Quotes About Values

Following one good to the end may be catastrophic, not because it isn't a good, but because there are others which can't be sacrificed without evil.

It is easy to prime the pump and have the words gush forth in a torrent of pious phrases but the proof of what we really want – regardless of what we say we want – is evident in the way we live.

The question for the child is not, `Do I want to be good?"' Bettelheim writes, "but Who do I want to be like?

As we seek what is possible, we must also seek what is right, and we must not forget that even the most noble ends do not justify any means.

THIS IS A BOOK about the good life—not the good life touted in Budweiser commercials or on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous or MTV Cribs, but the good life that you and I want to live when we reflect about what really matters.

We live in a society in which all transcendent values have been removed and thus there is no moral standard by which anyone can say right is right and wrong is wrong. What we live in is, in the memorable image of Richard Neuhaus, a naked public square.

What they fail to reckon with, however, is the reverse of that slogan: if nothing is worth dying for, is anything worth living for?

When morality is reduced to personal preferences and when no one can be held morally accountable, society quickly falls into disorder.

Who is to decide what are the 'right' values?" wrote a professor of education. "Does ultimate moral authority lie with institutions such as church and state to codify and impose? Or, in a free society, are these matters of private conscience, with final choice belonging to the individual?"2

A healthy democracy requires a decent society it requires that we are honorable, generous, tolerant and respectful.

The things that are wrong with the country today are the sum total of all the things that are wrong with us as individuals.

We've built a society that values civil liberties even at the expense of social order.

This is what you have to ask yourself: Do you want to be good, or just seem good? Do you want to be good to yourself and others? Do you care about other people, always, sometimes, never? Or only when convenient? What kind of person do you want to be?

A person should design the way he makes a living around how he wishes to make a life.

I don't think the real America is in New York or on the Pacific Coast; personally, I like the Middle West much better, places like North and South Dakota, Minneapolis and Saint Paul. There, I think, are the true Americans

We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity; more than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.

Elus olulisi otsuseid on tegelikult kolm: kellega koos kavatsete oma elu elada, kuidas te kavatsete seda elada ja mille nimel.

Conventionality is not morality.

I would always rather be happy than dignified.

Do not let the endless succession of small things crowd great ideals out of sight and out of mind.

In the Lake Debo region (in Mali, on the Niger), pyramids are also found, and these were dubbed "mounds," as might be expected. This is the usual procedure in the attempt to disparage African values. In contrast, there is the reverse procedure consisting of describing a clay tumulus—a real mound—in Mesopotamia, as the most perfect temple that the human mind can imagine. It goes without saying that such reconstructions are generally mere wishful thinking.

La conscience morale de l'humanité progresse, lentement mais sûrement...

Reason and Justice tell me that there is more love of man in electricity and steam, than in chastity and refusal to eat meat.

The solid, middle-class values of hard work, responsibility, family, community, and faith my father talked about tirelessly from Iowa to New York, he lived at home. The hopes he had for his family and for me, he had for all Americans. I think Americans understood this.