“
Top 15 Things Money Can’t Buy
Time. Happiness. Inner Peace. Integrity. Love. Character. Manners. Health. Respect. Morals. Trust. Patience. Class. Common sense. Dignity.
”
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Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
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Staying silent is like a slow growing cancer to the soul and a trait of a true coward. There is nothing intelligent about not standing up for yourself. You may not win every battle. However, everyone will at least know what you stood for—YOU.
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Shannon L. Alder
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Hide yourself in God, so when a man wants to find you he will have to go there first.
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Shannon L. Alder
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Don’t ever stray from yourself, in order to be close to someone that doesn’t have the courtesy to remind you of your worth, or the integrity of a gentleman to walk you home.
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Shannon L. Alder
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I am anchored on a resolve you cannot shake. My heart, my conscience shall dispose of my hand -- they only. Know this at last.
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Charlotte Brontë (Shirley)
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What do you think dignity's all about?'
The directness of the inquiry did, I admit, take me rather by surprise. 'It's rather a hard thing to explain in a few words, sir,' I said. 'But I suspect it comes down to not removing one's clothing in public.
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Kazuo Ishiguro (The Remains of the Day)
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She could just pack up and leave, but she does not visualize what's beyond ahead.
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Núria Añó
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The best don’t stick around when you treat them poorly, only the desperate do.
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Shannon L. Alder
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True confidence is not about what you take from someone to restore yourself, but what you give back to your critics because they need it more than you do.
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Shannon L. Alder
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Who you are in public is a test of your conviction; who you are in private, integrity.
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Criss Jami (Healology)
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If you lose your integrity, you will also lose your identity, your sensitivity and your dignity. Integrity is honesty, modesty and security in all kinds of weather. It should be our priority!
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Israelmore Ayivor
“
There is no teacher equal to mother and there's nothing more contagious than the dignity of a father.
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Amit Ray (World Peace: The Voice of a Mountain Bird)
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Diversity of character is due to the unequal time given to values. Only through each other will we see the importance of the qualities we lack and our unfinished soul's potential.
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Shannon L. Alder
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No: I shall not marry Samuel Fawthrop Wynne."
"I ask why? I must have a reason. In all respects he is more than worthy of you."
She stood on the hearth; she was pale as the white marble slab and cornice behind her; her eyes flashed large, dilated, unsmiling.
"And I ask in what sense that young man is worthy of me?
”
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Charlotte Brontë (Shirley)
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If you want to know if someone was meant to be in your future, then remove all the worldly things about them from your mind. Don’t think about their looks, the intimate moments or their personality. Now, think about how they made you feel, how they improved your life and what virtues they possess that push you to want to become better. Did they bring you closer to God? Did they bring you to your life mission? Did they ever lie to you, betray you or made it impossible for you to feel comfortable speaking your mind? When you remove all the shine from a diamond, it becomes a glass rock. What value is it then? See beneath the surface and you will know who your future is with.
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Shannon L. Alder
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Never chase a person that doesn't know your worth because the moment you catch him you will always feel you were never good enough.
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Shannon L. Alder
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When people want to win they will go to desperate extremes. However, anyone that has already won in life has come to the conclusion that there is no game. There is nothing but learning in this life and it is the only thing we take with us to the grave—knowledge. If you only understood that concept then your heart wouldn’t break so bad. Jealousy or revenge wouldn’t be your ambition. Stepping on others to raise yourself up wouldn’t be a goal. Competition would be left on the playing field, and your freedom from what other people think about you would light the pathway out of hell.
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Shannon L. Alder
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[I]t is not by being richer or more powerful that a man becomes better; one is a matter of fortune, the other of virtue. Nor should she deem herself other than venal who weds a rich man rather than a poor, and desires more things in her husband than himself. Assuredly, whomsoever this concupiscence leads into marriage deserves payment rather than affection.
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Héloïse d'Argenteuil (The Letters of Abélard and Héloïse)
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Saying that, he was suddenly himself again, despite his lunatic hair and eyes: a man whose personal dignity went so deep as to be nearly invisible...
It was more than diginity. Integrity? Wholeness? Like a block of wood not carved.
The infinite possibility, the unlimited and unqualified wholeness of being of the uncommitted, the nonacting, the uncarved: the being who, being nothing but himself, is everything.
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Ursula K. Le Guin (The Lathe of Heaven)
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BETRAYAL
No failure in Life, whether of love or money, is ever really that simple; it usually involves a type of a shadowy betrayal, buried in a secret, mass grave of shared hopes and dreams.
That universal mass grave exists in a private cemetery that most... both those suffering from the loss, but especially those committing the betrayal, refuse to acknowledge its existence.
When you realize you've been deeply betrayed, fear really hits you. That's what you feel first. And then it's anger and frustration. Then disspointment and disilussionment.
Part of the problem is how little we understand about the ultimate effects and consequences of betrayal on our hearts and spirits; and on trust and respect for our fellow brothers and sisters.
In writing, there are only really a few good stories to tell, and in the end, and betrayal and the failure of love is one of the most powerful stories to tell.
Tragedy in life normally comes with betrayal and compromise- by trading in our integrity and failing to treat life and others in our life, with respect and dignity. That's really where the truest and the most tragic failures comes from... they come making the choice to betray another soul, and in turn, giving up a peice of your own.
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José N. Harris (Mi Vida)
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Seek a man that doesn't ask you to prove your love. Seek a man that will prove God's love.
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Shannon L. Alder
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The wild nature has a vast integrity to it. It means to establish one's territory, to find one's pack, to be in one's body with certainty and pride regardless of the body's gifts and limitations, to speak and act in one's own behalf, to be aware, alert, to draw on the innate feminine powers of intuition and sensing, to come into one's cycles, to find what one belongs to, to rise with dignity, to retain as much consciousness as possible.
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Clarissa Pinkola Estés (Women Who Run With the Wolves)
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Pride is nothing more than false courage without long term solutions.
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Shannon L. Alder
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The only love you have to prove in life is your love of God and helping others. Anyone that can't see that has proven themselves to be unworthy of your time because why would you spend your life with someone that can't tell the difference between a diamond and dirt?
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Shannon L. Alder
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I wonder what it must have been like, what dignity it must have conferred on children of the Iroquois confederacy that any child over three was welcome to speak about matters of group importance in the tribal council.
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Aurora Levins Morales (Medicine Stories: History, Culture and the Politics of Integrity)
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Perhaps it is easier to understand that even though we do not have the wisdom to enumerate the reasons for the behavior of another person, we can grant that each individual does have their private world of meaning, conceived out of the integrity and dignity of their personality.
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Virginia M. Axline
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Good character going bad is like a beast escaping it's cage; it will be hard to capture it again!
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Israelmore Ayivor (The Great Hand Book of Quotes)
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How boring to spend the whole of my vocational energy trying to figure out if I am choosing the right work. It is of much greater interest to me to talk about how I’m going to do the work with integrity. How am I going to protect dignity as I work? And what truths are calling out to me as I work?
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Cole Arthur Riley (This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories That Make Us)
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We don’t want to acknowledge that for decades, whiteness fought against every civil right Black Americans sought—from sitting at lunch counters and in integrated classrooms to the right to vote and have a say in how our country was run.
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Austin Channing Brown (I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness)
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[I]f the name of wife appears more sacred and more valid, sweeter to me is ever the word friend, or, if thou be not ashamed, concubine ... And thou thyself wert not wholly unmindful of that ... [as in the narrative of thy misfortunes] thou hast not disdained to set forth sundry reasons by which I tried to dissuade thee from our marriage, from an ill-starred bed; but wert silent as to many, in which I preferred love to wedlock, freedom to a bond. I call God to witness, if Augustus, ruling over the whole world, were to deem me worthy of the honour of marriage, and to confirm the whole world to me, to be ruled by me forever, dearer to me and of greater dignity would it seem to be called thy concubine than his empress.
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Héloïse d'Argenteuil (The Letters of Abélard and Héloïse)
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Guilt is a lazy feeling that takes no action; the wings of integrity are the only thing that sets it free.
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Shannon L. Alder
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Still, I never heard him say that he hated or wanted to hurt or kill someone for all the horrific things that had been happening to him and his family.
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Savo Heleta (Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia)
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I remember clearly the deaths of three men. One was the richest man of the century, who, having clawed his way to wealth through the souls and bodies of men, spent many years trying to buy back the love he had forfeited and by that process performed great service to the world and, perhaps, had much more than balanced the evils of his rise. I was on a ship when he died. The news was posted on the bulletin board, and nearly everyone recieved the news with pleasure. Several said, "Thank God that son of a bitch is dead."
Then there was a man, smart as Satan, who, lacking some perception of human dignity and knowing all too well every aspect of human weakness and wickedness, used his special knowledge to warp men, to buy men, to bribe and threaten and seduce until he found himself in a position of great power. He clothed his motives in the names of virtue, and I have wondered whether he ever knew that no gift will ever buy back a man's love when you have removed his self-love. A bribed man can only hate his briber. When this man died the nation rang with praise...
There was a third man, who perhaps made many errors in performance but whose effective life was devoted to making men brave and dignified and good in a time when they were poor and frightened and when ugly forces were loose in the world to utilize their fears. This man was hated by few. When he died the people burst into tears in the streets and their minds wailed, "What can we do now?" How can we go on without him?"
In uncertainty I am certain that underneath their topmost layers of frailty men want to be good and want to be loved. Indeed, most of their vices are attempted short cuts to love. When a man comes to die, mo matter what his talents and influence and genius, if he dies unloved his life must be a failure to him and his dying a cold horror....we should remember our dying and try so to live that our death brings no pleasure to the world.
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John Steinbeck (East of Eden)
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The most pernicious message relayed by pornography is that women are natural sexual prey to men and love it; that sexuality and violence are congruent; and that for women sex is essentially masochistic, humiliation pleasurable, physical abuse erotic. But along with this message comes another, not always recognized: that enforced submission and the use of cruelty, if played out in heterosexual pairing, is sexually "normal," while sensuality between women, including erotic mutuality and respect, is "queer," "sick," and either pornographic in itself or not very exciting compared with the sexuality of whips and bondage. Pornography does not simply create a climate in which sex
and violence are interchangeable; it widens the range of behavior considered
acceptable from men in heterosexual intercourse-behavior which reiteratively
strips women of their autonomy, dignity, and sexual potential, including the potential of loving and being loved by women in mutuality and integrity.
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Adrienne Rich (Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence)
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Your integrity, your dignity, your honor - they aren't for sale. Not ever. Not to anyone.
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James Patterson (Guilty Wives)
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The moral values and integrity of our nation, and the long, difficult, fraught history of our efforts to uphold them at home and abroad, are the test of every American generation. Will we act in this world with respect for our founding conviction that all people have equal dignity in the eyes of God and should be accorded the same respect by the laws and governments of men? That is the most important question history ever asks of us.
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John McCain (The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations)
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It was more than dignity. Integrity? Wholeness? Like a block of wood not carved. The infinite possibility, the unlimited and unqualified wholeness of being of the uncommitted, the nonacting, the uncarved: the being who, being nothing but himself, is everything.
”
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Ursula K. Le Guin (The Lathe of Heaven)
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Our mind cannot be without fear and our head cannot be held high when we become slaves to materialistic values , always wondering why my car is not bigger and better than my neighbours car and in that process forget our human values like dignity, humility , integrity and humanity.
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Jeroninio Almeida (Karma Kurry for the Mind, Body, Heart & Soul)
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When the world turns and and we operate at our own personal vibration, it is in our power to withhold our dignity and integrity at the highest possible frequency, with this as an active force, we can command our reality in the physical realm. Justly, we shall take all the opportunity that manifests itself in arms reach. To be one, and to have and do what we dream is concurrent only on a high wavelength, and operative to those who seek a higher sense of self. Are you ready to expand to these levels of operation? Have you taken the steps? Step forward and release all your fears.
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Will Barnes (The Expansion of The Soul)
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Inferiority is not banal or incidental even when it happens to women. It is not a petty affliction like bad skin or
circles under the eyes. It is not a superficial flaw in an otherwise
perfect picture. It is not a minor irritation, nor is it a trivial
inconvenience, an occasional aggravation, or a regrettable but
(frankly) harmless lapse in manners. It is not a “point of view”
that some people with soft skins find “ offensive. ” It is the deep
and destructive devaluing of a person in life, a shredding of dignity and self-respect, an imposed exile from human worth
and human recognition, the forced alienation of a person from
even the possibility of wholeness or internal integrity. Inferiority
puts rightful self-love beyond reach, a dream fragmented by
insult into a perpetually recurring nightmare; inferiority creates
a person broken and humiliated inside. The fragments—
scattered pieces and sharp slivers of someone who can never
be made whole—are then taken to be the standard of what is
normal in her kind: women are like that. The insult that hurt
her—inferiority as an assault, ongoing since birth—is seen as a
consequence, not a cause, of her so-called nature, an inferior nature. In English, a graceful language, she is even called a
piece. It is likely to be her personal experience that she is insufficiently
loved. Her subjectivity itself is second-class, her experiences
and perceptions inferior in the world as she is inferior
in the world. Her experience is recast into a psychologically
pejorative judgment: she is never loved enough because she is
needy, neurotic, the insufficiency of love she feels being in and
of itself evidence of a deep-seated and natural dependency. Her
personal experiences or perceptions are never credited as having
a hard core of reality to them. She is, however, never loved
enough. In truth; in point of fact; objectively: she is never loved
enough. As Konrad Lorenz wrote: “ I doubt if it is possible to
feel real affection for anybody who is in every respect one’s inferior.
” 1 There are so many dirty names for her that one rarely
learns them all, even in one’s native language.
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Andrea Dworkin (Intercourse)
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As cliché as it might sound, I'd rather lose than win by cheating. The latter is a much deeper, more personal loss in that one is admittedly whispering to himself his lack of competence. His cheating then begets more cheating, as he is ever-privately, ever-subconsciously insulting himself; thus, gradually deteriorating any remaining confidence.
