout Christian must not commit a mortal sin; a loyal knight must never betray his lord; and ancestral tribal lands shall never be sold to foreigners.

People often refuse to recognize these changes, especially when it comes to core political and religious values. We insist that our values are a precious legacy from ancient ancestors. Yet the only thing that allows us to say this is that our ancestors are long dead and cannot speak for themselves.

This network of artificial instincts is called 'culture'.

De la misma manera que la cultura medieval no consiguió casar la caballería con el cristianismo, el mundo moderno no logra casar la libertad con la igualdad.

Así como cuando dos notas musicales discordantes que se tocan juntas obligan a una pieza musical a avanzar, la discordancia en nuestros pensamientos, ideas y valores nos fuerzan a pensar, reevaluar y criticar. La consistencia es el campo de juego de las mentes obtusas.

If Europe succeeds in finding such a path, perhaps its formula could be copied on the global level. If the European project fails, however, it would indicate that belief in the liberal values of freedom and tolerance is not enough to resolve the cultural conflicts of the world and to unite humankind in the face of nuclear war, ecological collapse, and technological disruption.

secular world judges people on the basis of their behavior rather than their favorite clothes and ceremonies.

This raises the possibility that the immense improvement in material conditions over the last two centuries was offset by the collapse of the family and the community.

Just as medieval culture did not manage to square chivalry with Christianity, so the modern world fails to square liberty with equality. But this is no defect. Such contradictions are an inseparable part of every human culture.

Since 1789, despite numerous wars, revolutions and upheavals, humans have not managed to conceive of any new value.

Pero no queremos aceptar que nuestro Dios, nuestra nación o nuestros valores sean meras ficciones, porque estas cosas dan sentido a nuestra vida.

At the end of the day, humankind won't abandon the liberal story, because it doesn't have any alternative. People may give the system an angry kick in the stomach but, having nowhere else to go, they will eventually come back.

Qualities considered masculine are more valued than those considered feminine, and members of a society who personify the feminine ideal get less than those who exemplify the masculine ideal.

The Chinese and Persians did not lack technological inventions such as steam engines (which could be freely copied or bought). They lacked the values, myths, judicial apparatus and sociopolitical structures that took centuries to form and mature in the West and which could not be copied and internalised rapidly. France and the United States quickly followed in Britain's footsteps because the French and Americans already shared the most important British myths and social structures.

Sauf à vous satisfaire de confier l'avenir de la vie aux résultats trimestriels, vous avez besoin d'une idée claire de la vie et de ses enjeux.

I respect Americans. They seek democracy in everywhere.

How you climb a mountain is more important than reaching the top.

We want customers who need our clothing, not just desire it.

The presidency is temporary-but the family is permanent.