Quotes About Values

He did not want his son to be all for present success, as the American, or to be all for tradition, as is the Englishman, but he thought the two might find a happy meeting place in a mind not yet well formed.

The vehemence of my moral indignation surprised me. Was I beginning to have standards and principles, and, oh dear, scruples? What were they, and what would I do with them, and how much were they going to get in my way?

Would you rather be a happy pig or an unhappy human?

By adolescence your family had taught you a great deal about how you can and should behave in the real world.

Character is the result of two things: Mental attitude and the way we spend our time.

This will never be a civilized country until we spend more money for books than we do for chewing gum.

This will never be a civilized country until we expend more money for books than we do for chewing gum.

What you do, what you own, what you plan, what you believe, what you think you are, what you want, and so much more are all the result of beliefs and values you've been trained to have, to be, and to want. Some of this is simply enculturation, but when it takes on the intent of deliberate manipulation, then enculturation per se is an inadequate term.

On the road to equality there is no better place for blacks to detour around American values than in forgoing its example in the treatment of its women and the organization of its family.

When you adopt the standards and the values of someone else … you surrender your own integrity. You become, to the extent of your surrender, less of a human being.

Only a man's character is the real criterion of worth.

It's your life—but only if you make it so. The standards by which you live must be your own standards, your own values, your own convictions in regard to what is right and wrong, what is true and false, what is important and what is trivial. When you adopt the standards and the values of someone else or a community or a pressure group, you surrender your own integrity. You become, to the extent of your surrender, less of a human being.

You can't move so fast that you try to change the mores faster than people can accept it. That doesn't mean you do nothing, but it means that you do the things that need to be done according to priority.

To be mature you have to realize what you value most. It is extraordinary to discover that comparatively few people reach this level of maturity. They seem never to have paused to consider what has value for them. They spend great effort and sometimes make great sacrifices for values that, fundamentally, meet no real needs of their own.... Not to arrive at a clear understanding of one's own values is a tragic waste. You have missed the whole point of what life is for.

Then come the hard choices: What do I believe? To what extent am I ready to live up to my beliefs? How far am I ready to support them? Are there times when I lack the courage to stand up and be counted because I fear loss of prestige or popularity, of alienating my neighbors, of hurting my business or professional standing?

One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes. In stopping to think through the meaning of what I have learned, there is much I believe intensely, much I am unsure of. But this, at least, I believe with all my heart: In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.   Hyde

Occasionally he took us on a picnic or a camping trip and taught us many valuable lessons. The chief one was to remember that camping was a good way to find out people's characters. Those who were selfish showed it very soon, in that they wanted the best bed or the best food and did not want to do their share of the work.

One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes. In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves.

To be mature you have to realize what you value most. Not to arrive at a clear understanding of one's own values is a tragic waste. You have missed the whole point of what life is for.

I behaved like that certainly to feel free from all the old bonds, to make it clear that I didn't care anymore about the judgment of relatives and friends, their values, their wanting me to be consistent with what they imagined themselves to be.

La explotación del hombre por el hombre y la lógica del máximo beneficio, antes consideradas una abominación, volvían a ser en todas partes las bases de la libertad y la democracia.

Hay una contradicción en torno a esta vida que se quiere preservar. ¿Por qué se da a escoger a los creyentes entre la vida del feto y la de la madre? ¿Por qué se elige la vida del feto?

I value peace when it is not bought at the price of fundamental decencies.

Good government generally begins in the family, and if the moral character of a people once degenerate, their political character must soon follow.