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Criss Jami (Healology)
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They said my solution was foreign because I lived on another planet. It required honesty. It required communication. It required kindness. It required integrity. It required compassion. It required empathy. It required a deep understanding of what it meant to be humane. It required courage to be something above the others. It required proving your love of God.
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Shannon L. Alder
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Even when we care for ill or elderly parents, providing what they cannot do for themselves, it is important to preserve and respect the integrity of the parent-child relationship, rather than diminish our parents’ dignity.
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Mark Wolynn (It Didn't Start with You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle)
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[A]s though mindful of the wife of Lot, who looked back from behind him, thou deliveredst me first to the sacred garments and monastic profession before thou gavest thyself to God. And for that in this one thing thou shouldst have had little trust in me I vehemently grieved and was ashamed. For I (God [knows]) would without hesitation precede or follow thee to the Vulcanian fires according to thy word. For not with me was my heart, but with thee. But now, more than ever, if it be not with thee, it is nowhere. For without thee it cannot anywhere exist.
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Héloïse d'Argenteuil (The Letters of Abélard and Héloïse)
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There are 2 kinds of artists, essentially: those who want to make something popular, and those who want to make something dignified. But then there is still that rare hybrid case, and perhaps by that unintentional stroke of genius, in which one's work uncontrollably becomes both popular and dignified yet beyond its time.
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Criss Jami (Healology)
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There will be times in your life when you will have to stand alone in your pain and choke back all the injustice done to you. Letting go will be the hardest thing you have ever had to do because it means losing something you wish you didn't have to lose--the person that you care for. However, to be authentic--one person, it requires standing for truth as you know it to be, instead of having your dignity destroyed by another. It is a fire you have to walk through, in order to truly live. Sometimes, practicing faith by letting go is the most painful chapter of your life that will take every bit of courage for you to close, before you can be reborn.
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Shannon L. Alder
“
The finest of athletes have, along with skill, a few more essential qualities: to conduct their life with dignity, with integrity, with courage and modesty. All these, are totally compatible with pride, ambition, determination and competitiveness
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Donald Bradman
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The economic system is filled with trickery, and everyone needs to know that. We all have to navigate this system in order to maintain our dignity and integrity, and we all have to find inspiration to go on despite craziness all around us. We wrote this book for consumers, who need to be vigilant against a multitude of tricks played on them. We wrote it for businesspeople, who feel depressed at the cynicism of some of their colleagues and trapped into following suit out of economic necessity. We wrote it for government officials, who undertake the usually thankless task of regulating business. We wrote it for the volunteers, the philanthropists, the opinion leaders, who work on the side of integrity. And we wrote it for young people, looking ahead to a lifetime of work and wondering how they can find personal meaning in it. All these people will benefit from a study of phishing equilibrium—of economic forces that build manipulation and deception into the system unless we take courageous steps to fight it. We also need stories of heroes, people who out of personal integrity (rather than for economic gain) have managed to keep deception in our economy down to livable levels. We will tell plenty of stories of these heroes.
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George A. Akerlof (Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation and Deception)
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Your uncompromising attitude makes people feel pathetic. Your very existence reminds them just how much they’ve sold out, and the more you’re acclaimed, the punier they themselves appear. When it’s like that, the only way they can fight back is by dragging you down. The bullshit gives them back a little bit of dignity – at least that’s what they imagine.
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David Lagercrantz (The Girl in the Spider's Web (Millennium, #4))
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Simplicity has its class! A man of sophisticated simplicity and integrity is a personality with dignity.
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Anyaele Sam Chiyson (The Sagacity of Sage)
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Hang on to your integrity and misbehave with dignity.
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Margot Datz (A Survival Guide for Landlocked Mermaids)
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You cannot climb up to a true leadership position unless you use the ladder of integrity!
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Israelmore Ayivor (The Great Hand Book of Quotes)
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They secretly scoff as you slip,
losing your dignity and integrity,
and again as you stumble,
you drop your degrees and pedigree!
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Adiela Akoo (Lost in a Quatrain)
“
When I was young, I wanted power.
Now that I'm old, I want peace.
When I was young, I wanted titles.
Now that I'm old, I want contentment.
When I was young, I wanted money.
Now that I'm old, I want happiness.
When I was young, I wanted excitement.
Now that I'm old, I want calm.
When I was young, I wanted praise.
Now that I'm old, I want respect.
When I was young, I wanted houses.
Now that I'm old, I want fulfillment.
When I was young, I wanted cars.
Now that I'm old, I want satisfaction.
When I was young, I wanted possessions.
Now that I'm old, I want experiences.
When I was young, I wanted medals.
Now that I'm old, I want mastery.
When I was young, I wanted lackeys.
Now that I'm old, I want companions.
When I was young, I wanted amusement.
Now that I'm old, I want rest.
When I was young, I wanted beauty.
Now that I'm old, I want substance.
When I was young, I wanted fame.
Now that I'm old, I want legacy.
When I was young, I wanted command.
Now that I'm old, I want freedom.
When I was young, I wanted authority.
Now that I'm old, I want influence.
When I was young, I wanted reputation.
Now that I'm old, I want character.
When I was young, I wanted treasure.
Now that I'm old, I want truth.
When I was young, I wanted confidence.
Now that I'm old, I want conviction.
When I was young, I wanted lovers.
Now that I'm old, I want friends.
When I was young, I wanted excess.
Now that I'm old, I want joy.
When I was young, I wanted degrees.
Now that I'm old, I want wisdom.
When I was young, I wanted university.
Now that I'm old, I want nature.
When I was young, I wanted prominence.
Now that I'm old, I want humanity.
When I was young, I wanted accomplishment.
Now that I'm old, I want laughter.
When I was young, I wanted greatness.
Now that I'm old, I want health.
When I was young, I wanted resources.
Now that I'm old, I want strategies.
When I was young, I wanted contacts.
Now that I'm old, I want competence.
When I was young, I wanted followers.
Now that I'm old, I want students.
When I was young, I wanted crowds.
Now that I'm old, I want intimacy.
When I was young, I wanted empires.
Now that I'm old, I want dignity.
When I was young, I wanted honor.
Now that I'm old, I want integrity.
When I was young, I wanted popularity.
Now that I'm old, I want loyalty.
When I was young, I wanted lovers.
Now that I'm old, I want children.
When I was young, I wanted strength.
Now that I'm old, I want youth.
When I was young, I wanted life.
Now that I'm old, I want Heaven.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
To experience courage,
is to experience life.
Reflected in loved ones,
the greatest encouragement.
Dignity, integrity and strength,
a harmonious chord,
interwoven
into an unbreakable cord.
”
”
Tom Althouse
“
When you know your own thoughts and are deeply in touch with your inner world, you gain a sense of inner wholeness and completeness that increases your sense of security. Your inner wholeness also gives you dignity and integrity, and anchors you whenever you face stress or discord. It also gives you confidence that your feelings have meaning and that your instinctual guidance can be trusted.
”
”
Lindsay C. Gibson (Recovering from Emotionally Immature Parents: Practical Tools to Establish Boundaries & Reclaim Your Emotional Autonomy)
“
Guilt is born in shame.
Error is born in speculation.
Chaos is born in confusion.
Anger is born in bitterness.
Wrath is born in rage.
Fear is born in mistrust.
Violence is born in intolerance.
Evil is born in ignorance.
Death is born in sin.
Want is born in need.
Mercy is born in compassion.
Peace is born in contentment.
Hope is born in confidence.
Meekness is born in strength.
Patience is born in long-suffering.
Integrity is born in goodness.
Decency is born in dignity.
Joy is born in love.
Fate is born in time.
Chance is born in fate.
Motion is born in rest.
Force is born in acceleration.
Distance is born in separation.
Curiosity is born in observation.
Consciousness is born in awareness.
Perception is born in understanding.
Reason is born in clarity.
Matter is born in space.
Light is born in darkness.
Sound is born in silence.
Wind is born in stillness.
Heat is born in motion.
Nature is born in chaos.
Harmony is born in confusion.
Energy is born in God.
Experience is born in time.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
The essential task ahead requires formulating an adequate doctrine, upholding principles that have been thoroughly studied, and, beginning from these, giving birth to an Order. This elite, differentiating itself on a plane that is defined in terms of spiritual virility, decisiveness, and impersonality, and where every naturalistic bond loses its power and value, will be the bearer of a new principle of a higher authority and sovereignty; it will be able to denounce subversion and demagogy in whatever form they appear and reverse the downward spiral of the top-level cadres and the irresistible rise to power of the masses. From this elite, as if from a seed, a political organism and an integrated nation will emerge, enjoying the same dignity as the nations created by the great European political tradition. Anything short of this amounts only to a quagmire, dilettantism, irrealism, and obliquity.
”
”
Julius Evola (Men Among the Ruins: Post-War Reflections of a Radical Traditionalist)
“
If we look at our history with honesty and clarity we will be forced to admit that our federal form of government has been, from the day of its birth, weakened in integrity, confused and confounded in its direction, by the unresolved race question. It is as if a political thalidomide drug taken during pregnancy caused the birth of a crippled nation.
”
”
Martin Luther King Jr. ("All Labor Has Dignity")
“
I also realized that in my family drama a very limited number of character traits were available to the players. In my mind, either I could be weak, wimpy, submissive, and pathetic, or I could be a raging tyrant and bully who demanded total compliance from everyone in my realm. The notion of being strong and assertive while staying calm, insisting on appropriate boundraries and on being treated with respect and dignity, were not in my realm of experience. Once I realized that I was much happier with the person I was in the rest of my life, I realized it was foolish not to be that "me" around my family as well. I began to feel liberated and genuinely felt they could take the new me or leave it. So far, they've chosen to leave it, but I feel a sense of integrity and self-respect that I had never experienced before.
”
”
Mark Sichel (Healing from Family Rifts: Ten Steps to Finding Peace After Being Cut Off from a Family Member)
“
I always thought Obama was "presidential." He treated the office of the presidency with respect. I rarely saw him in the Oval Office with a coat and tie, and he always conducted himself with dignity. He was a man of personal integrity, and in his personal behavior - at least to the extent I could observe it - he was an excellent role model...I thought Obama was first-rate in both intellect and temperament." Page 300
”
”
Robert M. Gates (Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War)
“
...one of the best feelings there is is the accomplishing of something that's difficult. It's something that's yours. It's something no one can take away from you. And it's brave too, very brave. Determination means courage, and courage means you're a real person. And it doesn't have to be the most earth shattering act either. It could be telling yourself you're going to walk a mile and then going out and walking it. Or telling yourself I'm not going to chew gum for a week and then keeping your word to yourself. This is called dignity. it helps your self respect...
”
”
Don Robertson (The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread)
“
So at this moment Judd felt eternal solitude coming upon him. The dignity, the consistency, of the deed had been broken; they were no longer wilful gods, but caught boys squirming to throw blame, and he wanted only to detach himself so he might at least retain his own idea of integrity.
”
”
Meyer Levin (Compulsion)
“
Live by brains, not by brawn;
by principle, not by sentiment;
by facts, not by opinions;
by faith, not by fear;
by reason, not by emotions;
by purpose, not by paycheck;
by needs, not by wants;
by reason, not by ignorance;
by humility, not by ego;
by gratitude, not by bitterness;
by kindness, not by greed;
by mercy, not by wrath;
by compassion, not by hate;
by diplomacy, not by strife;
by honor, not by disrespect;
by logic, not by tradition;
by integrity, not by culture;
by peace, not by tribe;
by dignity, not by race;
by sense, not by politics;
and by love, not by religion.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
Well, the black man has functioned in the white man's world as a fixed star, as an immovable pillar: and as he moves out of his place, heaven and earth are shaken to their foundations. You, don't be afraid. I said that it was intended that you should perish in the ghetto, perish by never being allowed to go behind the white man's definitions, by never being allowed to spell your proper name. You have, and many of us have, defeated this intention; and, by a terrible law, a terrible paradox, those innocents who believed that your imprisonment made them safe are losing their grasp of reality. But these men are your brothers - your lost, younger brothers. And if the word integration means anything, this is what it means: that we, with love, shall force our brothers to see themselves as they are, to cease fleeing from reality and begin to change it. For this is your home, my friend, do not be driven from it; great men have done great things here, and will again, and we can make America what America must become. It will be hard, James, but you come from sturdy, peasant stock, men who picked cotton and damned rivers and built railroads, and, in the teeth of the most terrifying odds, achieved an unassailable and monumental dignity. You come from a long line of great poets, some of the greatest poets since Homer. One of them said, The very time I thought I was lost, My dungeon shook and my chains fell off.
”
”
James Baldwin (The Fire Next Time (Vintage International))
“
Regardless of how anyone treats you, you stand to benefit. While some people teach you who you do want to be, others teach you who you don't want to be. And it’s the people who teach you who you don’t want to be that provide some of the most lasting and memorable lessons on social graces, human dignity, and the importance of acting with integrity.
”
”
Kari Kampakis
“
Striving to communicate with integrity, committing to seeing and being seen, is a slow art that requires vulnerability, brings dignity, and fosters healthy community.
”
”
Ellie Roscher (12 Tiny Things: Simple Ways to Live a More Intentional Life)
“
Any and all recognition of freedom means recognizing the integrity of the equal freedom of others.
”
”
Os Guinness (The Magna Carta of Humanity: Sinai's Revolutionary Faith and the Future of Freedom)
“
Life is not about rationality but it is all about dignity followed by integrity. Charity is not about amenity but it is all about generosity. From Hari krishnan Nair
”
”
Hari krishnan Nair
“
The measure of a man is determined by how he responds to the truth of God.
”
”
J. Otis Yoder (When You Pray)
“
It’s not the destination (of seeking the truth) that creates our dignity or integrity, it’s the journey. From Messages From a Grandfather, by Robert Gately
”
”
Robert Gately
“
You maintain the integrity of things your honor no matter how old or new, expensive or inexpensive....simply stated, you dignify it for it's being... that's love.
”
”
Kierra C.T. Banks
“
My needs are less, hence my dignity is dangerous.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (Gente Mente Adelante: Prejudice Conquered is World Conquered)
“
Love, books and integrity, if you have these three in your life, you have everything that matters.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (Little Planet on The Prairie: Dunya Benim, Sorumluluk Benim)
“
Don't look for laughter, look for joy.
Don't look for pleasure, look for purpose.
Don't look for friends, look for mentors.
Don't look for lovers, look for soulmates.
Don't look for glory, look for virtue.
Don't look for entertainment, look for bliss.
Don't look for amusement, look for wisdom.
Don't look for books, look for knowledge.
Don't look for beauty, look for susbtance.
Don't look for extravagance, look for modesty.
Don't look for praise, look for service.
Don't look for reputation, look for character.
Don't look for honor, look for respect.
Don't look for needs, look for wants.
Don't look for riches, look for happiness.
Don't look for possessions, look for contentment.
Don't look for creeds, look for conviction.
Don't look for justice, look for compassion.
Don't look for charisma, look for integrity.
Don't look for lust, look for love.
Don't look for wealth, look for charity.
Don't look for power, look for peace.
Don't look for fame, look for dignity.
Don't look for work, look for a career.
Don't look for success, look for excellence.
Don't look for greatness, look for meekness.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
Always look for the best in people, and you’ll end up discovering the best in yourself along the way. People may let you down and break your heart, but refuse to become bitter or cynical. You can rarely control what happens to you, but you can always control how you choose to respond. Always respond with grace, faith, dignity, patience, and perseverance. Be the same person in both public and private. There’s no true success without true integrity. Real success means living in a way that the people who know you the best are the ones who love and respect you the
”
”
Dave Willis (The Seven Laws of Love: Essential Principles for Building Stronger Relationships)
“
The universities, the colleges, the schools, should not only teach political science—it is such a stupid idea to teach political science! Teach political science but also teach political art, because science is of no use; you have to teach practical politics. And those professors in the universities should prepare politicians, give them certain qualities. Then the people who are ruling now all over the world will be nowhere at all. Then you will find rulers well trained, cultured, knowing the art and the science of politics, and always ready to go to the professors, to the scholars. And slowly it may be possible that they can approach the highest level of meritocracy: the intuitive people. If this is possible, then we will have, for the first time, something that is really human—giving dignity to humanity, integrity to individuals. For the first time you will have some real democracy in the world. What exists now as democracy is not democracy—it is mobocracy.
”
”
Osho (Intuition: Knowing Beyond Logic (Osho Insights for a New Way of Living))
“
The greatest single reason for [the] Christian church’s failure . . . is its failure to combat racism. . . .
I believe that God now is giving the world’s so-called “Christian” white society its last opportunity to repent and atone for the crimes of exploiting and enslaving the world’s non-white peoples. It is exactly as when God gave Pharaoh a chance to repent. But Pharaoh persisted in his refusal to give justice to those whom he oppressed. And, we know, God finally destroyed Pharaoh.
Is white America really sorry for her crimes against the black people? Does white America have the capacity to repent—and to atone? Does the capacity to repent, to atone, exist in a majority, in one-half, in even one-third of American white society?
Most black [people] . . . would like to be able to forgive, to forget, the crimes.
But most American white people seem not to have it in them to make any serious atonement—to do justice to [black people].
Indeed, how can white society atone for enslaving, for raping, for unmanning, for otherwise brutalizing millions of human beings, for centuries? What atonement would the God of Justice demand for the robbery of the black people’s labor, their lives, their true identities, their culture, their history—and even their human dignity?
A desegregated cup of coffee, a theater, public toilets—the whole range of hypocritical 'integration'—these are not atonement.
”
”
Malcolm X (The Autobiography of Malcolm X)
“
The traditional face of Africa includes an attitude towards man which can only be described, in its social manifestation, as being socialist. This arises from the fact that man is regarded in Africa as primarily a spiritual being, a being endowed originally with a certain inward dignity, integrity, and value. It stands refreshingly opposed to the Christian idea of the original sin and degradation of man.
”
”
Kwame Nkrumah (Consciencism: Philosophy and Ideology for De-Colonization and Development with Particular Reference to the African Development)
“
Don't ever accuse anyone of being full of pride, undignified and unprofessional when simply they are wise to move away from dishonest schemers.
Dishonesty comprise too of layers of lies simply casted for impressive appearances. There are times too that corrupt hearts have their own confused, modified, self-affirming, pro-self interest business inclined definitions of "professionalism, integrity, dignity and pride.
”
”
Angelica Hopes
“
Even if we act to erase material poverty, there is another greater task, it is to confront the poverty of satisfaction - purpose and dignity - that afflicts us all.
Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our Gross National Product, now, is over $800 billion dollars a year, but that Gross National Product - if we judge the United States of America by that - that Gross National Product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage.
It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwood and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl.
It counts napalm and counts nuclear warheads and armored cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.
Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials.
It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.
And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans.
If this is true here at home, so it is true elsewhere in world.
”
”
Robert F. Kennedy
“
Rachel Kalama is entirely a fictional creation, but what she experiences as a Hansen’s patient is very much based on the real-world experiences of many such patients. I consulted numerous oral histories and biographies, distilling them down to their common elements and from these forging the armature of Rachel’s life. To interested readers I highly commend The Separating Sickness: Excerpts from Interviews with Exiled Leprosy Patients at Kalaupapa by Ted Gugelyk and Milton Bloombaum; Quest for Dignity: Personal Victories over Leprosy/Hansen’s Disease by The International Association for Integration, Dignity, and Economic Advancement (IDEA); Olivia: My Life of Exile in Kalaupapa by Olivia Robello Breitha; Margaret of Molokai by Mel White; Miracle at Carville and No One Must Ever Know by Betty Martin, edited by Evelyn Wells. In addition
”
”
Alan Brennert (Moloka'i (Moloka'i, #1))
“
The wild nature has a vast integrity to it. It means to establish territory, to find one’s pack, to be in one’s body with certainty and pride regardless of the body’s gifts and limitations, to speak and act in one’s behalf, to be aware, alert, to draw on the innate feminine powers of intuition and sensing, to come into one’s cycles, to find what one belongs to, to rise with dignity, to retain as much consciousness as possible.
”
”
Clarissa Pinkola Estés (Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype)
“
I was chiefly disgusted with modern history. For having strictly examined all the persons of greatest name in the courts of princes, for a hundred years past, I found how the world had been misled by prostitute writers, to ascribe the greatest exploits in war, to cowards; the wisest counsel, to fools; sincerity, to flatterers; Roman virtue, to betrayers of their country; piety, to atheists; chastity, to sodomites; truth, to informers: how many innocent and excellent persons had been condemned to death or banishment by the practising of great ministers upon the corruption of judges, and the malice of factions: how many villains had been exalted to the highest places of trust, power, dignity, and profit: how great a share in the motions and events of courts, councils, and senates might be challenged by bawds, whores, pimps, parasites, and buffoons. How low an opinion I had of human wisdom and integrity, when I was truly informed of the springs and motives of great enterprises and revolutions in the world, and of the contemptible accidents to which they owed their success.
”
”
Jonathan Swift (Gulliver's Travels)
“
It is possible for religious people who see themselves as God’s people to resist the forward-calling of God to such a degree that the larger culture around them is actually ahead of them in a particular area, such as the protection of human dignity or the integration of the mind and body or the treatment of women or inclusion of the forgotten and marginalized or compassion or intellectual honesty or care for the environment. Churches and religious communities and organizations can claim to speak for God while at the same time actually being behind the movement of God that is continuing forward in the culture around them . . . without their participation.
”
”
Rob Bell (What We Talk About When We Talk About God)
“
You ask me to make a promise? I am in a cage. No promise I make is trustworthy because I would do anything to be rid of this cage. Promise me that you will not treat me like an animal or a spectacle, and I will see what I can do.
”
”
J.M. McDermott (Straggletaggle)
“
A selfish love seldom respects the rights of the beloved to be an autonomous person. Far from respecting the true being of another and granting his personality room to grow and expand in its own original way, this love seeks to keep him in subjection to ourselves. It insists that he conform himself to us, and it works in every possible way to make him do so. A selfish love withers and dies unless it is sustained by the attention of the beloved. When we love thus, our friends exist only in order that we may love them. In loving them we seek to make pets of them, to keep them tame. Such love fears nothing more than the escape of the beloved. It requires his subjection because that is necessary for the nourishment of our own affections. Selfish love often appears to be unselfish, because it is willing to make any concession to the beloved in order to keep him prisoner. But it is supreme selfishness to buy what is best in a person, his liberty, his integrity, his own autonomous dignity as a person, at the price of far lesser goods. Such selfishness is all the more abominable when it takes a complacent pleasure in its concessions, deluded that they are all acts of selfless charity.
”
”
Thomas Merton (No Man Is an Island)
“
...even though we do not have the wisdom to enumerate the reasons for the behaviour of another person, we can grant that every individual does have his private world of meaning, conceived out of the integrity and dignity of his personality.
”
”
Virginia M. Axline
“
Christians tend simply to align themselves with secular and idolatrous ideologies, and they do this without integrating fully into their thinking the ways in which kingdom priorities ought to arrange a Christian’s perspective on the society by holding love, human dignity, and solidarity in healthy tension.
Anthony Bradley in Morgan, Christopher W.; Peterson, Robert A. (2012-11-30). The Kingdom of God (Theology in Community) (Kindle Locations 4636-4638). Crossway. Kindle Edition.
”
”
Anthony Bradley
“
Believe be and strong enough in virtues like character, faithfulness, hard work, dignity of labor, diligence, excellence, perseverance, truth, responsibility, delayed gratification, contentment, trust, integrity and stop looking for miracles.
”
”
Sunday Adelaja
“
There will be rebels. They will live in the shadows. They will be the renegade painters, sculptors, poets, writers, journalists, musicians, actors, dancers, organizers, activists, mystics, intellectuals and other outcasts who are willing to accept personal sacrifice. They will not surrender their integrity, creativity, independence and finally their souls. They will speak the truth. The state will have little tolerance of them. They will be poor. The wider society will be conditioned by mass propaganda to write them off as parasites or traitors. They will keep alive what is left of dignity and freedom. Perhaps one day they will rise up and triumph. But one does not live in poverty and on the margins of society because of the certainty of success. One lives like that because to collaborate with radical evil is to betray all that is good and beautiful. It is to become a captive. It is to give up the moral autonomy that makes us human. The rebels will be our hope.
”
”
Chris Hedges
“
But hell can endure for only a limited period, and life will begin again one day. History may perhaps have
an end; but our task is not to terminate it but to create it, in the image of what we henceforth know to be
true. Art, at least, teaches us that man cannot be explained by history alone and that he also finds a reason
for his existence in the order of nature. For him, the great god Pan is not dead. His most instinctive act of
rebellion, while it affirms the value and the dignity common to all men, obstinately claims, so as to satisfy
its hunger for unity, an integral part of the reality whose name is beauty. One can reject all history and yet
accept the world of the sea and the stars. The rebels who wish to ignore nature and beauty are condemned
to banish from history everything with which they want to construct the dignity of existence and of labor.
Every great reformer tries to create in history what Shakespeare, Cervantes, Moliere, and Tolstoy knew
how to create: a world always ready to satisfy the hunger for freedom and dignity which every man
carries in his heart. Beauty, no doubt, does not make revolutions. But a day will come when revolutions
will have need of beauty. The procedure of beauty, which is to contest reality while endowing it with
unity, is also the procedure of rebellion. Is it possible eternally to reject injustice without ceasing to
acclaim the nature of man and the beauty of the world? Our answer is yes. This ethic, at once unsubmissive
and loyal, is in any event the only one that lights the way to a truly realistic revolution. In upholding
beauty, we prepare the way for the day of regeneration when civilization will give first place—far ahead
of the formal principles and degraded values of history—to this living virtue on which is founded the
common dignity of man and the world he lives in, and which we must now define in the face of a world
that insults it.
”
”
Albert Camus (The Rebel)
“
Before I see your race,
I see your beauty.
Before I see your gender,
I see your indentity.
Before I see your class,
I see your personality.
Before I see your appearance,
I see your individuality.
Before I see your titles,
I see your integrity.
Before I see your reputation,
I see your capacity.
Before I see your wealth,
I see your charity.
Before I see your fame,
I see your nobility.
Before I see your culture,
I see your dignity.
Before I see your tradition,
I see your decency.
Before I see your politics,
I see your humanity.
Before I see your religion,
I see your divinity.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
Noting that material poverty in the US was matched by an even greater “poverty of satisfaction, purpose, and dignity,” Kennedy decried GDP as a poor measure of the state of the nation. “Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things,” he said. The GDP was buoyed, he noted, by cigarette advertising, ambulances, home security, jails, the destruction of redwood forests, urban sprawl, napalm, nuclear warheads and the armoured vehicles used by police against riots in American cities. “It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country. It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile,” Kennedy said.
”
”
J.B. MacKinnon (The Day the World Stops Shopping: How Ending Consumerism Saves the Environment and Ourselves – An Inspiring Investigation into Climate Change and Sustainable Economics)
“
I had never been so close to death before.
For a long time, as I lay there trying to clear my mind, I couldn't think coherently at all, conscious only of a terrible, blind bitterness. Why had they singled me out? Didn't they understand? Had everything I'd gone through on their behalf been utterly in vain? Did it really count for nothing? What had happened to logic, meaning and sense?
But I feel much calmer now. It helps to discipline oneself like this, writing it down to see it set out on paper, to try and weigh it and find some significance in it.
Prof Bruwer: There are only two kinds of madness one should guard against, Ben. One is the belief that we can do everything. The other is the belief that we can do nothing.
I wanted to help. Right. I meant it very sincerely. But I wanted to do it on my terms. And I am white, and they are black. I thought it was still possible to reach beyond our whiteness and blackness. I thought that to reach out and touch hands across the gulf would be sufficient in itself. But I grasped so little, really: as if good intentions from my side could solve it all. It was presumptuous of me. In an ordinary world, in a natural one, I might have succeeded. But not in this deranged, divided age. I can do all I can for Gordon or scores of others who have come to me; I can imagine myself in their shoes, I can project myself into their suffering. But I cannot, ever, live their lives for them. So what else could come of it but failure?
Whether I like it or not, whether I feel like cursing my own condition or not -- and that would only serve to confirm my impotence -- I am white. This is the small, final, terrifying truth of my broken world. I am white. And because I am white I am born into a state of privilege. Even if I fight the system that has reduced us to this I remain white, and favored by the very circumstances I abhor. Even if I'm hated, and ostracized, and persecuted, and in the end destroyed, nothing can make me black. And so those who are cannot but remain suspicious of me. In their eyes my very efforts to identify myself with Gordon, whit all the Gordons, would be obscene. Every gesture I make, every act I commit in my efforts to help them makes it more difficult for them to define their real needs and discover for themselves their integrity and affirm their own dignity. How else could we hope to arrive beyond predator and prey, helper and helped, white and black, and find redemption?
On the other hand: what can I do but what I have done? I cannot choose not to intervene: that would be a denial and a mockery not only of everything I believe in, but of the hope that compassion may survive among men. By not acting as I did I would deny the very possibility of that gulf to be bridged.
If I act, I cannot but lose. But if I do not act, it is a different kind of defeat, equally decisive and maybe worse. Because then I will not even have a conscience left.
The end seems ineluctable: failure, defeat, loss. The only choice I have left is whether I am prepared to salvage a little honour, a little decency, a little humanity -- or nothing. It seems as if a sacrifice is impossible to avoid, whatever way one looks at it. But at least one has the choice between a wholly futile sacrifice and one that might, in the long run, open up a possibility, however negligible or dubious, of something better, less sordid and more noble, for our children…
They live on. We, the fathers, have lost.
”
”
André Brink (A Dry White Season)
“
The clever seek comfort,
the wise seek peace.
The clever seek pleasure,
the wise seek contentment.
The clever seek riches,
the wise seek happiness.
The clever seek laughter,
the wise seek joy.
The clever seek company,
the wise seek comrades.
The clever seek crowds,
the wise seek friends.
The clever seek approval,
the wise seek respect.
The clever seek fame,
the wise seek reverence.
The clever seek acquaintances,
the wise seek allies.
The clever seek accomplices,
the wise seek helpers.
The clever seek associates,
the wise seek partners.
The clever seek connections,
the wise seek mentors.
The clever seek accolades,
the wise seek excellence.
The clever seek recognition,
the wise seek awards.
The clever seek prominence,
the wise seek followers.
The clever seek leadership,
the wise seek impact.
The clever seek power,
the wise seek influence.
The clever seek titles,
the wise seek respect.
The clever seek fame,
the wise seek dignity.
The clever seek glory,
the wise seek integrity.
The clever seek wants,
the wise seek needs.
The clever seek luxury,
the wise seek convenience.
The clever seek enjoyment,
the wise seek fulfillment.
The clever seek entertainment,
the wise seek rest.
The clever seek style,
the wise seek grace.
The clever seek brains,
the wise seek heart.
The clever seek appearance,
the wise seek etiquette.
The clever seek beauty,
the wise seek honesty.
The clever seek opinions,
the wise seek facts.
The clever seek truth,
the wise seek knowledge.
The clever seek ideas,
the wise seek wisdom.
The clever seek adventure,
the wise seek discovery.
The clever seek questions,
the wise seek answers.
The clever seek problems,
the wise seek solutions.
The clever seek amusement,
the wise seek books.
The clever seek an education,
the wise seek enlightenment.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
He laid the message he had been carrying so long on Rumfoord’s empty, lavender contour chair. “There it is — friend,” he said to his memory of Rumfoord, “and much consolation may it give you, Skip. Much pain it cost your old friend Salo. In order to give it to you — even too late — your old friend Salo had to make war against the core of his being, against the very nature of being a machine. “You asked the impossible of a machine,” said Salo, “and the machine complied. “The machine is no longer a machine,” said Salo. “The machine’s contacts are corroded, his bearings fouled, his circuits shorted, and his gears stripped. His mind buzzes and pops like the mind of an Earthling — fizzes and overheats with thoughts of love, honor, dignity, rights, accomplishment, integrity, independence —” Old Salo picked up the message again from Rumfoord’s contour chair. It was written on a thin square of aluminum. The message was a single dot.
”
”
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (The Sirens of Titan)
“
2. Your Sense of Wholeness and Self-Confidence When you know your own thoughts and are deeply in touch with your inner world, you gain a sense of inner wholeness and completeness that increases your sense of security. Your inner wholeness also gives you dignity and integrity, and anchors you whenever you face stress or discord. It also gives you confidence that your feelings have meaning and that your instinctual guidance can be trusted. 3. Your Capacity for Intimate Relationships with Others Emotional self-awareness allows you to share emotionally intimate relationships with others. The better you know yourself, the more compassionately you will feel toward other people. Real intimacy is a shared understanding of each other’s inner experiences. Otherwise, it’s just two people bouncing their needs and impulses off each other. Self-awareness also helps you select friends and partners who will support you and what you value in life.
”
”
Lindsay C. Gibson (Recovering from Emotionally Immature Parents: Practical Tools to Establish Boundaries & Reclaim Your Emotional Autonomy)
“
A generation of young people has come out of decades of shadows to face naked state power; it has lost its fears, and experienced the majestic dignity of a direct struggle for its own liberation. These young people have connected up with their own history—the slave revolts, the incomplete revolution of the Civil War, the brotherhood of colonial colored men in Africa and Asia. They are an integral part of the history which is reshaping the world, replacing a dying order with modern democracy.
”
”
Martin Luther King Jr. (The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.)
“
We have not thoroughly assessed the bodies snatched from dirt and sand to be chained in a cell. We have not reckoned with the horrendous, violent mass kidnapping that we call the Middle Passage.
We have not been honest about all of America's complicity - about the wealth the South earned on the backs of the enslaved, or the wealth the North gained through the production of enslaved hands. We have not fully understood the status symbol that owning bodies offered. We have not confronted the humanity, the emotions, the heartbeats of the multiple generations who were born into slavery and died in it, who never tasted freedom on America's land.
The same goes for the Civil War. We have refused to honestly confront the fact that so many were willing to die in order to hold the freedom of others in their hands. We have refused to acknowledge slavery's role at all, preferring to boil things down to the far more palatable "state's rights." We have not confessed that the end of slavery was so bitterly resented, the rise of Jim Crow became inevitable - and with it, a belief in Black inferiority that lives on in hearts and minds today.
We have painted the hundred-year history of Jim Crow as little more than mean signage and the inconvenience that white people and Black people could not drink from the same fountain. But those signs weren't just "mean". They were perpetual reminders of the swift humiliation and brutal violence that could be suffered at any moment in the presence of whiteness. Jim Crow meant paying taxes for services one could not fully enjoy; working for meager wages; and owning nothing that couldn't be snatched away. For many black families, it meant never building wealth and never having legal recourse for injustice. The mob violence, the burned-down homes, the bombed churches and businesses, the Black bodies that were lynched every couple of days - Jim Crow was walking through life measuring every step.
Even our celebrations of the Civil Rights Movement are sanitized, its victories accentuated while the battles are whitewashed. We have not come to grips with the spitting and shouting, the pulling and tugging, the clubs, dogs, bombs, and guns, the passion and vitriol with which the rights of Black Americans were fought against. We have not acknowledged the bloodshed that often preceded victory. We would rather focus on the beautiful words of Martin Luther King Jr. than on the terror he and protesters endured at marches, boycotts, and from behind jail doors. We don't want to acknowledge that for decades, whiteness fought against every civil right Black Americans sought - from sitting at lunch counters and in integrated classrooms to the right to vote and have a say in how our country was run.
We like to pretend that all those white faces who carried protest signs and batons, who turned on their sprinklers and their fire hoses, who wrote against the demonstrations and preached against the changes, just disappeared. We like to pretend that they were won over, transformed, the moment King proclaimed, "I have a dream." We don't want to acknowledge that just as Black people who experienced Jim Crow are still alive, so are the white people who vehemently protected it - who drew red lines around Black neighborhoods and divested them of support given to average white citizens. We ignore that white people still avoid Black neighborhoods, still don't want their kids going to predominantly Black schools, still don't want to destroy segregation.
The moment Black Americans achieved freedom from enslavement, America could have put to death the idea of Black inferiority. But whiteness was not prepared to sober up from the drunkenness of power over another people group. Whiteness was not ready to give up the ability to control, humiliate, or do violence to any Black body in the vicinity - all without consequence.
”
”
Austin Channing Brown (I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness)
“
Just two weeks earlier, Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of the National Mall and gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. In the following days, Alabama began integrating high schools and elementary schools for the first time in its history. The world was changing, and segregationists who worshipped at the altar of white supremacy could not contain their hatred and frustration. This was the third bombing in just eleven days since the integration order—but the first to prove deadly. White folks were making clear that they would rather see Black people die violent deaths than attend school with their children.
”
”
Austin Channing Brown (I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness)
“
The retreat of the state from the function on which its claims to legitimation were founded for the better part of the past century throws the issue of legitimation wide open again. A new citizenship consensus (‘constitutional patriotism’, to deploy Jürgen Habermas’s term) cannot be presently built in the way it used to be built not so long ago: through the assurance of constitutional protection against the vagaries of the market, notorious for playing havoc with social standings and for sapping rights to social esteem and personal dignity. The integrity of the political body in its currently most common form of a nation-state is in trouble, and so an alternative legitimation is urgently needed and sought. In
”
”
Zygmunt Bauman (Liquid Times: Living in an Age of Uncertainty)
“
We want things to return to normal, back to a world in which we do not have to waste time rebutting demented conspiracy theories and fact-checking farcical lies every single day. We want a government that operates competently and honestly, headed by a president who behaves with dignity and integrity. If we were at risk of under-appreciating the quiet grace of decency, Trump has cured us of that. But after we evict the squatter, we must repair the house he trashed. Trump became president because millions of Americans felt that a self-satisfied elite had created a pleasant society only for themselves. Millions of other Americans felt disregarded and discarded. They determined to crash their way in, and they wielded Trump as their crowbar to pry open the barriers against them. Trump is a criminal and deserves the penalties of law. Trump's enablers and politics and media are contemptable and deserve the scorn of honest patriots. But Trump's voters are our compatriots. Their fate will determine ours. You do not beat Trump until you have restored an America that has room for all its people. The resentments that produced Trump will not be assuaged by contempt for the resentful. Reverse prejudice, reverse stereotyping, never mind whether they are right or wrong--they are wrong--just be aware that they are acids poored upon the connections that bind a democratic society. [...] Maybe you cannot bring everybody along with you. But you still must try--for your own sake, as well as theirs.
”
”
David Frum (Trumpocalypse: Restoring American Democracy)
“
I’ve a dread of puttin’ children i’ th’ world,” he said. “I’ve such a dread o’ th’ future for ’em.”
“But you’ve put it into me. Be tender to it, and that will be its future already. Kiss it!”
He quivered, because it was true. “Be tender to it, and that will be its future.”—At that moment he felt a sheer love for the woman. He kissed her belly and her mound of Venus, to kiss close to the womb and the fetus within the womb.
“Oh, you love me! You love me!” she said, in a little cry like one of her blind, inarticulate love cries. And he went in to her softly, feeling the stream of tenderness flowing in release from his bowels to hers, the bowels of compassion kindled between them.
And he realized as he went into her that this was the thing he had to do, to come into tender touch, without losing his pride or his dignity or his integrity as a man. After all, if she had money and means, and he had none, he should be too proud and honorable to hold back his tenderness from her on that account. “I stand for the touch of bodily awareness between human beings,” he said to himself, “and the touch of tenderness. And she is my mate. And it is a battle against the money, and the machine, and the insentient ideal monkeyishness of the world. And she will stand behind me there. Thank God I’ve got a woman! Thank God I’ve got a woman who is with me, and tender and aware of me. Thank God she’s not a bully, nor a fool. Thank God she’s a tender, aware woman.” And as his seed sprang in her, his soul sprang towards her too, in the creative act that is far more than procreative.
”
”
D.H. Lawrence
“
I think as feminists we have a way of looking at problems that other people appear not to understand. To name names, the right and the
left appear not to understand what it is that feminists are trying to do. Feminists are trying to destroy a sex hierarchy, a race hierarchy, an
economic hierarchy, in which women are hurt, are disempowered, and in which society celebrates cruelty over us and refuses us the integrity of our own bodies and the dignity of our own lives.
... So feminists look at the society we live in and try to understand how we are going to fight male power. And in order to try to figure out
how we're going to fight it, we have to figure out how it's organized, how it works. How does it survive? How does it work itself out? How
does it maintain itself as a system of power?
... So feminists come along, and we say: Well, we are going to understand how it is that these people do what they do. We are going to
approach the problem politically. That means that we are going to try to isolate and describe systems of exploitation as they work on us, from our point of view as the people who are being hurt by them. It means that even though we're on the bottom and they're on the top, we are examining them for points of vulnerability. And as we find those points of vulnerability—and you might locate them anatomically, as well as any other way—we are going to move whatever muscles we have, from whatever positions we are in, and we are going to get that bastard in his collective manifestation off of us.
And that means we are politically organizing a resistance to male supremacy.
”
”
Andrea Dworkin
“
A house can have integrity, just like a person," said Roark, "and just as seldom."
"In what way?"
"Well, look at it. Every piece of it is there because the house needs it - and for no other reason. You see it from here as it is inside. The rooms in which you'll live made the shape. The relation of masses was determined by the distribution of space within. The ornament was determined by the method of construction, an emphasis on the principle that makes it stand. You can see each stress, each support that meets it. Your own eyes go through a structural process when you look at the house, you can follow each step, you see it rise, you know what made it and why it stands. But you've seen buildings with columns that support nothing, with purposeless cornices, with pilasters, mouldings, false arches, false windows. You've seen buildings that look as if they contained a single large hall, they have solid columns and single, solid windows six floors high. But you enter and find six stories inside. Or buildings that contain a single hall, but with a facade cut up into floor lines, band courses, tiers of windows. Do you understand the difference? Your house is made by its own needs. Those others are made by the need to impress. The determining motive of your house is in the house. The determining motive of the other is in the audience."
"Do you know that that's what I've felt in a way? I've felt that when I move into this house, I'll have a new sort of existence, and even my simple daily routine will have a kind of honesty or dignity that I can't quite define. Don't be astonished if I tell you that I feel as if I'll have to live up to that house."
"I intended that," said Roark.
"And, incidentally, thank you for all the thought you seem to have taken about my comfort. There are so many things I notice that had never occurred to me before, but you've planned them as if you knew all my needs. For instance, my study is the room I'll need most and you've given it the dominant spot - and, incidentally, I see where you've made it the dominant mass from the outside, too. And then the way it connects with the library, and the living room well out of my way, and the guest rooms where I won't hear too much of them - and all that. You were very considerate of me."
"You know," said Roark, "I haven't thought of you at all. I thought of the house." He added: "Perhaps that's why I knew how to be considerate of you.
”
”
Ayn Rand (The Fountainhead)
“
We all live as if it is better to seek peace instead of war, to tell the truth instead of lying, to care and nurture rather than to destroy. We believe that these choices are not pointless, that it matters which way we choose to live. Yet if the Cosmic Bench is truly empty, then “who sez” that one choice is better than the others? We can argue about it, but it’s just pointless arguing, endless litigation. If the Bench is truly empty, then the whole span of human civilization, even if it lasts a few million years, will be just an infinitesimally brief spark in relation to the oceans of dead time that preceded it and will follow it. There will be no one around to remember any of it. Whether we are loving or cruel in the end would make no difference at all.
Once we realize this situation there are two options. One is that we can simply refuse to think out the implications of all this. We can hold on to our intellectual belief in an empty Bench and yet live as if our choices are meaningful and as if there is a difference between love and cruelty. Why would we do that? A cynic might say that this is a way of “having one’s cake and eating it, too.” That is, you can get the benefit of having a God without the cost of following him. But there is no integrity in that.
The other option is to recognize that you do know there is a God. You could accept the fact that you live as if beauty and love have meaning, as if there is meaning in life, as if human beings have inherent dignity—all because you know God exists. It is dishonest to live as if he is there and yet fail to acknowledge the one who has given you all these gifts.
”
”
Timothy J. Keller (The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism)
“
CHAPTER 2: The Language Of Trust Trust each other again and again. When the trust level gets high enough, people transcend apparent limits, discovering new and awesome abilities for which they were previously unaware. — David Armistead Trust is fundamental to our sense of safety, autonomy and dignity as human beings. It is also an integral part of every relationship we have. When we trust someone we feel safe to share what is important to us including our thoughts, ideas, efforts, hopes, and concerns. When others trust us they reciprocate in kind. It doesn’t mean we always agree, just that we listen to, respect, and value what each other has to offer. In fact, trust allows us to disagree, debate, and test each other’s thinking as we work together to find ideas and solutions. Having work relationships built on trust allows us to get better, faster results, with less stress.
”
”
Charles Feltman (The Thin Book of Trust; An Essential Primer for Building Trust at Work)
“
They cannot admire you for intellect. Granted- but there are many other qualities of which you cannot say, 'but that is not the way I am made'. So display those virtues which are wholly in your own power- integrity, dignity, hard work, self-denial, contentment, frugality, kindness, independence, simplicity, discretion, magnanimity. Do you not see how many virtues you can already display without any excuse of lack of talent or aptitude? And yet you are still content to lag behind. Or does the fact that you have no inborn talent oblige you to grumble, to scrimp, to toady, to blame your poor body, to suck up, to brag, to have your mind in such turmoil? No, by heaven, it does not! You could have got rid of all this long ago, and only be charged- if charge there is- with being rather slow and dull of comprehension. And yet even this can be worked on- unless you ignore or welcome your stupidity. p36
”
”
Marcus Aurelius (Meditations)
“
Where brains meet brawn you get heart.
Where reason meets emotion you get prudence.
Where patience meets gratitude you get contentment.
Where humility meets confidence you get grace.
Where integrity meets modesty you get character.
Where theory meets proof you get discovery.
Where trust meets courage you get devotion.
Where hope meets conviction you get faith.
Where law meets equality you get justice.
Where strength meets courage you get confidence.
Where mercy meets action you get charity.
Where virtue meets dignity you get honor.
Where equality meets dignity you get freedom.
Where faith meets action you get results.
Where mind meets body you get experience.
Where heart meets mind you get soul.
Where past meets future you get infinity.
Where time meets truth you get reality.
Where knowledge meets understanding you get illumination.
Where facts meet opinions you get understanding.
Where compassion meets affection you get selflessness.
Where intelligence meets kindness you get wisdom.
Where science meets faith you get God.
Where Heaven meets Hell you get eternity.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
And when the day closes, I shall know I have done my part.
To every soul, who feels that there's a bunch of dreams left unrealised, remember that as long as the Life remains, the possibility to dream remains. Remember that sometimes some dreams that we paint in our hearts are not meant to grow us in our journey of Life and then while we walk along the path, even the detours and broken dreams pave way to a whole lot of waking dreams that only the heart of gratitude can see and feel. I have seen and felt, that sometimes some souls have to go through a lot of trials and tribulations, lessons and sufferings, and even then they never fail to wear kindness and grace simply because they know that what happens around them should not intrude upon what is inside their heart. To know that we are here for a purpose and to not live idly, to know that the purpose is as simple as to stay kind and open to every possibility is as beautiful as the sky who knows no matter how dark the night is the stars would always lit her face.
In a world where everything comes at a price, if you're choosing to stay kind, if you're choosing to value your dignity and your integrity, if your choosing to understand and embrace the smile of Solitude, if you're choosing to employ your faculties to understand the real questions of Life, then you're alive, much more alive than your human dreams could have made you feel. Because no matter what, when sunset hits the night, and the day comes to a close you know you've done your part, you know you have embraced one more day with gratitude and grace, with a formidable zeal for Life and an invincible spirit of human understanding that stands firm pillared with Hope and Faith. And then no matter how many voices shrill your mind, the echo of your soul would pierce through your heart and enlighten every inch of your mind, body and soul, and you would know how proud the Universe must be to see the faithfulness, the strength and resilience in your soul, the very mould that was shaped in the fire of the Stardust that shines upon the sky, sometimes becoming a beacon to others while sometimes lying beautifully hidden but always there, always alive.
And so each time, I look at the sky with a bunch of stars, I know I am alive, burning with all that Life is made up of. And someday when the day closes for another dawn altogether, I shall know that I have done my part, pretty well.
”
”
Debatrayee Banerjee
“
Those of us who hope to be their allies should not be surprised, if and when this day comes, that when those who have been locked up and locked out finally have the chance to speak and truly be heard, what we hear is rage. The rage may frighten us; it may remind us of riots, uprisings, and buildings aflame. We may be tempted to control it, or douse it with buckets of doubt, dismay, and disbelief. But we should do no such thing. Instead, when a young man who was born in the ghetto and who knows little of life beyond the walls of his prison cell and the invisible cage that has become his life, turns to us in bewilderment and rage, we should do nothing more than look him in the eye and tell him the truth. We should tell him the same truth the great African American writer James Baldwin told his nephew in a letter published in 1962, in one of the most extraordinary books ever written, The Fire Next Time. With great passion and searing conviction, Baldwin had this to say to his young nephew: This is the crime of which I accuse my country and my countrymen, and for which neither I nor time nor history will ever forgive them, that they have destroyed and are destroying hundreds of thousands of lives and do not know it and do not want to know it …. It is their innocence which constitutes the crime …. This innocent country set you down in a ghetto in which, in fact, it intended that you should perish. The limits of your ambition were, thus, expected to be set forever. You were born into a society which spelled out with brutal clarity, and in as many ways as possible, that you were a worthless human being. You were not expected to aspire to excellence: you were expected to make peace with mediocrity …. You have, and many of us have, defeated this intention; and, by a terrible law, a terrible paradox, those innocents who believed that your imprisonment made them safe are losing their grasp on reality. But these men are your brothers—your lost, younger brothers. And if the word integration means anything, this is what it means: that we, with love, shall force our brothers to see themselves as they are, to cease fleeing from reality and begin to change it. For this is your home, my friend, do not be driven from it; great men have done great things here, and will again, and we can make America what it must become. It will be hard, but you come from sturdy, peasant stock, men who picked cotton and dammed rivers and built railroads, and, in the teeth of the most terrifying odds, achieved an unassailable and monumental dignity. You come from a long line of great poets since Homer. One of them said, The very time I thought I was lost, My dungeon shook and my chains fell off …. We cannot be free until they are free. God bless you, and Godspeed.67
”
”
Michelle Alexander (The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colourblindness)
“
Even if we act to erase material poverty, there is another greater task; it is to confront the poverty of satisfaction – purpose and dignity – that afflicts us all. Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our Gross National Product, now, is over $800 billion a year, but that Gross National Product … counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwood and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and counts nuclear warheads and armored cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children. Yet the Gross National Product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country. It measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.
”
”
Nic Marks (The Happiness Manifesto)
“
When you die, no matter who you are,
you may be remembered for your courage
or despised for your cowardice,
you may be remembered for your gratitude
or despised for your bitterness,
you may be remembered for your benevolence
or despised for your meanness,
you may be remembered for your modesty
or despised for your arrogance,
you may be remembered for your peace
or despised for your violence,
you may be remembered for your compassion
or despised for your ruthlessness,
you may be remembered for your mercy
or despised for your vengeance,
you may be remembered for your love
or despised for your unkindness,
you may be remembered for your strengths
or despised for your weaknesses,
you may be remembered for your virtues
or despised for your unrighteousness,
you may be remembered for your knowledge
or despised for your ignorance,
you may be remembered for your wisdom
or despised for your foolishness,
and you may be remembered for your accomplishments
or despised for your incompetence.
When I die, I want to be remembered
for my smile, not my tears;
for my laughter, not my pain;
for my joy, not my grief;
for my patience, not my anger;
for my friends, not my enemies;
for my mind, not my riches;
for my heart, not my titles;
for my soul, not my achievements;
for my triumphs, not my tragedies;
for my character, not my reputation;
for my dignity, not my impudence;
for my sincerity, not my flattery;
for my honor, not my fame;
for my integrity, not my friends;
and for my life, not my death.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
This is the crime of which I accuse my country and my countrymen, and for which neither I nor time nor history will ever forgive them, that they have destroyed and are destroying hundreds of thousands of lives and do not know it and do not want to know it. . . . It is their innocence which constitutes the crime. . . . This innocent country set you down in a ghetto in which, in fact, it intended that you should perish. The limits of your ambition were, thus, expected to be set forever. You were born into a society which spelled out with brutal clarity, and in as many ways as possible, that you were a worthless human being. You were not expected to aspire to excellence: you were expected to make peace with mediocrity. . . . You have, and many of us have, defeated this intention; and, by a terrible law, a terrible paradox, those innocents who believed that your imprisonment made them safe are losing their grasp on reality. But these men are your brothers—your lost, younger brothers. And if the word integration means anything, this is what it means: that we, with love, shall force our brothers to see themselves as they are, to cease fleeing from reality and begin to change it. For this is your home, my friend, do not be driven from it; great men have done great things here, and will again, and we can make America what it must become. It will be hard, but you come from sturdy, peasant stock, men who picked cotton and dammed rivers and built railroads, and, in the teeth of the most terrifying odds, achieved an unassailable and monumental dignity. You come from a long line of great poets since Homer. One of them said, The very time I thought I was lost, My dungeon shook and my chains fell off. . . . We cannot be free until they are free. God bless you, and Godspeed.
”
”
Michelle Alexander (The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness)
“
The more that injustice, exploitation, inequality, unemployment, poverty, hunger, and misery prevail in human society, the more Che's stature will grow.
The more that the power of imperialism, hegemonism, domination, and interventionism grow, to the detriment of the most sacred rights of the peoples-especially the weak, backward, and poor peoples who for centuries were colonies of the West and sources of slave labor-the more the values Che defended will be upheld.
The more that abuses, selfishness, and alienation exist; the more that Indians, ethnic minorities, women, and immigrants suffer dis crimination; the more that children are bought and sold for sex or forced into the workforce in their hundreds of millions; the more that ignorance, unsanitary conditions, insecurity, and homelessness prevail-the more Che's deeply humanistic message will stand out.
The more that corrupt, demagogic, and hypocritical politicians exist anywhere, the more Che's example of a pure, revolutionary, and consistent human being will come through.
The more cowards, opportunists, and traitors there are on the face of the earth, the more Che's personal courage and revolutionary integrity will be admired.
The more that others lack the ability to fulfill their duty, the more Che's iron willpower will be admired.
The more that some individuals lack the most basic self-respect, the more Che's sense of honor and dignity will be admired.
The more that skeptics abound, the more Che's faith in man will be admired.
The more pessimists there are, the more Che's optimism will be admired.
The more vacillators there are, the more Che's audacity will be admired.
The more that loafers squander the product of the labor of others, the more Che's austerity, his spirit of study and work, will be admired.
”
”
Fidel Castro
“
Creating “Correct” Children in the Classroom One of the most popular discipline programs in American schools is called Assertive Discipline. It teaches teachers to inflict the old “obey or suffer” method of control on students. Here you disguise the threat of punishment by calling it a choice the child is making. As in, “You have a choice, you can either finish your homework or miss the outing this weekend.” Then when the child chooses to try to protect his dignity against this form of terrorism, by refusing to do his homework, you tell him he has chosen his logical, natural consequence of being excluded from the outing. Putting it this way helps the parent or teacher mitigate against the bad feelings and guilt that would otherwise arise to tell the adult that they are operating outside the principles of compassionate relating. This insidious method is even worse than outand-out punishing, where you can at least rebel against your punisher. The use of this mind game teaches the child the false, crazy-making belief that they wanted something bad or painful to happen to them. These programs also have the stated intention of getting the child to be angry with himself for making a poor choice. In this smoke and mirrors game, the children are “causing” everything to happen and the teachers are the puppets of the children’s choices. The only ones who are not taking responsibility for their actions are the adults. Another popular coercive strategy is to use “peer pressure” to create compliance. For instance, a teacher tells her class that if anyone misbehaves then they all won’t get their pizza party. What a great way to turn children against each other. All this is done to help (translation: compel) children to behave themselves. But of course they are not behaving themselves: they are being “behaved” by the adults. Well-meaning teachers and parents try to teach children to be motivated (translation: do boring or aversive stuff without questioning why), responsible (translation: thoughtless conformity to the house rules) people. When surveys are conducted in which fourth-graders are asked what being good means, over 90% answer “being quiet.” And when teachers are asked what happens in a successful classroom, the answer is, “the teacher is able to keep the students on task” (translation: in line, doing what they are told). Consulting firms measuring teacher competence consider this a major criterion of teacher effectiveness. In other words if the students are quietly doing what they were told the teacher is evaluated as good. However my understanding of ‘real learning’ with twenty to forty children is that it is quite naturally a bit noisy and messy. Otherwise children are just playing a nice game of school, based on indoctrination and little integrated retained education. Both punishments and rewards foster a preoccupation with a narrow egocentric self-interest that undermines good values. All little Johnny is thinking about is “How much will you give me if I do X? How can I avoid getting punished if I do Y? What do they want me to do and what happens to me if I don’t do it?” Instead we could teach him to ask, “What kind of person do I want to be and what kind of community do I want to help make?” And Mom is thinking “You didn’t do what I wanted, so now I’m going to make something unpleasant happen to you, for your own good to help you fit into our (dominance/submission based) society.” This contributes to a culture of coercion and prevents a community of compassion. And as we are learning on the global level with our war on terrorism, as you use your energy and resources to punish people you run out of energy and resources to protect people. And even if children look well-behaved, they are not behaving themselves They are being behaved by controlling parents and teachers.
”
”
Kelly Bryson (Don't Be Nice, Be Real: Balancing Passion for Self with Compassion for Others)
“
I counted my years and discovered that I have fewer years left to live compared to the time I
have lived until now.
I feel like a boy who won a package of treats. The first he eats with pleasure, but when he realizes that there are a few left, he then starts to contemplate upon them.
I no longer have time for endless meetings that achieve nothing as statuses, rules, procedures and
regulations are discussed.
Neither do I have time to give encouragement to absurd people who, despite their age, have not
grown up.
I don't have time to deal with mediocrity.
I don't want to be in meetings where egos parade.
I won't tolerate manipulators and opportunists.
I am bothered by envious people, seeking to discredit the able ones, to usurp their places, talents
and accomplishments.
I hate to witness the ill effects, generated by the struggle for a better job, among ambitious
people.
I detest people who do not argue about content but titles. My time is too precious to discuss
titles.
I want the essence, my soul is in a hurry. Not many treats are left in the packet.
I want to live among human people, very human.
People, who can laugh at their mistakes.
Who do not become full of themselves because of their triumphs.
Who do not consider themselves elite, before they have really become one.
Who do not run away from their responsibilities.
Who defend human dignity.
Who do not want anything else but to walk along with truth, righteousness, honesty and integrity.
The essential thing is what makes life worthwhile.
I want to surround myself with people who can touch the hearts of others.
People who despite the hard knockouts of life, grew up with a soft touch in their soul.
Yes, I am in a hurry. So that I can live with the intensity, which only maturity can give me.
I intend not to waste any of the treats I have left. I am sure they will be more exquisite compared
to the ones I have eaten so far.
My goal is to reach the end satisfied and at peace with my loved ones and my conscience.
I hope yours is the same, because the end will come anyway...
”
”
Mário de Andrade
“
Life Recipe Take one heaping portion of common sense, two wishful scoops of dreams (okay to add an extra scoop when needed), and a manageable portion of drive. Mix in equal pinches of self-respect, dignity, integrity, faith, and compassion. Recipe Tip: If for some reason this doesn’t turn out properly, simply start recipe over, being mindful to not make the same mistake twice.
”
”
T.I. Lowe (Orange Blossom Cafe (Runaway Bride #1))
“
Better to get spine broken than bend it.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (Sapionova: 200 Limericks for Students)
“
We need patriotism, yes we do, but not the one practiced by our ancestors. We need a civilized patriotism, one that is devoid of all sectarianism and cultural supremacy. We gotta be patriotic towards humanity, not nationality - we gotta be patriotic for justice and equality, not supremacy - we gotta be patriotic for inclusion, not the exclusive sustenance of our own dignity at the expense of the dignity of others.
We need a patriotism where there is no us and them - we need a patriotism where there is no lord and laymen - we need a patriotism where there is no savior and subject - we need a patriotism where our savior is our sense of virtue - we need a patriotism where our queen is our accountability - we need a patriotism where our constitution and gospel are our own conscience.
I am loyal to no state, no palace, no vatican - my loyalty is to the elevation of the fallen, my loyalty is to invigoration of the discriminated - thus speaks the civilized patriot - thus speaks the real life human being.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (Making Britain Civilized: How to Gain Readmission to The Human Race)
“
You want to be with a man who is willing to offer you a wholehearted commitment to both you AND the relationship itself; the kind of man who is so fiercely protective of both your heart and your dignity that the importance he’s placed on the integrity of the relationship is either equal to or greater than the importance you’ve placed on it. Believe me, when a man really wants you, where he doesn’t want to be with anyone else and doesn’t want anyone else to be with you, his commitment to the commitment itself will show it. Remember that.
”
”
Bruce Bryans (Never Get Ghosted Again: 15 Reasons Why Men Lose Interest and How to Avoid Guys Who Can't Commit (Smart Dating Books for Women))
“
One maintains the integrity of things they honor no matter how old or new, expensive or inexpensive....simply stated, it's dignified for it's being... that's love.
”
”
Kierra C.T. Banks
“
Every time you bend, you break civilization.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (Giants in Jeans: 100 Sonnets of United Earth)
“
My needs are less, hence my integrity is dangerous.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (Gente Mente Adelante: Prejudice Conquered is World Conquered)
“
Only sign of sanity is in mad humanity. Stand tall o brave, as an epitome of integrity.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (Giants in Jeans: 100 Sonnets of United Earth)
“
Backbone responsible is antidote to malice.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (Yüz Şiirlerin Yüzüğü (Ring of 100 Poems, Bilingual Edition): 100 Turkish Poems with Translations)
“
The independent foreign policy constitutes not only diplomatic equality and relations with all other countries; it also determines self-determination, self-integrity, and dignity of the State and People; otherwise, isolation and slavery become destiny.
”
”
Ehsan Sehgal
“
believe in, [he said] and I conceive the Constitution of the United States to rest, as does religion, upon the fundamental proposition of the integrity of the individual; and that all Government and all private institutions must be designed to promote and protect and defend the integrity and the dignity of the individual. . . . Any forms of government, therefore, and any other institutions, which make men means rather than ends in themselves, which exalt that state or any other institutions above the importance of men, which place arbitrary power over men as a fundamental tenet of government, are contrary to this conception; and therefore I am deeply opposed to them. . . . The fundamental tenet of communism is that the state is an end in itself, and that therefore the powers which the state exercises over the individual are without any ethical standards to limit them. That I deeply disbelieve. It is very easy simply to say one is not a Communist. And, of course, if despite my record it is necessary for me to state this very affirmatively, then this is a great disappointment to me. It is very easy to talk about being against communism. It is equally important to believe those things which provide a satisfactory and effective alternative. Democracy is that satisfying alternative. And its hope in the world is that it is an affirmative belief, rather than simply a belief against something else. . . . I deeply believe in the capacity of democracy to surmount any trials that may lie ahead provided only we practice it in our daily lives. And among the things that we must practice is this: that while we seek fervently to ferret out the subversive and anti-democratic forces in the country, we do not at the same time, by hysteria, by resort to innuendo and sneers and other unfortunate tactics, besmirch the very cause that we believe in, and cause a separation among our people, cause one group and one individual to hate one another, based upon mere attacks, mere unsubstantiated attacks upon their loyalty. . . .
”
”
David McCullough (Truman)
“
List of Human Needs* Subsistence Physical sustenance Air, Food, Water Shelter Health, Medicine Physical Safety Rest /Sleep Movement Security Consistency Stability Order/Structure Safety (emotional) Trust Freedom Autonomy Choice Ease Independence Power Space Spontaneity Leisure/Relaxation Adventure Humor Joy Play Pleasure Connection Affection Appreciation Attention Companionship Harmony Intimacy Love Sexual Expression Support Tenderness Warmth Touch To Matter Acceptance Care Compassion Consideration Empathy Kindness Mutual Recognition Respect To be seen or heard To be understood To be trusted Community Belonging Celebration Cooperation Equality Inclusion Mutuality Participation Self-expression Sharing Meaning Sense of Self Authenticity Competence Confidence Creativity Dignity Growth Healing Honesty Integrity Self-acceptance Self-care Self-connection Self-knowledge Self-realization Understanding Awareness Clarity Discovery Learning Making sense of life Meaning Aliveness Challenge Contribution Creativity Effectiveness Exploration Integration Purpose Transcendence Beauty Communion Faith Hope Inspiration Mourning Peace (inner) Presence
”
”
Oren Jay Sofer (Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication)
“
He longed, he said, for the glorious spirit of bipartisan consensus he had witnessed during the nation’s Bicentennial celebrations, and at Hubert Humphrey’s funeral. So he concluded with a challenge to his colleagues: “If you want to see the reputations of decent people sullied, stand aside and be silent. “If you want to see people of dignity, integrity, and self-respect refuse to seek public office for fear of what might be conjured or dredged up to attack them or their families, stand aside and be silent.… “If you want to see dissent crushed and expression stifled, stand aside and be silent. “If you want to see the fevered exploitation of a handful of highly emotional issues distract the nation from problems of great consequence, stand aside and be silent. “If you want to see your government deadlocked by rigid intransigence, stand aside and be silent. “If you want this nation held up to worldwide scorn and ridicule because of the outrageous statements and bizarre beliefs of its leaders, stand aside and be silent and let the Howard Phillipses, the Meldrim Thomsons, and the William Loebs speak for all of us.
”
”
Rick Perlstein (Reaganland: America's Right Turn 1976-1980)
“
Honor He Wrote (The Sonnet)
I am not a writer, writers have limits,
I have none, I only have responsibility,
The responsibility to unite the world,
The responsibility to humanize humanity.
We are setting out on this journey,
With the awareness of being responsible,
For responsibility makes one honorable,
Honor makes one responsible.
Fervor of honor is beginning to fade,
From the fabric of society and self.
It is definitely no sign of progress,
In fact it is a sign of utter decadence.
Honor is, in truth, another name for character.
With the demise of honor all good will disappear.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (Honor He Wrote: 100 Sonnets For Humans Not Vegetables)
“
Consensus of Heart (The Sonnet)
Place truth at the feet of love,
Intellect at the feet of integration.
Place belief at the feet of harmony,
Stubbornness at the feet of ascension.
Place tradition at the feet of expansion,
Individuality at the feet of collectivity.
Place knowledge at the feet of warmth,
Patriotism at the feet of world community.
Place differences at the feet of unity,
Rebellion at the feet of accountability.
Place serenity at the feet of social uplift,
Practicality at the feet of dignity 'n equality.
Whether there is consensus of head or not,
Let us first ensure consensus of the heart.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (Dervish Advaitam: Gospel of Sacred Feminines and Holy Fathers)
“
AM: My father had arrived in New York all alone, from the middle of Poland, before his seventh birthday… He arrived in New York, his parents were too busy to pick him up at Castle Garden and sent his next eldest brother Abe, going on 10, to find him, get him through immigration and bring him home to Stanton Street and the tenement where in two rooms the eight of them lived and worked, sewing the great long, many-buttoned cloaks that were the fashion then.
They sent him to school for about six months, figuring he had enough. He never learned how to spell, he never learned how to figure. Then he went right back into the shop. By the time he was 12 he was employing two other boys to sew sleeves on coats alongside him in some basement workshop.
KM: He went on the road when he was about 16 I think… selling clothes at a wholesale level.
AM: He ended up being the support of the entire family because he started the business in 1921 or something. The Miltex Coat Company, which turned out to be one of the largest manufacturers in this country.
See we lived in Manhattan then, on 110th Street facing the Park. It was beautiful apartment up on the sixth floor.
KM: We had a chauffeur driven car. The family was wealthy.
AM: It was the twenties and I remember our mother and father going to a show every weekend. And coming back Sunday morning and she would be playing the sheet music of the musicals.
JM: It was an arranged marriage. But a woman of her ability to be married off to a man who couldn’t read or write… I think Gussie taught him how to read and to sign his name.
AM: She knew she was being wasted, I think. But she respected him a lot. And that made up for a little. Until he really crashed, economically. And then she got angry with him.
First the chauffeur was let go, then the summer bungalow was discarded, the last of her jewellery had to be pawned or sold. And then another step down - the move to Brooklyn.
Not just in the case of my father but every boy I knew. I used to pal around with half a dozen guys and all their fathers were simply blown out of the water.
I could not avoid awareness of my mother’s anger at this waning of his powers. A certain sneering contempt for him that filtered through her voice.
RM: So how did the way you saw your father change when he lost his money?
AM: Terrible… pity for him. Because so much of his authority sprang from the fact that he was a very successful businessman. And he always knew what he as doing. And suddenly: nothin’. He didn’t know where he was. It was absolutely not his fault, it was the Great Crash of the ‘29, ‘30, ‘31 period. So from that I always, I think, contracted the idea that we’re very deeply immersed in political and economic life of the country, of the world. And that these forces end up in the bedroom and they end up in the father and son and father and daughter arrangements.
In Death of a Salesman what I was interested in there was what his world and what his life had left him with. What that had done to him?
Y’know a guy can’t make a living, he loses his dignity. He loses his male force. And so you tend to make up for it by telling him he's OK anyway. Or else you turn your back on him and leave. All of which helps create integrated plays, incidentally. Where you begin to look: well, its a personality here but what part is being played by impersonal forces?
”
”
Rebecca Miller
“
Nobody will remember how many times you bowed, they'll only remember the time you didn't bow.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (Brit Actually: Nursery Rhymes of Reparations)
“
That's what conscience does to you - it takes away the slightest inclination of compromise, and turns you into an incorruptible beacon of pure conviction.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets (Sonnet Centuries))
“
Honesty is liberating,
Deceit is tedious.
Integrity is invigorating,
Cowardice is hideous.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets)
“
In the afterword of the Signet Classics edition of 1984, Erich Fromm, who was associated with the Frankfurt School, articulated the primary question posed in dystopian literature as “Can human nature be changed in such a way that man will forget his longing for freedom, for dignity, for integrity, for love—that is to say, can man forget that he is human?” What makes Orwell’s work so powerful and relevant is that he articulates how human nature can be changed by corrupting systems and language. If a government or invading British army demands ownership of the truth, then it no longer matters if the truth is actually true or false.
”
”
Barrett Holmes Pitner (The Crime Without a Name: Ethnocide and the Erasure of Culture in America)
“
Forge your present with dignity,
and you won't need to fabricate your past.
Speak with conscience and conviction,
you won't need to keep track of your words.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (The Humanitarian Dictator)
“
What seems apparent, from what we already know, is that the application of this smart crowd principle will increasingly be applied to more and more areas across the societal board, and will end up being a truly evolutionary advancement in culture and consciousness driven by the evolutionary imperative of more and more recognised individuals having more and more say and actual participation in their own affairs. If you want to get really metaphysical about it, a virtually unanimous tenet of the world’s great Wisdom Traditions is that every human being has, not only a relative, conventional, finite Self, but an real, true, ultimate, and infinite Self (which is universally said to be one with God or Spirit). And evolution is, in one of its deepest aspects, the unfolding of more and more individuals as God-realised, as being a genuine manifestation of Spirit here on earth. With each stage of evolution, more and more individuals are accorded the dignity and integrity of being realised as a true manifestation of God – and this is directly manifested in the numbers of individuals that, at each stage of governance, are allowed to have a hand in the actual running of that governing process. This evolutionary unfolding is accompanied by greater and greater degrees of education, of higher ethical capacities, higher capacities for love, care, and compassion; and higher and wider degrees of consciousness and awareness – as their ultimate Spiritual nature comes more to the fore via evolutionary unfolding. Every
”
”
Alan Watkins (Crowdocracy: The End of Politics (Wicked & Wise))
“
In faith I have a renewing account of Personal Courage which I'll write checks against until this country's most valuable natural resource the Soldier, Sailor, Marine, and Airman are fully supported with the level of dignity and respect we've earned. These checks don't bounce.
”
”
Donavan Nelson Butler
“
they are also a spiritual symbol of the dignity to which man can aspire in his workaday life—hope and integrity fashioned from metal, gears, and rubber.
”
”
Aili McConnon (Road to Valor: A True Story of WWII Italy, the Nazis, and the Cyclist Who Inspired a Nation)
“
When we are able to stay present with the internal discomfort created by the idea that somebody else might be mad at us, we end up becoming a bodhisattva with tremendous integrity. We end up building confidence that we can say what we think and mean what we say, more and more often. This kind of integrity and dignity become contagious, and in the end, even if somebody doesn’t agree with us, that person at least respects us for our dedication to living by our principles.
”
”
Ethan Nichtern (The Road Home: A Contemporary Exploration of the Buddhist Path)
“
no way does God subvert or replace the act of his creatures. Instead, God “always governs things in such a way that it is they that really perform their own operations . . . creatures, from the very fact that they are, must be endowed with efficiency.”13 Aquinas goes further. He suggests that if God alone were the immediate cause of everything it “would imply” not God’s greatness, but, instead a “lack of power in the Creator: for it is due to the power of the cause, that it bestows active power on its effect.”14 Christianity, or at least in its Catholic fullness, is “an integral and solidary humanism,”15 and “the name for that deep amazement at man’s worth and dignity is the Gospel, that is to say: the Good News. It is also called Christianity.”16
”
”
R.J. Snell (Acedia and Its Discontents: Metaphysical Boredom in an Empire of Desire)
“
Internal direction is a characteristic of lift in which people experience the dignity and integrity that comes with exercising the self-control necessary to live up to the values that they expect of others.
”
”
Ryan W. Quinn (Lift: Becoming a Positive Force in Any Situation)
“
Integrity also means avoiding any communication that is deceptive, full of guile, or beneath the dignity of people. “A lie is any communication with intent to deceive,” according to one definition of the word. Whether we communicate with words or behavior, if we have integrity, our intent cannot be to deceive.
”
”
Stephen R. Covey (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change)
“
Expository preaching will impact your congregation, because it helps you be faithful to the text and be relevant to your context in regular ministry implement a strategy for equipping and energizing your people for long-term faithfulness to God and the ministry overcome your tendency to target a sermon to a particular person or group and be protected from that charge avoid skipping over what does not suit your taste or temperament on any given day carry on a cohesive ministry in the middle of multiple dimensions and demands on you as a pastor enhance the dignity of the pastoral work since you stand under the authority of God’s Word as you preach integrate the conversation of the church around the message of the week communicate the intentions of God for your congregation as seen by its human leaders orient people around a common vision, thus helping you surface the voluntary labor force needed to achieve the vision motivate people to action in implementing the program of the church with God’s sanction garner the credibility needed to lead the church to change model effective ministry to present and future teachers and preachers outline the agenda for corporate spirituality make your congregation biblically literate
”
”
Ramesh Richard (Preparing Expository Sermons: A Seven-Step Method for Biblical Preaching)
“
It was time for me to make my stand; to display my integrity and dignity as a human worthful of respect. It was time for me to aggress the predatory lions and destroy them once and for all.
”
”
Yanan Melo
“
Self-actualization happens when we balance and synergize our drive for personal dignity and our thirst for spiritual completion. The goal is integrity—to become both a powerful master and a humble servant. We need to develop our personas and skillfully use our talents but with the humble intent of serving to bring God’s love and goodness to others, infusing the world with Divine Presence. To do this we must know when to assert and control—when to be bold, courageous and aggressive—and when to give up control and surrender to God. We may think we are independent, but the truth is that we are always serving something or someone. But there is tremendous joy in serving God’s purpose because in doing so we go beyond our narrow selves and discover ourselves as part of an ultimate reality beyond us. We experience our connection to our Ultimate Self when we live as a channel for God’s love and goodness.
”
”
David Aaron (The God-Powered Life: Awakening to Your Divine Purpose)
“
When you show more than
aggressive misbehaviour, it means
your integrity and dignity were not for real.
Religion of Blue Circle
Religious Leader Petra Cecilia Maria Hermans
Worldpoet 546
”
”
Petra Hermans
“
Fervor of faith is not the problem, bigotry of faith is the problem. Or to put it simply. Religion is not the problem, fundamentalism is the real problem. But we must be aware of what a fundamentalist is. A fundamentalist is not necessarily a person who takes the scripture literally, rather, a fundamentalist is a person who deems their own religion as the only true religion, and all others as heresy. Some fundamentalists do interpret the scripture metaphorically, and still manage to remain a bigot.
After all, you see outside, what is inside. So the point is, if you want to see integration in the world, first you gotta irrigate your heart, not your colon, of all division. Until you understand undivision, you won't understand divinity. No sabes unidad, no sabes divinidad.
Even if you have never heard of Jesus, even if you have never heard of Buddha, even if you have never heard of Moses and Mohammed, even if you have never heard of Nanak and Naskar, you can still be divine. But if you never treat another person with kindness and dignity, you can never be divine.
It's your behavior that makes you religious, not your belief. Besides, even in this day and age, if your belief still keeps raising walls, instead of bringing them down, it's time you seek medical help. Because you see, bigotry is not a legal problem, it is a medical problem, just like alcoholism is a medical problem. Fundamentalism is not a neurodivergence, fundamentalism is a lethal neuropsychiatric condition, which requires immediate medical attention.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (Sin Dios Sí Hay Divinidad: The Pastor Who Never Was)
“
Fifth, the companies also had what struck me as unusually intimate workplaces. They were, in effect, functional little societies that strove to address a broad range of their employees’ needs as human beings—creative, emotional, spiritual, and social needs as well as economic ones. Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines once observed that his company’s famously vibrant culture was built around the principle of “caring for people in the totality of their lives.” That’s what the companies I was looking at were doing. They were places where employees felt cared for in the totality of their lives, where they were treated in the way that the founders and leaders thought people ought to be treated—with respect, dignity, integrity, fairness, kindness, and generosity.
”
”
Bo Burlingham (Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big)
“
Watch what you say because words are powerful and irreversible, they can build you up or crush you down to the ground.
Your words can cost you your integrity
Your words can cost you your dignity
Your words can cost you your trustworthiness
Your words can cost you your character
Your words can cost you your competence
Your words can cost you your accountability
Your words can cost you your entire life.
Think before you speak and always remember that words can be forgiven but they will never be forgotten.
Words! Words! Words!
‘Don’t use foul or abusive language, Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them’(Ephesians 4:29, NLT).
”
”
Euginia Herlihy
“
Even our celebrations of the Civil Rights Movement are sanitized, its victories accentuated while the battles are whitewashed. We have not come to grips with the spitting and shouting, the pulling and tugging, the clubs, dogs, bombs, and guns, the passion and vitriol with which the rights of Black Americans were fought against. We have not acknowledged the bloodshed that often preceded victory. We would rather focus on the beautiful words of Martin Luther King Jr. than on the terror he and protestors endured at marches, boycotts, and from behind jail doors. We don’t want to acknowledge that for decades, whiteness fought against every civil right Black Americans sought—from sitting at lunch counters and in integrated classrooms to the right to vote and have a say in how our country was run.
”
”
Austin Channing Brown (I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness)
“
The man came from another place and time, one felt, a place of dignity and integrity, a time of courage and commitment, a community of just men and women who cared for each other deeply and equally. But he seemed to come from a place of peace only because first, and profoundly, he had passed through such suffering. “I saw terrible things,” he would simply, searingly say.
”
”
Clark Young (Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski)
“
Our intention is to create a container right there in the classroom for recognizing the beauty of other people and their integrity and dignity as human beings; for kindness and compassion; for a sense of gratitude for being alive, even with all of one’s difficulties and dukkha; for cultivating interest and curiosity, and an orientation of non-striving. Americans are very driven people, always wanting to get someplace else. Learning meditation requires not trying to get someplace else so much as being where you already are, thus non-striving. It requires patience and being non-judgmental, being willing to have a beginner’s mind that sees things freshly.
”
”
Jon Kabat-Zinn (The Mind's Own Physician: A Scientific Dialogue with the Dalai Lama on the Healing Power of Meditation)
“
No Compromise (The Sonnet)
Only cowards make compromise,
When it comes to affairs of humanity.
Beings of conscience and character,
Prefer revolution over indignity.
Only bugs bow before oppression,
Driven by insecurity and indifference.
Creatures called the homo sapiens,
Choose annihilation before compliance.
Only wild animals of the cruel jungle,
Accept self-preservation as the norm.
For advanced organism such as humans,
Inclusion is life in joy and in storm.
Those with backbone stand up for humanity.
Unarmed and unbending we'll conquer inhumanity.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (Solo Standing on Guard: Life Before Law)
“
Home in a self that is more whole and integrated with the freedom to acknowledge all your hurtful experiences, without the fear that you will be destroyed by them. Home in relationships where you remain a part of the equation, able to vocalize your needs, wants, and frustrations without the risk of abandonment or being cut off. Home within your culture for all those parts that you choose to keep and all the parts that you choose to leave behind without the fear of bringing shame or disrespect to your family or community. Home even within the harsh and harmful structures that you may face every day in public, at work, or even within your families without fear that these structures will diminish your value or dignity. Home in yourself, when you witness the injustice in these structures and can, perhaps, combat them and build a world that is more equitable and just for future generations.
”
”
Jenny Wang (Permission to Come Home: Reclaiming Mental Health as Asian Americans)
“
Today, the students should make a promise to me. The promise has many parts, and I know you will fulfil them all. 1.I will have a goal and work hard to achieve that goal. I realize that aiming small is a crime. 2.I will work with integrity and succeed with integrity. 3.I will be a good member of my family, a good member of the society, a good member of the nation and a good member of the world. 4.I will always try to save or better someone’s life, without any discrimination of caste, creed, language, religion or community. 5.I will always protect and enhance the dignity of every human life without any bias. 6.I will always remember the importance of time. My motto will be ‘Let not my winged days, be spent in vain’. 7I will always work for clean planet Earth and clean energy. 8My national flag flies in my heart and I will bring glory to my nation. (from Address and interaction with the students of Bijnor, 21 July 2015)
”
”
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (Learning How to Fly: Life Lessons for the Youth)
“
This was the third bombing in just eleven days since the integration order—but the first to prove deadly. White folks were making clear that they would rather see Black people die violent deaths than attend school with their children.
”
”
Austin Channing Brown (I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness)
“
Every gesture I make, every act I commit in my efforts to help them makes it more difficult for them to define their real needs and discover for themselves their integrity and affirm their own dignity. How else could we hope to arrive beyond predator and prey, helper and helped, white and black, and find redemption?
”
”
André Brink (A Dry White Season)
“
Over recent decades, the European left had come to support a form of multiculturalism that downplayed the importance of integrating immigrants into the national culture. Under the banner of antiracism it looked the other way from evidence that assimilation wasn’t working. The new populist right, for its part, looks back nostalgically at a fading national culture that was based on ethnicity or religion, a culture that was largely free of immigrants or significant diversities.
”
”
Francis Fukuyama (Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment)
“
To reckon, human dignity
is all men’s valuable integrity,
cannot be sold definitely.
”
”
Ency Bearis
“
I’m very straightforward and simple: come to me ‘correct’ or don’t come to me at all. You’d be sparing me BIG time for I have zero tolerance for dishonorable two-faced phonies. I find them to be: despicable and deserving of total ‘avoidance.
”
”
Word of Truth Ministry
“
Honor is, in truth, another name for character. With the demise of honor all good will disappear.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (Honor He Wrote: 100 Sonnets For Humans Not Vegetables)
“
Don’t blame me for your mediocrity
it’s not my fault you lack integrity
”
”
Aida Mandic (Magical Maverick)
“
My life is a dictatorship, not a democracy. I'm my own supreme ruler, opinions unworthy.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (The Divine Refugee)
“
Negotiation, Collaboration, Listening, Empathy, Understanding, Mutual Respect, Dignity, Conflict Resolution, Building Future, Effective Communication
”
”
Vorng Panha
“
Good faith: "It is the task ... of the diplomat to make up for political misunderstanding, cultural ignorance, economic unequality in order to create the conditions of dignity, fairness, mutual understanding, sometimes even connivance, which are ... needed between people of different cultures, races or continents. International good faith requires permanent information and reflection on others and also a patient and constant effort to give a good impression of one's attitude, in order to be credible and to put others at ease. In a world in which growing economic, technical and cultural integration has to be developed, responsible leaders and public opinion will no longer accept negligence, delusion, disloyalty, irresponsibility and incoherence in diplomacy. Of course, fair play is not silliness or lack of foresight; transparency (glasnost) and sincerity are neither levity nor imprudence; treaties do not exempt states from precautions, guarantees and adaptation. Herein lies the art of diplomacy."
— Alain Plantey, 1989
”
”
Chas W. Freeman Jr. (The Diplomat's Dictionary)
“
Some people have a vacant lot for a brain,
Some people have a vacant lot for a heart.
Some people's mind has full-on vacancy,
Some people's vacancy is in spinal cord.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (Visvavictor: Kanima Akiyor Kainat)
“
Life can unravel in an instant. For me, that moment came when deceitful cryptocurrency brokers vanished with £40,000 of my savings, a devastating blow that left me paralyzed by shame and despair. The aftermath was a fog of sleepless nights, self-doubt, and a crushing sense of betrayal. I questioned every choice, wondering how I’d fallen for such a scheme. Hope felt like a luxury I no longer deserved. Then, Tech Cyber Force Recovery emerged like a compass in a storm. Skeptical yet desperate, I reached out, half-expecting another dead end. What I found, however, was a team that radiated both expertise and empathy. From our first conversation, they treated my crisis not as a case file, but as a human tragedy. Their professionalism was matched only by their compassion, a rare combination in the often impersonal world of finance.
What happened next defied logic. Within 72 hours of sharing my story, they traced the labyrinth of blockchain transactions, outmaneuvering the scammers with surgical precision. When their email arrived, “Funds recovered, secure and intact,” I wept. It wasn’t just the money; it was the validation that justice could prevail. Tech Cyber Force Recovery didn’t just restore my finances, they resurrected my dignity. But their impact ran deeper. They demystified the recovery process, educating me without judgment. Their transparency became a lifeline, transforming my fear into understanding. Where I saw chaos, they saw patterns; where I felt powerless, they instilled agency. Today, I’m rebuilding not just my savings, but my trust in humanity. Tech Cyber Force Recovery taught me that vulnerability isn’t weakness, and that seeking help is an act of courage. To those still trapped in the aftermath of fraud: miracles exist. They wear no capes, but they wield algorithms and integrity like superheroes. To the extraordinary Tech Cyber Force Recovery team, your work is more than technical prowess. It’s alchemy, turning despair into resilience. You gave me more than my funds; you gave me my future. May your light guide countless others through their darkest nights. From the depths of my heart: Thank you.
Consult Tech Cyber Force Recovery for help.
MAIL.. Techcybersforcerecovery@cyberservices.com
”
”
Cryptozoic Entertainment
“
How was it then that I could see a monster in him as easily as I could see his dignity, his integrity, and his charm? I had learned over the years that he held everything in for as long as he could. When he reached his limit, unrelated incidents could unleash that pent-up anger to an unprecedented degree.
”
”
D.K. Sanz/Kyrian Lyndon (Provenance of Bondage (Deadly Veils, #1))
“
The remedy is to define larger and more integrative national identities that take account of the de facto diversity of existing liberal democratic societies.
”
”
Francis Fukuyama (Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment)
“
When a burning sense of duty flows through the veins of a police officer like blood, it turns the very word police into an emblem of hope – an emblem of righteousness – an emblem of integrity, dignity and morality.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (Operation Justice: To Make A Society That Needs No Law)
“
Be the person of love, compassion, integrity, dignity, humanity, and good character then you can be a living magnet to attract a destined version of your life as per the law of the universe.
”
”
Dhiraj Kumar Raj (Attracting A Specific Person: How to Use the Law of Attraction to Manifest a Specific Person, Get Back Your Ex and Manifest a Vibrant Relationship.)
“
Honesty is the best policy. If I lose my honor, I lose myself.
”
”
William Shakespeare
“
To pay a price in advance, to the unjust, a price to prevent advances against your physical integrity -- that is to compromise your dignity. And dignity compromised is no longer dignity.
”
”
Adam Levin (The Instructions)
“
A consumerism credo is a poor substitute for liberty, human dignity, and personal integrity; pursing a hedonistic and materialistic lifestyle proved spiritually enslaving. Rather than pointing its aim at raising the moral consciousness of individual persons and our community, consumerism gives its blessing to basking in wanton self-indulgence
”
”
Kilroy J. Oldster (Dead Toad Scrolls)
“
In both Europe and the United States, that debate is currently polarized between a right that seeks to cut off immigration altogether and would like to send current immigrants back to their countries of origin and a left that asserts a virtually unlimited obligation on the part of liberal democracies to accept migrants. The real focus should instead be on strategies for better assimilating immigrants to a country’s creedal identity. Well-assimilated immigrants bring a healthy diversity to any society, and the benefits of immigration can be fully realized. Poorly assimilated immigrants are a drag on the state and in some cases constitute dangerous security threats. Europeans pay lip service to the need for better assimilation, but fail to follow through with an effective set of policies. The reform agenda here is highly varied since individual European countries approach the problem very differently. Many countries have in place policies that actively impede integration, such as the Dutch system of pillarization. Britain and a number of other European countries provide public funding for Muslim schools, just as they support Christian and Jewish schools.
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Francis Fukuyama (Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment)
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There is indeed something deeply wrong with a person who lacks principles, who has no moral core. There are, likewise, certainly values that brook no compromise, and I would count among them integrity, fairness, and the avoidance of cruelty. But I have never accepted the argument that principle is compromised by judging each situation on its own merits, with due appreciation of the idiosyncrasy of human motivation and fallibility. Concern for individuals, the imperative of treating them with dignity and respect for their ideas and needs, regardless of one’s own views—these too are surely principles and as worthy as any of being deemed inviolable. To remain open to understandings—perhaps even to principles—as yet not determined is the least that learning requires, its barest threshold.
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Sonia Sotomayor (My Beloved World)
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The independent foreign policy constitutes not only diplomatic equality and relations with all other countries; it also determines self-determination and self-integrity and dignity of the State and People; otherwise, isolation and even slavery become destiny.
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Ehsan Sehgal
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that God can use you to model true faith and advance his kingdom. After losing that client, you gather your colleagues and announce the bad news while confirming your commitment to integrity and fair play. Your four-year-old sees that you do not curse your burned cupcakes. That’s a win right there. When you go pick up your car from the auto pound, you treat the agent with dignity and respect. That probably doesn’t happen too often. Remember. All good things and only good things come from God. That’s true even if our meager human minds don’t understand it. This conversation wouldn’t be complete unless we opened our Bibles to Romans 8:28: “In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” If I read that right, God uses good things for good. He uses mild discomfort for good. And he uses tragedy for good. That sounds like an unbelievable promise and incredibly good news.
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Jay Payleitner (What If God Wrote Your To-Do List?: 52 Ways to Make the Most of Every Day)
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Stop collapsing the whole community and its people's dignity and values with your lies, manipulations, gossips, and ignorance and do not try to hide your actions behind good intentions or excuses. Try to keep the pure love and trust over losing your integrity.
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Anonymous
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I have no image that can be smeared, for I long lit the self to cinders.
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Abhijit Naskar (Iftar-e Insaniyat: The First Supper)
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I own my life, from head to toe, sorrow to sapience, wonder to woe.
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Abhijit Naskar (The God Sonnets: Naskar Art of Theology)
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Gossips, false/true rumors are worse than thieves because they steal another person's dignity, honor, reputation and credibility which are impossible to restore.
So remember this: Whether you like someone or hate, keeping that person's secrets behind and respecting his/her privacy is called integrity.
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Karen Salmansohn
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Gossips, false/true rumors are worse than thieves because they steal another person's dignity, honor, reputation and credibility which are impossible to restore.
So remember this: Whether you like someone or hate, keeping that person's secrets behind and respecting his/her privacy is called integrity.
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Salmansohn Karen
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Honor is earned not by words, but by the integrity you live every day.
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Ayoub Imilouane (Tales of Habib the Hoaxter: Sometimes Hoaxed, Always Good for a Laugh)
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Where integrity is inconvenient,
disintegration is imminent.
Where integrity is eminent,
ascension is evident.
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Abhijit Naskar (The Humanitarian Dictator)
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Where lips don't speak, eyes do -
where eyes don't speak, backbone do.
And once backbone has spoken, all the
militaries cannot render it untrue.
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Abhijit Naskar (Azad Earth Army: When The World Cries Blood)
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It’s not wrong to want unborn babies to have a chance at life. It’s not wrong to want a strong military and protected borders. It’s not wrong to want a healthy economy and high-paying jobs. It is wrong if we have to align ourselves with evil in order to get those things. It is wrong if we have to excuse abuse, misogyny, sexism, racism, violence, perversion, and lies. It is wrong, if, in pursuit of the good, we preach morality at the same time we align ourselves with the blatantly immoral. The Bible has a word for the giving up of one’s dignity, respect, and integrity in exchange for a commodity (or platform). It’s called prostitution. “Therefore repent and turn back so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and so that he may send the Messiah appointed for you—that is, Jesus.”316
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Amy Hawk (The Judas Effect: How Evangelicals Betrayed Jesus for Power)
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Communist atheism denies any transcendent dimension to being, any call to which humans must freely respond, any standard of truth, evidence, moral integrity, and goodness by which humans are every
moment being judged. For the Communist, all is nothingness except the Dialectic of History, before which and in whose name he prostrates himself. The Communist borrows from Christianity and Judaism a
comfort, viz. that his prostration places him on the side of justice and compassion. Yet his comfort is unwarranted because it rests on ideas in which his premises forbid him to believe. For the Communist
has only one moral principle: the Collective Will of the Party. All else can be done in that name: murder, torture, imprison, exterminate, assassinate. No other moral question can be scientifically raised. There is in man no internal source of dignity. Personal liberty and
personal responsibility cannot be honored in theory, although of course they continued to live on among individuals. In theory, these realities are dismissed as bourgeois affectations. The Communist's moral comforts are stolen from elsewhere.
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Michael Novak
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Spine broken, still unbent.
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Abhijit Naskar (Azad Earth Army: When The World Cries Blood)
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All Awake to Humanity (Sonnet 2050)
Science ought to be at the forefront
of calling and curing mindlessness,
not an olympian god aloof on pedestal
distantly passing judgment, like
hallucinations through bushes.
Faith ought to be at the forefront
of calling out persecution and malice,
rather than seeking justification in
dead books, like brainless primates.
Selma to Montgomery, from river to the sea,
We stand guard, with no weapon but our dignity.
Reason is our ark, love is our compass -
Colored, White, Muslim and otherwise, together
we shall overcome - All Awake to Humanity!
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Abhijit Naskar (Neurosonnets: The Naskar Art of Neuroscience)
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Stop collapsing the whole community and its people's dignity and values with your lies, manipulations, gossips, and ignorance and do not try to hide your actions behind good intentions or excuses. Try to keep the pure friendship and trust over losing your integrity.
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Anonymous
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Justice is the foundation of a thriving society. Laws alone cannot ensure fairness; it takes courage, integrity, and the willingness of individuals to defend truth. True justice preserves dignity, protects the vulnerable, and holds power accountable.
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Shivanshu K. Srivastava
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Backbone battery, brain currency, heart bedrock.
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Abhijit Naskar (Kral Fakir: When Calls The Kainat)